And it's not a first??

[drcpunk]

Some time ago, I got the 12 page rules document for ambug666's Broadway musical larp, along with my 7 page character sheet (not counting stats) and sheets for various groups of characters.

Today, I got the 44 page lyrics book for the musical.

The scary thing is that ambug666 tells me that there has been at least one other larp with a lyrics book.

Okay, I'm pretty good on "Hello Dolly", which is the obvious song to sing. I can fake "Colonel Buffalo Bill", as my character is also the Dolly from Annie Get Your Gun.

She's also Mrs. Johnson from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, so I've been listening to "Brotherhood of Man". Here's this bit part character in the musical who has no real reason to be part of the song. She's there to be a woman's voice, rising like a gospel singer's, high, loud, and clear as a bell above all the men's voices.

mnemex tells me that I have to go into head voice for this, which is contrary to my self-training. I can do loud, I'm sure, and high. But I don't know how good it'll sound.

It's quite logical for Dolly to sing this part. it's exactly the sort of thing she'd sing if she were actually in that musical.

I'm also Grace from Annie, and I just realized that this means I need to learn another song, "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here". I think Annie does most of the actual singing. Time to hit youtube again. I've already used it to discover the Coffee Break song which was left out of the movie version of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Comments

[zrealm.livejournal.com]

If you want to be technical, FBP's iron Gm game had a songbook too.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's right! How could I forget?

[jl8e]

Because the human mind is very good at editing out traumatic experiences? :)

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

But I didn't actually have the experience. I just knew FBP wrote and ran the game.

[sammywol.livejournal.com]

*boggles!* just *BOGGLES!* I bow to your commitment.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Actually, that's kind of built in -- we all knew what we were signing up for. We're currently all talking about things like dance lessons during the game and the like. Even over email I could see mnemex's ears perk up as he asked, "I can has Mazurka?"

I can now fake "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here". I could use a run-through or two of "Colonel Buffalo Bill". Thanks to WALL-E, I've had the tune of "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" drummed in enough that another run through or two will suffice.

"Brotherhood of Man" is the tricky one. mnemex spent some time last night trying to get me to do the sorts of things I spent some years trying to break myself of the habit of doing -- sing loud and high, as if screaming. He says that I'm sounding better, which I would say I know to be wrong, except that I also know I can't hear myself accurately. The hardest part of his instructions is the part about keeping my throat open. I can figure out how I'm breathing, how loud or high I'm singing, all of that, but I cannot figure out how to tell how open or relaxed my throat is and how to make sure it is opened or relaxed. It's not like I can safely reach inside and push or pull.

All of the prep work is actually a lot easier than it would have been a decade earlier, thanks to youtube and laptops whose defaults are speakers and a place to plug in headphones.

There's a lovely version of "Anything You Can Do" (which I probably don't sing, as there is a separate Annie character whose player is perfectly capable of at least faking it, I'm sure) on youtube. It's not as polished as the movie's, but it's certainly energetic. After the "Any note you can sing / I can sing longer" sequence, Frank lifts Annie as he says, "Yes, you can", and then asks, "Where do you keep all that air?" before remembering he's angry at her and putting her down. And the sequence where each tries to sing sweeter than the other is adorable.

Hm. I think the reason that song is where it is, structurally, is not only because its the right sort of song, but also because, what with Annie about to blow the contest on purpose, the song acts as a contest she can win.

[jl8e]

The fact that you knew the sort of commitment you were signing up for doesn't make it any more or less mind-boggling.

I don't think it's a bigger commitment than agreeing to perform in an actual musical, though.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Okay, to me, mindboggling is zrealm buying an expensive hat for his costume in the game. Mind, I'm trying to see if I have long evening gloves, something that can pass as a parasol, and sufficient dresses.

And spending a few hours on youtube getting a song virus or two is nothing compared to the efforts we've put in writing and running four-hour larps, let alone what ambug666 is putting into this weekend-long larp.

Then again, I sing at filks, so singing preptime isn't all that unusual for me.

[jl8e]

That's not mindboggling at all. Any plan where you gain a hat is a good plan.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Hm... So, my problem is that I haven't gone hat shopping?