Pirate Dan
"Hi there! I'm pirate Dan, I do most of the cooking on my ship. How's your evening been?"
A while ago I wrote about my musical that I've been rehearsing for (it's going great, I get to play Lockstock), but then, as you may already know, I joined a second show at an extracurricular musical theatre place called Lindberg Academy.
It's been quite an experience, the people there are much more skilled than I and so I've gotten to learn a lot about show and about music and dance. We're putting on a production of Les Miserables and I was cast as a small, malnourished, street urchin boy called Gavroche, which is somewhat ironic as I'm one of the taller people in the class. But in my off-cast nights I play an ensemble character and this character is the one that I will post about tonight.
As part of my work for the show, I'm expected to figure out my character's physicality & motivations; I wrote a character backstory too, for added depth, and it seemed like it might fit well here.
So, without further ado, I proudly present:
Pirate Dan.
Born the second son of a lumberman, Dan is ambidextrous and loves food.
He worked with his father in his youth and developed physical strength and a great understanding of the importance of safety. This has produced somebody strong, talented and caring. But, as the second son, Dan will not inherit his father’s living and must find his own way in the world.
Dan hates the classism of France, but even more he hates the inheritance system that discriminates against younger siblings in families; but he can’t do anything about this, because he’s broke, and so he gets a job in a kitchen.
He does well there due to his ambidexterity and passion for cooking, he gains some culinary knowledge but then gets framed for poisoning a noble. Although Dan did want this man dead, (this noble was ignorant to the issues of his subjects) he never actually committed the crime. He is fired from his position in this kitchen and must go elsewhere to maintain the cost of living.
Dan finds work on a dockyard where he meets the people who will become his pirate crew. These people have a boat and sail around France doing contract work (sometimes legal, sometimes not). Hoping to escape his reputation, he joins these pirates who had just lost some crew members and were looking for strong, young men to help onboard.
Dan naturally forms a strong kinship with his ship-mates due to the long times spent together and the co-ordination required to operate a sailboat. He settles into a sort of responsible caretaker role for these pirates, making their meals and ensuring their safety.
Dan’s main motivation is to take care of his crew: keep them fed, keep them out of trouble, keep them from getting scurvy. His boys depend on him, as none of them know how to cook.
Dan would like to join the revolution and fix the country’s societal issues, but he can’t as he has to stay with his shipmates to look out for them. Also, he worries about how the revolutionary war could affect the safety of his crew.
Dan has a large stance, with his chest puffed, his arms out a bit, and with big shoulders. All of his hand movements and mannerisms should be symmetrical.
His facial expressions generally should be determined/strong-willed, concerned for his crew, in favour of the revolution.
Conclusion
Personally, I don't like Les Mis. As a musical it should be less self serious, and there's no real talking, all of the dialogue is sung. But I do like being in this production of Les Mis, because despite all the ridiculous French names and the song about prostitution, I'm still performing in a musical; I get to contemplate character motivations, I get to learn about music theory, I get to be silly with a bunch of drama nerds, and I get to pretend to be somebody else.
That's all for now.
Goodbye from Sam.