I tried making a 10 minute improv musical. Here’s how it went

I was never really a drama kid in school, not because I didn't want to be, but because I was too scared. So this piece should really be called "I Tried Making a 10 Minute Improv Musical, Despite Having No Theatre Experience, Here’s How it Went" - but that was too long, I'm sorry if you thought this was going to be a good musical. However, that's somewhat the point. 

I founded Art for Messy Beings (AFMB) back in March, a little corner of the Internet that prioritizes mass creation over traditional artistic quality, by tackling the idea that you have to be good at art to create it. People should create because they like it, it improves their mood and it develops their skills. This is where my 10-minute musical lives. I gave it a go because I like musicals and singing (despite potentially being bad at the latter), it improved my mood at the time and I think I developed some skills!

So, Home Staying, my musical, was created off the back of lockdown in March when I had been furloughed from work and I had so much free time to worry about COVID-19, be sad about not seeing my partner and feel hopeless. I think it takes us on a journey through those early pandemic feelings: boredom, disbelief, anxiousness, paranoia, relaxation, loneliness, yearning, and acceptance.

I started and ended without a script, just the vaguest ideas of scenes to create, and it shows: you can see when I'm thinking about what to say or do, I revert to swearing when I don't have a proper joke and you can tell I'm offering an unhinged peek into my pretty standard experience. The musical being filmed made it easier, I was able to leave my camera running whilst stumbling through scenes and bad takes, I could obviously fix it in editing.

Being an absolute amateur when it comes to anything acting, I actually leaned on musical stereotypes a lot! I’m sure you’ve all seen the videos where people utilize these in interesting ways, whether it’s parodying “WAP” by Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion by singing it like it’s the most emotional song in a musical or acting out that one song in every musical that no one likes, I decided to lean on some of these tropes too.

Looking back, how was it? Slight cringe but fun, there are things I would’ve done better or differently: swearing less, giving scenes retakes and generally doing a bit more preparation. Would I do another? Yes, absolutely, it was so incredibly entertaining! Plus the AFMB community responded really positively to it, so what would I have to lose?