BWW Interviews: Sabrina Aloueche About WE WILL ROCK YOU, THE IN-BETWEEN & WICKED!

Laura Tisdall, the writer and musical supervisor, approached my agent, and asked if I would like to get involved. i had a little listen to the song I was chosen for and said yes straight away. Never Expect is so complex in its simple mindedness! It's juxtaposed beautifully in that it combines an atmosphere of pure adrenaline; musically speaking it is very fast paced from the offset and still manages to build and build as it journeys from start to finish. However, you'd be forgiven for missing on out on the actual message of the song itself- which is an argument for calm resolve, making a stand for the mediocre. waving the flag for the average!

 

It's such a treasure of a challenge to delve into the mind of a character you've only just met or discovered. Because it is a concept recording for a new musical, we had no other background info on any of the characters other than the bullet points given, so it gave us all a lot of artistic freedom with the songs, which comes across beautifully, I think.

When creating a role on stage, which to be honest I have yet to have the opportunity of doing, you start from scratch. It's easy enough to imitate a character or even an emotion but where's the depth in that? There are a series of questions you must ask when in the throes of creation! The goal is to find a fully-realised three dimensional character with a rich back story. Finding truth in the script is more lucrative and FUN than simply reciting, spouting, commenting...however, with recording Never Expect you had to be more musically aware. Because the audience don't see me, I have to compensate in certain areas in the song to make a feeling or emotion come across. It's about shape, vocal dynamics; being quietly lyrical in one area, to high-speed belting in another!

 

It's still important to have a rounded idea of who this character is, and where they've come from - Laura sat me down in the studio and spoke to me about what the message of the song was, but it is more external than internal acting as what the audience hear has to tell the story and nothing else. 

If I have been linked to it, it's probably because of my time in We Will Rock You, as it is obviously a great breeding ground for high belt voices! It's a role I would love to play someday, when the time is right, but it is not the only one I'd love to play either.