Day 5

I've been dealing with a cold throughout the day today. I've been knocking back the Lemsip, so it hasn't hampered me over much, but I'm pretty shattered as I head home this evening. Rehearsals have been going well. I've been observing them from underneath headphones, occasionally tuning in to what's being said or sung. There was an odd moment today when I found myself working on orchestrations for a song which was being rehearsed in the room at the same time. It was a phasing nightmare, although very useful in many ways because it meant I could get a sense of how the actor wanted to sing the number; where he was giving it welly, and where rhythms were being pulled around.

I taught Llio her big number today, which I think is going to sound extraordinary. She's one of that rare breed of singer to whom you can hand any piece of music (in any key) and she'll perform it magnificently. She has an enormous vocal range which she has spent her life honing so there are no bumps or gear shifts between different registers. The song covers more than two octaves. When she's added tricks and flicks, I think we'll be nearer three!

It's so lovely to see things slowly coming together and incredibly surreal to hear the cast and director talking in depth about words and phrases that Nathan and I carefully chose. It's pretty cool as well to hear vocal harmonies drifting up from the downstairs studio which were nothing more than dots on a computer screen a week ago.