Gilbert & Sullivan for Fourth Graders

Incorporating drama & musicals into your curriculum begins in Pre-Kindergarten. It became a regular part of the Fourth grade curriculum to introduce Gilbert & Sullivan shows.  Fortunately for us, I had discovered a resource in our local library that was an enormous help. An abridged collection of all their works by Agnes Thanes (sadly out of print and almost impossible to locate). They were reduced to 35-40 minutes by a skillful reduction of dialogue and songs. The two we would study were "The Gondoliers" & "H.M.S. Pinafore".


The first time we performed one of these was in 2005 with a Sixth grade class as our Spring concert. The principal kindly indulged me that year with splitting our normal show schedule and allowed a separate night for us to perform. It gave the class an excellent opportunity to learn about musical theater. They were able 2 years later to stage West Side Story. (And very well, I might say!)

Why Gilbert & Sullivan? It's FREE. Studying their works is absolutely a SMART thing to do. The dialogue is tasteful & witty. The music is of the highest quality. There's a reason their work has been successful for over a hundred years, and if you aren't aware of their shows you should do yourself a favor and put your toe in the water, so to speak. Did I mention their shows are FREE?


I'll confess I was stunned the year we were preparing "The Mikado" as our Eighth grade show. The two top administrators asked me what our plans were for the Spring. I told them and was taken aback to see the quizzical faces they suddenly had. They were completely unaware of the work.

"The Mikado" is the most performed musical in the world. Or should I say civilized world, some parts of the mid-west excluded from that concept. So be prepared. Most of your young colleagues have never been to a Gilbert & Sullivan show. There are wonderful amounts of YouTube videos available. (I would avoid the Essgee Entertainment shows. They take excessive liberties and are somewhat ribald. If you don't know the show it would be akin to learning "Guys and Dolls" by watching the awful movie with Sinatra & Brando.)

I'm including links to "The Gondoliers" & "H.M.S. Pinafore" for anyone who wants to check them out. Enjoy.