WE STSI DESTO RY
Our school had no tradition of musicals. Their was an occasional effort by some teachers with selected younger grades to stage a performance. I was especially impressed by a Sixth Grade effort of Joseph and the AmazingTechnicolor Dreamcoat. I had been able up to that time to completely avoid any music by... what's his name? The tenth richest man in Great Britain at the time.
But the point was obvious. The kids want to perform. They want to have something unique and special. My plan was to incorporate an Eighth Grade Musical as curriculum. Leave all the parents out of it. The premium was on your imagination when it came to costumes and sets. No stress. Everyone is in on it.
As you can expect, as soon as I was no longer teaching the upper grades the school embarked on the plan that everyone else follows. The one where all the parents put in the effort and cost. Super lighting, sound, costumes. Auditions open from sixth grade and up. Several shows. Great enthusiasm from the participants. Terrific success for the school. More power to them.
We were able as just an eighth grade class to perform shows like Bye, Bye Birdie, The Pirates of Penzance and West Side Story, among others. (The Mikado, South Pacific, The Music Man, Guys and Dolls were the others.) To my everlasting surprise and joy, the curtain would open and I would be dazzled by the costumes (we'd be lucky to have a dress rehearsal) and the singing and staging. It was pure Micky and Judy. Let's put on a show!
In the case of West Side Story we were blessed to have two young women who could actually sing the score! Not an easy task. One of the two wouldn't rehearse much with me, but boy she knocked it out. We sort of cut the death scene and most of the Jets were girls, and oh...I had to cut a page and a half where the expected troublemakers in the class would have had an opportunity to create havoc on stage. Apart from all that, it was boffo.
In my opinion the idea of an Eighth Grade Musical has benefits that are outstanding. The idea that every student is involved is paramount. Many kids will never be in a show, or learn about musicals. There's always the bunch of talented "honor" students from other grade that will make it a club event. And yes, rehearsing is extremely problematic when you don't make the parents partners. Sports practices become the #1 after school activity. That's why it was a curriculum project. We did the choreography ourselves, and the staging. And also, we never use canned music. Never. We would also avoid doing "Junior" versions. Yuk. It would take months for me to learn some of the scores. And it was difficult to read and enjoy the show at the same time. Bottom line...we did it ourselves!
But the point was obvious. The kids want to perform. They want to have something unique and special. My plan was to incorporate an Eighth Grade Musical as curriculum. Leave all the parents out of it. The premium was on your imagination when it came to costumes and sets. No stress. Everyone is in on it.
As you can expect, as soon as I was no longer teaching the upper grades the school embarked on the plan that everyone else follows. The one where all the parents put in the effort and cost. Super lighting, sound, costumes. Auditions open from sixth grade and up. Several shows. Great enthusiasm from the participants. Terrific success for the school. More power to them.
We were able as just an eighth grade class to perform shows like Bye, Bye Birdie, The Pirates of Penzance and West Side Story, among others. (The Mikado, South Pacific, The Music Man, Guys and Dolls were the others.) To my everlasting surprise and joy, the curtain would open and I would be dazzled by the costumes (we'd be lucky to have a dress rehearsal) and the singing and staging. It was pure Micky and Judy. Let's put on a show!
In the case of West Side Story we were blessed to have two young women who could actually sing the score! Not an easy task. One of the two wouldn't rehearse much with me, but boy she knocked it out. We sort of cut the death scene and most of the Jets were girls, and oh...I had to cut a page and a half where the expected troublemakers in the class would have had an opportunity to create havoc on stage. Apart from all that, it was boffo.
In my opinion the idea of an Eighth Grade Musical has benefits that are outstanding. The idea that every student is involved is paramount. Many kids will never be in a show, or learn about musicals. There's always the bunch of talented "honor" students from other grade that will make it a club event. And yes, rehearsing is extremely problematic when you don't make the parents partners. Sports practices become the #1 after school activity. That's why it was a curriculum project. We did the choreography ourselves, and the staging. And also, we never use canned music. Never. We would also avoid doing "Junior" versions. Yuk. It would take months for me to learn some of the scores. And it was difficult to read and enjoy the show at the same time. Bottom line...we did it ourselves!
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| The backdrop |
