ACTING vs PERFORMING THE SONG
OBJECTIVE: Students will analyze a song so that they can believably act the song while performing.
DESCRIPTION
In musicals, it is important to remember that acting does not stop when the music begins. In this lesson, the students learn to find meaning behind the lyrics of a song so that they can convey the character’s feelings while performing.
The Care & Feeding of Your Voice
Objective
Students will understand how the voice words and apply health and wellness concepts related to music practice such as body mechanics, vocal health, hydration, and appropriate hygienic practices.
Description
By understanding how the body works with your vocal chords to create sound will help musical theatre students develop a stronger singing voice. As students practice health and wellness concepts related to music practice such as body mechanics, vocal health, hydration, and appropriate hygienic practices, they will create a health vocal resonance.
Creating a Musical Project
OBJECTIVE: Students will write & perform a musical by adding modern songs to a traditional fairy tale story.
DESCRIPTION: By writing, preparing, and performing their own musical, student will apply musical theatre elements to the traditional structure of a story.
OBJECTIVE
Musical Theatre Students will learn, practice various jazz steps, and create a dance combo using jazz dance steps.
DISCRIPTION
Dancers will learn about three different types of jazz. (classical jazz, Broadway jazz, and contemporary jazz) through lectures about jazz dance history, visual aids / videos, learning through dancing, and creating a dance combo.
Day 1 Introduction to Jazz
Day 2 Jazz Steps
Day 3 Jazz Steps
Day 4 First Jazz Combo
Day 5 Review & Performances
Getting to Know Musical Character Types
Objective
The students will demonstrate their understanding of the different types of characters in musical plays.
Description
Identifying character types in musicals is essential in knowing how to portray the character physically, mentally, emotionally, & socially. By being able to know what types of characters are in a musical, students begin to see what types they will play in future roles.
Introduction to Musical Theatre Conventions
OBJECTIVE
Students will identify & be able to demonstrate their understanding of a several different theatre conventions and musical theatre conventions.
DESCRIPTION
Students will explore the different musical theatre conventions through various activities and viewing musical theatre numbers.
Introduction to Musical Theatre Movement Unit
OBJETIVE:
The students will understand and be able to utilize good movement by performing a scene.
UNIT DESCRITPTION:
Musical theatre performers use their bodies to sing, to dance, and to act. We must think of our bodies at instruments and learn to use of our instrument properly in order be to better musical theatre performers.
The Musical Theatre Audition Slate
Objective:
The students will display mastery of introducing themselves before an audition piece.
Description:
Making a first impression is the most important part of an audition. By learning to slate with confidence and student will learn how to introduce themselves in an audition. This is called a slate.
The Musical Theatre Audition Portfolio Project
Objective: You will prepare an audition portfolio with various types of song from musical theatre by collecting sheet music, analyzing songs, and scoring/blocking each audition piece.
Description:
By preparing an audition portfolio, students will be ready for any type of audition that may arise. The folio will also help students explore different genres of musical theatre.
OVERALL OBJECTIVE: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the use of improvisation as it connects to musical theatre by performing an improvised scene and evaluating improvisation exercises. *
DISCRIPTION: Improvisation breaks down the barrier between mind and voice. It is the theatrical equivalent to jazz music. It increases the mind’s ability to form ideas, and present them in a coherent, relevant manner. This skill can translate to almost any profession. Understanding the basic improvisation skills will help musical theatre performs understand that musical theatre is more than just singing and dancing.
Musical Play Structure & Songs Types
Objective
The students will increase their understanding of the structure of a well-made musical play by creating a fairy tale using the Aristotelian Structure as a guide.
Description:
By being able to recognize and utilize the elements of dramatic structure of a musical, students will be able to analyze musicals more effectively. Because the structure is the driving forces of a musical, actors who can understand story structure can help their characters’ conflict and lead them to achieve their objectives.
The Actor’s Vocal Process
Objective
The students will be able to recognize how their voice works and how to use it effectively as an actor.
Description
Knowing how your voice works and how to use it to speak clearly and effectively is important. In this unit students will learn the anatomy of voice and practice speaking while controlling their rate, pitch, articulation, diction, inflection, and volume. The unit concludes with a newscast performance and a test on the vocal process.
Lesson 1: Anatomy of the Voice
Lesson 2: Using Your Voice
Lesson 3: Newscast Performance
Lesson 4: The Vocal Process Test
Analyzing a Play through Socratic Seminar
Objective
After reading a play, students will use their scripts to identify character types, analyze text, and create open-ended questions about the play, in order to prepare for a formal discussion about the play they have just read.
Description
The lesson is designed to introduce students to the Socratic Seminar, a formal discussion, based on a piece of text, in our case, a play, in which the student leader asks open-ended questions. During the discussion, you listen closely to the comments of others, thinking critically for yourselves, and articulate you own thoughts and responses to the thoughts of others in our class.
Students will spend time exploring the script preparing for the formal discussion.
Abstract Scene Performance Unit
Lesson 1 What Is Abstract Theatre?
Lesson 2 Using Movement to Convey and Idea
Lesson 3 Rehearsal
Lesson 4 Peer Evaluation
Lesson 5 Performances
Objective
Students will work collaboratively to create a vivid performance, without words, evoking a theme through symbolic action, sound, and images.
Description
Abstract is a genre description that refers to a form of expression that deliberately destroys the established rules of performance & presentation. In theater, these rules usually relate directly to the relationship between the players and the audience. The movement is stylized and representational. Ideas are expressed through choreographed movement with very little dialogue.
Abstract scenes are accompanied with music, lights, costumes, props. In this unit, students will create and perform an abstract theatre scene.
Character Analysis Assignment
Objective: The objective is to identify the literary elements used by the playwright to describe the character, and then to create a visual interpretation of the character’s traits.
Purpose: This will help you exhibit your ability to analyze a specific character by creating a character profile.
Assignment: Your assignment is to create a “character body” for one of the characters in the play we just read. Think about the following elements, fill in as much as you know from the script, and create the rest!
Costuming Design & Construction Project
Objective
The student will recognize, identify, and practice the responsibilities of the Costume Design and Construction crews by building a costume.
Description
This unit gives students and opportunity to explore various aspects of costume design, constructions, and the different jobs of the costume crew.
Lesson 1:Body Measurements
Lesson 2:Fabrics
Lesson 3:Stitching
Lesson 4:Quick Changes & Alterations
Lesson 5:Costume Crew Responsibilities
Lesson 6:Costume Design
Lesson 7:Costume Construction
Directing Fundamentals Unit
Unit Objective: The students will begin to learn the fundamentals of directing for theatre by creating a short scene.
Description
This unit gives students the opportunity to take on the role of director. Student explore choosing and analyzing a script, blocking, casting, rehearsing and performing a short scene.
Lesson 1: We Are All Directors
Lesson 2: Choosing & Preparing a Script
Lesson 3: Script Analysis & Interpretation
Lesson 4: Storytelling Through Blocking & Movement
Lesson 5: Casting the Play
Lesson 8: Rehearsals
Lesson 9: Performances
Free Exploration of Movement
Objective
Students will demonstrate their ability to freely explore physical movement by performing improvisations.
Description
As students practice free exploration in the movement, they expand their awareness of their bodies. They also become more comfortable moving in front of others.
Foundations of Acting
Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the foundations acting by making enriching choices and applying intellectual, emotional, and social interactions to portray believable characters and convey a story.
Description:
This unit gives students an opportunity to explore and develop acting skills on a more advanced level, regardless of experience. They will explore skills, including voice, movement, sense memory, playing objectives, and character development and scene work.
· The time of year I use this unit is at the beginning of year for second-year students because it helps review basic stage information and establish the foundations of what we do throughout the year in scene work and performances. The second-year student wants to further his or her study of acting.
· The purpose of the unit is to introduce the second-year theatre student to more in depth acting techniques that will help them make better choices on stage.
· At the end of the unit students will be able to understand the value of making rich acting choices on stage.
Intellectual Detective: Approaching the Play & Exploring the Script
Objective: The Students will analyze and describe the interdependence of all theatrical elements within a script as well as examine a play and a character is a combination of objective or factual research and subjective or imaginative research.
Description:
Using the Juilliard BFA Actor Training Program hand out, students will examine a play and a character to analyze and evaluate a script and character.
Observation & Imitation of Movement
Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to observe & imitate people's mannerisms by observing people and taking notes on what they see & performing scenes.
Description
This lesson allows students the opportunity to observe others and create characters by imitating other’s gestures, language, accents, and movement.
Scoring a Script
Objective:
Students will be able to understand their characters emotions, thought process, and motives by marking their scripts to identify beats, motivating verbs, pause, rate, inflection.
Description
In this lesson, student learn to mark their script for beats, motivating verbs, pause, rate, inflection, and emphasis/stress.
Materials
This is an audition form that includes contact information, experience, conflict list, crew choices.
This is a rubric to use for Audience Etiquette. Because Audience Etiquette is part of a theatre students knowledge and skill, we give a AE grade each week. This is the rubric we use to assign that weekly grade.
This document is a sample handbook that you can adapt for your department.
This is a document that includes how to start your Booster Club, a sample set of By Laws, and an example of a Booster Club Budget.