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Teaching the Basics Through Acting Games

8/29/2013

   Playing acting games is a great way to teach skills to young actors. Children may not understand the difference between real and make-believe. There are so many skills that can be taught by playing acting games, but start with just a few main types. Experimenting with role playing, working with props, and exploring the stage can really help them learn the basics of acting and to differentiate between real and make-believe.

Role-Playing - The director will explain a situation to two children. It could go something like this: "You and your friend are on the playground playing with a ball. Suddenly the ball goes flat. What would you do?" The children then act out what they would do in that situation. The children can silently act or pantomime the situation, or they can use words and props. This type of acting game is the beginning of learning improvisation.

Working with Props - Learning to handle props can be a coordination nightmare for little children. Best to keep the actions very simple and the rules of use very clear. It can be fun, occasionally, to let the children handle a random prop and imagine an alternate use for it. For example, the director will assemble an array of household items such as a hairbrush, a hand-broom, a ladle, a feather duster, an empty spray bottle, wooden salad forks, a sock, and cinch sack. Put them in a container and let the children take turns pulling out one item and determine how to demonstrate their alternate use for it. Explain that there are no wrong moves and it is all for fun. You may even have the rest of the group guess what the actor is demonstrating. The actor can always set the group straight if they guess unsuccessfully.

Exploring the stage - Young actors need to get familiar with all parts of the stage. They need to know how to get on and off, how the curtains work, where the "line of death" is (the front edge of the stage that they must never go near!), and any other physical particulars. They need to become familiar with stage directions so that the director can easily block their places. They need to learn the rules for negotiating around scenery.

Using simple games can help them learn about these things and more in fun and interesting ways.

STAGE DIRECTIONS GAME: First explain the main stage directions UP, DOWN, CENTER, STAGE LEFT, and STAGE RIGHT. Then have the children line up in small groups. Tell the children that each group will pretend to be a different type of animal as they move "in character" to the area directed. You may ask the butterfly group to flit delicately across the stage to DOWN RIGHT. You may ask the elephants to lumber to UP CENTER. You may ask the monkeys to bounce over to DOWN LEFT. And the snakes should slither to DOWN CENTER.

Once they reach their destination, they FREEZE. The director then asks the groups to listen for their next destinations and on the signal they MOVE again. This can be repeated as often as desired. The groups can also change their identities to liven it up. Keep this game SIMPLE and SHORT!!!!
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The picture above is from "Never Cry Wolf" where the Military Academy boys are learning to march. These actors painted their own shields just like the ancient Greek warriors would have done.

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Doing Their Own Singing

8/21/2013

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May I just say how much I dislike going to a live children's theater performance to watch the performances of kids I know and love, only to find I cannot hear them because they are singing to a performance track complete with VOCALS on it!!!!! This happened again recently.

We attended a performance of an adaptation of a very famous book/movie, perfect for a children's theater production. Well...almost. I do not know how the script came about or where it came from, but it was missing some essential elements from the book and had none of the brilliant humor of the movie. It was a bit dry and definitely less than entertaining. Besides, the script had no original musical numbers, so, in their infinite wisdom, the directors randomly inserted one by just playing a song from the movie soundtrack. Out came 30+ little kids to sing and dance along to it. Those children were the brightest spot of the entire show in their adorable costumes doing delightful choreography, BUT YOU COULD NOT HEAR THEIR SINGING! They were overpowered by the voices already on the soundtrack!

This happens quite often in my experience -- from shows produced at dance studios to school productions to church youth talent shows. The leaders think that the children won't be heard or do not sing well enough or they do not have a P.A. system or something, but it never turns out well for them. They may have a point, though, about the children not singing well enough for the standards of their studio. Part of the problem is that they pick material that is not suited to the children's voices. The song is pitched too high or too low or the range is just too wide for the delicate voices to manage.

They might also create choreography that is too demanding for the children to both sing and dance to. They might also block the group away from the mics while they are singing or not have enough body mics to carry the sound of the little voices, or (my favorite pet peeve) they teach dances where the children use loud, heavy steps and overpower their own singing. Those are all very real problems and make the children look ridiculous even if it is not their fault!

My question to these leaders is simply this: How in the world do you think the children will learn to sing better and stronger if they are not allowed the opportunity to sing for themselves???????

Children need material that is suited to their vocal range and their ability to hear and reproduce properly. They should not be trying to imitate adult voices if they have not matured and developed enough vocally to handle it. Most children have a limited vocal range of between Middle C up an octave to Treble C. As they age and mature their vocal range widens. What happens then to kids who try to imitate deeper, mature voices too soon? They compromise their ability to hear and match pitch. No wonder many children grow up to be adults who cannot carry a tune in a bucket!

My counsel is this: Choose material for children that is of a suitable range. Demonstrate appropriate singing technique while teaching them the songs. Never encourage them to yell or to over-sing to make the sound louder. Use restraint in choreography to allow them the opportunity to sing well. And most of all --- Let the children DO THEIR OWN SINGING!

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When Applause Isn't Enough

8/9/2013

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We all like validation. A pat on the back for a job well done. A nice compliment when we have done something special. A smile. A kind word. A thoughtful remark about our comment. These are important to help us feel connected to other people and to boost our self esteem.

A second show of a run is usually the hardest. Coming off of a successful opening night, the performers tend to struggle to pump up to the same energy and focus level of the first show. As a director, I always try to think of things that will help. This spring I directed the show "A Successor to the Throne" at an Elementary School. The kids were so excited, bouncing off the walls and hardly contained in their skins for opening night. Then they waited all weekend for the second show on Monday night and for a third show for their peers during school the next day. What they all seemed to want to do was talk about comments from opening night. I shared with them some accolades that I received and then all their hands went up. They nearly all had something to say. So, we just took some time to share.

From listening, I realized that very few of these children had ever had an experience doing a musical play like this. Apparently, the shows the school had done previously had all the standard elements - a handful of leading characters, two or three ensemble numbers sung to a prerecorded accompaniment CD complete with vocal tracks, and only enough parts for a small cast --- but no one, including administrators, staff or parents, really expected very much. The previous shows were mediocre at best, but adequate enough for an after-school club activity.

What these children were telling me was that they were so pleased that the show had enough meaningful parts for 50 kids and that no one person was the star. They all felt important to the telling of the story. They each had many jobs to do throughout the show that kept them very busy. They learned some acting techniques and dance steps and they did their own singing!

The comments from the audience and parents to me were much the same. The audience was delighted with the music, and the dancing, and the colorful costumes. They were amazed at how well the children sang and that they could understand every word. Many people said they had read the book The Empty Pot, so they knew the story, but they were thrilled to see how it came to life with so much added depth and colorful characters.

The children continued to give wonderful, polished performances for their next two shows with very few fumbles. They were troupers. I was gratified to know that they got more than applause. I am so pleased that their audiences gave them the accolades and thoughtful critiques that they needed to validate their hard work. It's true, sometimes applause is not enough!

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It's All About the Stage

8/9/2013

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Earlier this year, I directed a musical for an elementary school. I usually work with Children's Theater Groups where I have known my assistants and been very familiar with the stage we were using beforehand. Going in to a new situation, not knowing a soul, I had to come up to speed quickly on a lot of fronts. The biggest issue I found was the stage itself.

The stage had adequate space, good lighting, a nice procenium curtain, large stairs in the front for use as choir risers, but it had some major problems.

1) There was absolutely no space to the sides or back to hold performers or sets or props or anything.
2) The black hanging drapes were hung in such a way as to block any entrances for the performers to get onto the stage.
3) The only feasible ways to move large masses of performers onto the front of the stage (via the risers) was from the hallway doors into the gym which, incidentally, were the only exits for the public as well.
4) There were no costume changing places, no holding tanks for the performers, and no place for a props table except out in the main hallway in full view of the public. Obviously, whoever designed this stage did not intend to use it for dramatic performances.

Notice the gap in the black drapes behind the cottage set. It was the only entrance from the back hall onto the stage. We finally pinned the black drapes together at the top so a gap wouldn't show as the actors entered or exited the stage.

Because, in Children's Theater we are used to being creative with very few resources, we were able to come up with innovative ways around these problems. But the bigger issue is that I have heard that this type of stage will be the replacement model for all stages being built in school renovations in this area. Why would anyone think that this is a good idea?
Why would it makes sense to build a stage with no way for the performers to get onto it? Don't they know that a good performance is all about the stage?

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Little Lambs and "Cute" Factor

8/2/2013

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My niece was recently interviewed for a classical music radio station. Amy Gabbitas, a very fine clarinetist, told about her love for Beethoven's 6th Symphony, the "Pastoral." Her first acquaintance with this music was while watching Disney's "Fantasia" movie. This music was re-imagined and brought to life in the time of the ancient Greeks, complete with Greek gods and goddesses, mythical beasts and the gentle animals of the pastoral countryside. Beethoven's music was a wonderful inspiration for the Disney artists' fertile imaginations. My niece, of course, loves the music even more because it has so many clarinet solo parts that she gets to play as part of the symphony orchestra.

This interview got me thinking back to how I came to write the little musical based on the Aesop fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" also based on an ancient Greek story with ancient Greek characters and setting. In those days, I was frustrated trying to find a suitable vehicle for our youngest actors. We wanted a play with music that told a good story with meaningful parts for all of our little actors.

Because we had very young actors, mostly ages 5-7, we needed very simple lines and short catchy songs and movement that made sense to little people. We wanted them to each feel that they could contribute to telling the story through their lines and their singing and their dancing. We did not want a play that relied on explaining things to the audience through a narrator, choral readers, or adult "helpers." And we especially did not want an over-produced accompaniment track that over-powered the little voices.

"The Boy Who Cried Wolf" was a good choice because it told a story with the possibility of many characters (including non-human fantasy characters), it had very simple costume and set requirements, and the show could promote a wholesome message. The biggest problem was how to infuse comedy into this story where the protagonist learns a life lesson through tragedy. We found that the children themselves brought delightful comedy to the show through their own "cute" factor.

The interaction between the Contrary Boy and the darling little lambs was fun to watch. Actually, the little lambs wagging their tails during their dance "Little Lambs Pastorale" had the audience rolling in the aisles with giggles. I had parents and guests comment that their favorite part of the show was seeing those adorable little lambs dance and wag their tails at the audience. And then when the youngest boy in the cast comes out as the Wolf and chases the little lambs around and off the stage... well, let's just say that the poor Contrary Boy had a difficult job to act anguished that he had just seen them go off to their demise.

Simple lines. Catchy songs. Good message. These are all very important ingredients to a young Children's Theater success. And, you should never underestimate the power of the "cute" factor.

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Teaching the Basics Through Acting Games

Doing Their Own Singing

When Applause Isn't Enough

It's All About the Stage

Little Lambs and "Cute" Factor

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