My elementary classroom teacher friends have been kind enough to offer suggestions for Lesson Plans for my new Mini-Musicals.  In many states, so much of the curriculum is scripted to meet the Common Core Objectives.  They find that it is exhausting to add anything beyond the well-stated goals.  It is simply too hard to justify "fluff' and "fun."  They are too busy trying to keep up with all of the mandated requirements.  And many teachers are so overwhelmed, they rely solely on commercially prepared pre-made worksheets and packets.

          This is such a shame!  As I have read the National Common Core Objectives, there seems to be a lot of room for creativity and fun.  For example, one of the ELA objectives for 1st-3rd grades is to retell a story or fable with a moral.  What better way to meet this objective than to present a class play?  And if the songs reinforce the concepts of the moral plus other Language Arts ideas, that is all for the better.  For example, the opening song in  "The Tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff," contains an idiom that is introduced along with many other puzzlements, "Why is Grass Always Greener on the Other Side?"  This song is a good jumping off point for a discussion about asking questions to get information using the words "who, what, where, when and why." 

          In the Mini-Musical "The Tale of the Musicians of Bremen," the moral has to do with Age and Change.  Children may not recognize how difficult it is for older people to grow old and feel useless.  Older people often stubbornly resist change.  The old farmer and his wife in the story have to face Age and Change in themselves and for their animals.  This story shows the animals taking a proactive step to avoid their certain fate (death).  The animals are likable and do silly things, but also allow for a discussion about important life lessons, particularly Age and Change.

          The City Mouse and the Country Mouse discover that both of their homes have pros and cons.  The Country Mouse visits the City with her cousin and is terrified at the noise and hustle-bustle and all of the hidden dangers of the City.  She decides that the "cons" far outweigh the "pros" of City Life.  She races home to the Country where she already knows what to expect.  "The Tale of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse" begins a discussion about Comparisons and Likes and Dislikes.  Through explorations in acting and singing, the students can draw comparisons from the story and their own experiences to become better at determining their own preferences.

          Retelling a story or fable with a moral is what these Mini-Musicals are all about.  According to the advice of my teacher friends, I have included ideas and worksheets to help meet some of the Common Core Objectives for ELA.  The best accolade I ever got from mounting one of these shows came from two little boys.  The confided to their dad that they did not know why I kept telling them how proud I was of their hard work.  They did not feel like it was work at all.  They were having so much fun! 

          Who says learning can't be fun?

         In the theater world, we call the preparation, casting, rehearsing, and doing all things related to producing a musical play MOUNTING a production.  To put on a full-scale production or even a scaled-back production involves many elements and takes time and energy.

          So, how much time should I allow to do all it takes to MOUNT a production?

          That will depend on a few things: Schedule, Budget, Helpers, and the Stage, well actually, the availability of rehearsal and performance spaces. 

          Schedule - My rule of thumb for doing a 20-30 minute children’s theater production is to plan 20 to 25+ hours of rehearsal time.  For a longer, more complicated show plan 30-35+ hours at a bare minimum.  Now, MOUNTING a smaller in-class mini-musical with fewer complications may only take 6-10 hours of dedicated rehearsal/teaching time depending on how many extra teaching activities you want to include.  Plan the schedule very carefully to work the children in short segments.  Vary the activities every 10-15 minutes so that they stay invigorated through singing, movement, doing worksheets, thinking/memorizing/lecture time, and acting segments and still be able to get much accomplished in each session.

          Budget – Most shows can be MOUNTED with any amount of budget depending on how creative the Director is.  Sets and Costumes can be very expensive especially when multiplied by the size of the cast.  Some productions do not absolutely require elaborate sets and costumes.  Find shows that have suggestions for alternate ways to MOUNT them.  Decide what you can afford and design the production accordingly.

          Helpers – In order to do a musical, the main “helpers” are the Director, Assistant Director (or producer), musical director or vocal coach, stage manager, choreographer, costumer, and scenic designer, and they may even want helpers to help them.  If you do not have people to do these jobs, the few helpers available must do all of the jobs.  Depending on the size of the cast, try to use the 10:1 rule.  For every 8-10 children have at least one adult helper.  That way, the jobs can be equally divided and the children’s varied activities can be more easily managed.

          Stage – “It’s all about the stage” or lack thereof.  In the theater world, this is a common mantra.  Creating the illusion of the world in the story is literally a function of the stage and its limitations.  Sometimes a show must be MOUNTED in a portion of a classroom with none of the conventional perks (lights, sound, curtains, backstage prep area, space, space, and more space).  Sometimes a show will be MOUNTED in a gym with a stage, but the stage still has few of the conventional perks.  So, once again, the production has to be designed within the confines of the space available.  In order to be successful, Directors must be creative!  Sometimes the show won’t move to the stage until the last couple of rehearsals.  In order to effectively rehearse, the rehearsal space must closely match the stage dimensions.  Be sure to measure and set up barriers as necessary to make the practice space resemble closely the feeling of the actual stage.

          So get out there and start MOUNTING one of the Musicals on this site or one of the Mini-Musicals coming soon!  Break a leg!

          My little girls loved to watch Disney movies when they were very young.  They loved to dress up in their "spin around dresses and click shoes" to dance to the wonderful music from those Disney shows.  When they were older, I determined to put them into ballet and tap classes.  The older daughter had the perfect shape for a dancer -- long legs and and thin torso.  She could easily do all of the dance steps and keep up in the class.  I couldn't wait for the next daughter to get old enough to start dance classes.
          Daughter #2 was perfectly suited physically for doing the dance moves, but in class, she just did not follow very well.  It turns out that her 4-year-old self thought she was doing everything as directed, but all we saw from the outside was a little girl standing there doing nothing, or coming in with actions and moves that were out of sync with the music and the rest of the class.  We thought that she had no sense of rhythm and was uncoordinated or something.  Little did we know that her little brain was working overtime.  She was deep in her own world in her mind doing the most marvelous steps. I worried so much that she was not ready, or worse, had no talent, that I elected to take her out of dance classes until she showed some promise.  We thought dance would just not be her "thing."
          Years later, that daughter, developed many talents in singing, art, and drama, but especially in dance.  She loved to choreograph.  This is where her ability to imagine in her mind the movements of large numbers of people on the stage came in handy. She even decided to make human performance and dance her major in college.
           One of the most interesting things she did during her college years was to work a season at Disney World "animating" or bringing the Disney cartoon characters to life. Because of her ability to choreograph and act, she was great at doing movements that were unique to the various characters she portrayed.  Each cast member could portray several characters according to their height range and how they fit the costumes.  They also had to be able to master signing the autographs of the characters they portrayed.  This was a delightful adventure for her.
          
ANIMATING THROUGH MOVEMENT - On stage, actors need to be able to use their bodies to "animate," or take the identity and use appropriate movements of the characters they portray.  During dance warm-ups, a fun activity is to have the children do movements representing ANIMALS or other FANTASY CREATURES.  Have the accompanist play music that sets the mood for different movement such as "slow, lumbering" music for large cumbersome animals, "bouncy" music for monkeys, "slithering" music for snakes, "gliding" music for birds, "galloping" music for horses or unicorns, etc.  Keep these snippets of music very short and changing after 8 bars or so.  Help the children use their entire bodies to give shape and movement to the creatures.  Let them make characteristic creature sounds, as well.  Remember to allow FANTASY CHARACTERS, too, such as Robots, or Monsters, or Unicorns, or Fairies.
          Keep it fun and SHORT!

          Learning to IMPROVISE with PANTOMIME and/or VOCAL INFLECTION is a skill young actors must practice in order to become proficient.  ONE WORD SCENES are an important tool to use for this training in the arsenal of acting games and activities.  These scenes are set up as  SITUATIONS to be played by two actors.  Usually one of the actors tries to convince the other about something, but they are only allowed to use one word, such as YES, NO or MAYBE.  Through their use of pantomimed actions or use of simple props and their vocal inflections of the one word, all of the meaning in the scene should be conveyed to the audience.

SITUATIONS - The simplest situations are created from real-life scenarios, such as having one actor be the shopper the other the salesperson.  The salesperson tries to convince the shopper to buy something.  The shopper takes his time making the decision and needs to be shown many options before committing to the sale.  Each situation should have a beginning, a middle (the business to transact), and a conclusion (does not need to end successfully for the salesperson).  Each scene should conclude in less than one minute and the actors are allowed just the use of one word.  They can say that word many different ways, though - as a question, as an answer, in showing they haven't made up their mind yet and need to be shown something else, and so forth.

          The situations and words assignments can be drawn from a hat or made up on the spot and given by the teacher/director.

Male Shopper - 1. Hardware store shopping for power tools  2. Sports store buying golf clubs, fishing poles, baseball bats, football cleats, etc. (Stick to one specific genre per scene)  3. Car dealership buying a fancy sports car  
4. Electronics store shopping for the latest hand-held gadget (smart phone, game player, tablet, etc.)

Female shopper - 1. Department store shopping for make-up or hair styling products  2. Jewelry store shopping for rings, earrings, bracelets or necklaces  3. Shoe store looking for the latest fashion high heels  4. Bridal shop buying the perfect wedding veil

Situations with one simple prop
          1. In a fancy French restaurant ordering from a MENU (paper folded to resemble a menu) - definitely demonstrating a language barrier.  The waiter resorts to all forms of body language and gestures trying to explain the choices on the menu.  The customer tries to make a decision from the choices the waiter tries to explain.  Neither of them can use more than the one word they are assigned. (May also use table and chair.)  
          2.  In a hat shop picking out a HAT or CAP.  The shopper tries on the hat in many different ways and may even pretend that the one hat is actually many hats of different styles. The salesperson may resort to flattery in his gestures and referring to a pretend mirror, anything to make the sale.  But each of them are allowed to speak just the one word.
          3.  In a clothing store picking out a SCARF.  The shopper may pretend the scarf is any type of clothing item she may like such as a shawl, or tie, or hood, or a scarf for warmth or just decoration.  The salesperson may even show her some unique ways of tying or draping the scarf.  They can only use the same one word in their exchanges.
          4.  Door to Door Sales using a HAND BRUSH or BROOM.  The salesman knocks at the door and presents the person with offerings from his bag.  He must demonstrate the use of the one prop in many different ways to try to get the sale.  They are each allowed to say just the one word.

          A few years ago, I worked at a school for students with learning differences.  Children came to this school when they had reading difficulties such as Dyslexia or trouble with communication or social skills such as Autism or Asperger's Syndrome.  There the children received teaching that matched their particular differences, and also helped them with socialization.  Because many of them had been ostracized from associating with other children, this was an important step in helping them grow into maturity and be able to function later as adults.

          I thought it was interesting that one of the main tools the teachers used for helping children read body language and understand facial expressions was to have them watch segments of soap operas and situation comedies.  A clip was shown and played without sound, and the children were to watch the actors' body language and facial expressions.  They were to explain the actions and emotions the actors portrayed and make predictions of what would happen next.  Some of the situations were very basic such as predicting when people were HAPPY or SAD or ANGRY or PLEASED.  Other situations were more difficult to predict such as when the actors were portraying CONFUSION in making a decision, or being IRRITATED when someone makes them feel uncomfortable, or being BRAVE in a tough situation, or trying to give COMFORT to someone.  Many of these children had trouble understanding how one's own actions affect other people.  Watching these video clips really helped the children learn to understand the cause and effect of human EMOTIONS and body language.  

          In children's theater, we work with the kids to help them explore EMOTIONS and how to portray them on stage.  Because in live theater, the audience is usually quite far from the stage, the actors need to "play it big." Any facial expression also needs a large body attitude or gesture to help it "read" better.  On film this would look ridiculous, but for stage work, large facial expressions and movements are a must.  To be successful on stage, the actor must use his entire body to make EMOTIONS readable for the audience.

EMOTIONS GAME:  The basic human emotions are all forms of LOVE, RAGE or FEAR, but beyond these are many sub categories.  Write a selection of emotions or human attitudes onto notecards and have each child take a turn interpreting that emotion or attitude. Possible choices: HAPPY, ANGRY, SAD, CONFUSED, IRRITATED, EXCITED, LONGING, SATISFIED, WORRIED, HUNGRY, FLIRTY, GRUMPY, INTENSE CONCENTRATION, HAUGHTY, KIND, FLAMBOYANT, STRONG, WEAK, NERVOUS, BRAVE, CHEERFUL, EXUBERANT, SICK, GOOFY, NERDY, and the list could go on.  In my experience you do not want to give license for kids to be BORED or TIRED or AMBIVALENT, so do not give those as options under any circumstance!  If you do, you will be SORRY!

          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!!!!