Betsy's Blog on Children's Theater | BaileyKidsMusicals.com - BaileyKidsMusicals.com

Stock Players and Audience Participation

3/11/2020

While watching an episode of "Father Brown" (a BBC mystery series) the other night, I realized that the story was set within the framework of Christmas Pantomime. Even though the plot was about a murder and the miscarriage of justice against a simple young man of the village, the setting was in the context of the community theater production of "Cinderella." The secondary plot lines revolved around the "regulars" being cast in this Christmas Pantomime.

"Pantomime is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale. Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers." (quoted from Wikipedia)

As the episode progressed, more and more of the pantomime was revealed. All of the elements were there --- the Every-man, a Love Interest, the Do-good characters, the Dame, the Villain, a Comic Duo who provide slapstick comedy, and at least one Funny Animal. In this case, the very large Funny Animal was played by two men dressed in a cow costume, and other funny animals were Mice played by little village children. I was interested especially at how the audience shouted out to the actors, or booed and hissed at the villains or other things that they did not approve. Unfortunately, there were many things about that production that I would have wanted to "boo and hiss."

The idea of Pantomime was to provide Family Friendly entertainment. Had I been in the audience, I am afraid that I would not have enjoyed the crude, lewd and rude "humor." I definitely would disagree that the treatment of the subject matter was Family Friendly. Where the concepts of how to mount a Pantomime are good, the way some productions are directed can definitely lack wholesome moral values. No amount of dressing up in gorgeous costumes and brilliantly painted scenery can mask that lack of moral decency.

So glad that the elements of Old English Pantomime can be used as a framework for stories told with good character morals. KINDNESS is the value presented in the Bailey Kids Musical "The Adventures of Dick Whittington."
My idea of family friendly is obviously very different from modern English Pantomime.

Marquee in London for Dick Whittington

12/18/2018

So, I got this picture from my sister who is traveling in Europe. She snapped this shot of a marquee in London of "Dick Whittington and His Cat" and said she thought of me.

I have often heard that this Pantomime (play) about the man who was thrice elected Lord Mayor of London (all due to his wonderful cat) has been presented in some form or another since 1605 -- and is particularly popular at Christmas time. I have no idea why the story would be popular at Christmas time, but it is a rags to riches tale and is hopeful and upbeat. Could that be the reason? Or it was just traditionally presented at that time? Who knows?

Can't help wondering what this London version is like. Is it a MUSICAL? Does it have the traditional STOCK PLAYERS reminiscent of the Old English Pantomime when the play had its beginnings? Does it involve AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION? Do they have a SING-ALONG? Now I am so curious!

I had such a great experience writing my version of this story. My research led me on such adventures that I had to title the production "The Adventures of Dick Whittington." One of the songs that was such fun to write was the song for the Ship Captain "Over the Briny Sea." The sailor boys who sang it in the show loved it because they thought it was a pirate song. That's okay. I suppose sea-faring men of all sympathies sang sea chanties while they worked.

This is such a great story. I am glad it is still popular 400 years later!

Yesterday after writing the above, I gave in to my curiosity and read up a little about this particular London production of "Dick Whittington and His Cat." From the reviews and the posted pictures, I am no longer curious about this show. It is a musical. They put new lyrics to popular songs and hyped up the dancing. They even adapted and used one of the rap-style "Hamilton" songs in the show. From the pictures you could tell that the show was spectacular in its costumes, scenery and effects, however I imagine that it had no moral values represented whatsoever!

I am happy that I write for children's theater and adapt the stories to reflect and promote character values. Kind of sickens my stomach to think that this story that I love so much was presented in such a base and garish way.

The Adventures of Dick Whittington

9/5/2018

"The Adventures of Dick Whittington" is a retelling in musical form of an Old English Pantomime. Just spent the morning relocating old m4a audio files of this show I wrote to be produced in 2016.

As I look back, I realize that this musical was fun to write not just because it was based on tried and true material, but because I also knew the talents of the children who would likely audition to be part of the show. The oldest of these students had already been in shows I had directed for four years. And some of the younger ones were siblings of the older ones and couldn't wait to start their acting careers.

Though, I did not know for certain that I would cast the show in any particular way, I knew that I had options. I knew that I could expect the boys who would be perfect to play the Captain, and Dick, and the twins who had such comic stage presence. I knew the vocal ranges of the two potential lead girl characters and that they could carry the heavy line load. I knew these were strong actors/singers who could play multiple roles well.

But there were some definite risks and unknowns.

For example, in Old English Pantomime, there are certain Stock Players that were well defined and expected. One was the "Dame." This character was usually played by a exceedingly fat man exaggerating a comic/villain female character with garish make-up and wearing outrageous wig. I had to hope I could convince one of these young girls to play this role. The beautiful, thin actress we cast agreed to wear a fat suit and play the part -- but it was awkward for her to get used to doing the things she needed to to get the laughs!

There was one girl who, bless her heart, had auditioned to be in my shows for many years. She was a good little mover and actor, but alas, she really couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. So, I could never cast her in a leading part that required a good singing voice. Turns out that she was perfect for the role of Dick's famous "Cat." She did a great job and stole the show and she got the last and most prominent curtain call at the end!

The "Balladeers" in this show had to be very strong actors singers and dancers and able to deliver comedy. They had to make quick changes to play multiple roles and good timing to hold the continuity of the show together. They also had to be confident enough to lead the audience in the sing-alongs! So glad we had six students with great presence to do these roles!

And then there were the adorable little "Mice." In Old English Pantomime, the funny animals were essential! I never knew that when I asked the mice to show their own distinctive personalities, I would get such a response. These were definitely sneaky and unique and very funny characters!

I think this has become my favorite of all the shows I've written. And it has been a delight to look back and remember those wonderful students!

Hard to Pick a Favorite

10/19/2016

Occasionally I am asked which of my Musicals is my favorite. Would it be the one I am currently working on, or the first one, or one that is associated with a special memory...

Well, this is a tough one.
My favorite is probably not the first one I wrote. "Stone Soup" has evolved so much over the years and has had a lot of input from multiple actor's and director's interpretations. I like "Stone Soup," and have enjoyed the various iterations of its development. It was the first show that featured my two youngest children when they were very young -- 5 and 6 years old. There will always be a fondness in my heart for "Stone Soup."

Over the years I have been fortunate to direct everyone of my sixteen Children's Musicals. In fact, none of them were actually written in a vacuum. All of them had a reason to be written and performed. Even the four classroom mini-musicals. They started out as a project for a company that provides reading materials to classrooms in Asia that teach English as a foreign language. They chose famous English language stories as a basis for teaching culture and heritage, as well as entertainment through reading. This company wanted songs to go along with their simplified reader's theater scripts. I was given permission to use the songs for my own purposes, as well. The five stories I wrote songs for were "Chicken Licken," "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse," "Dick Whittington and His Cat," "The Musicians of Bremen," and "Three Billy Goats Gruff."

The great thing about owning the rights to your own work is that you are not bound by any restrictions. Nearly every time I have personally directed one of these mini plays, I have had reason to modify the script and add new songs. If I had a particularly talented cast, I could add more colorful characters and give them more interesting songs to sing. That's how "The Tale of Chicken Licken" and "The Adventures of Dick Whittington" became full-length musicals. I will always love "Whittington." I feel like I wrote some of my best songs for some of my best characters in that one. I always knew that "Dick Whittington" had potential to become a feature length show because of its beginning as an Old English Pantomime. But I was surprised by "The Tale of Chicken Licken." I will have to say, that of all the shows I have done with and for 2nd graders, this has been received the best. The school kids loved it! I guess it was comic enough and very easy to understand. (I really think they loved the costumes the most.)

Well, I have currently been working again on one of the first shows I ever wrote. It started as a Summer Camp production for 8 young children. The first iteration of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" was written for 5-7 year-olds. It had to be very simple. I was so surprised by reactions of that first audience. When the little sheep came on and danced their little dance and shook their little tails, the people were practically "rolling in the aisles" delighted because of the "cute" factor. But I felt sorry for the contrary boy. I felt that he was just misunderstood and should have had a song that told his side of the story. So a few years later, I revisited this show and expanded it to full length and gave the contrary boy his own song, "A View from the Highest Mountain." Of all the songs I have written for Children's Musicals, I think I am most pleased with this one. Who out there has never felt misunderstood or has yearned for a higher perspective? (Writing a pure "stand alone" song within the context of a musical is very difficult.)

"Never Cry Wolf" has so many great memories associated with it. It has been my most performed Musical, with many theater groups using it for a main stage production. It works well for a very large cast with a wide age span, but equally as well for a smaller more homogenous aged group. I have particularly fond memories of when our church group produced it as a two week Summer Camp in 2007. We had a cast of 75 children ranging in age for 2 1/2 to 15. (We even had about an equal ratio of boys to girls -- very unusual in children's theater!) The mothers came out in force to help out on everything from managing the kids to providing cultural enrichment activities such as weaving, spinning wool, eating Greek foods, and building mosaics. Artists appeared out of nowhere to paint the scenery. Women set up shop during rehearsals with their sewing machines to create the costumes. So many women who had been dancers in their early life jumped right in and created and taught the choreography to the kids. The dads even volunteered to build a stage. In the end, the stage would have been too dangerous for our large cast of "little's" to dance on, so we used it to raise the audience providing "stadium" seating and the kids performed on the floor of the gym. We had such a great time during that production. I still hear from families who remember that show and thank me for providing such a great opportunity for their children.

So, if pressed, I would probably have to say that "Never Cry Wolf" is my all-time favorite of my shows. Don't get me wrong, I love each of these stories as if they were my own children. You simply don't pick favorites when you had to work so hard to bring them to life. But "Never Cry Wolf" holds the most great memories for me, probably because I have lived with it the longest.

Can We Help?

3/29/2016

So, getting all of the props and costumes and set pieces and extraneous stuff made, assembled, painted, sewed or otherwise collected and set up at the venue usually takes me the entire course of the run. And I do most of it by myself. But getting all of that stuff broken down and packed away after the last show usually happens very quickly thanks to a lot of useful helpers. This time, though, our last show of "The Adventures of Dick Whittington" was during the middle of the school day and not that many helpers were available. In other words, the few backstage helpers just had time to gather and box up the costumes. That left me alone to pack up my van to take things home at my leisure. It took me about a week to finally retrieve and transport all of the stuff back to my house. (Washing costumes, sorting, organizing and putting everything away may take another month!)

Library Set for "The List"

Cottage set for "Off to Seek My Fortune"

  My husband let me use his truck to haul away the last of the oversized items. I always tried to go over to the school during lunch times when I knew the door nearest the stage would be unlocked and the attendant teacher would be willing to hold it open for me as I hefted boxes outside. The last day, just as I was wondering how I would move the biggest props and set pieces, a bunch of 6th grade boys suddenly appeared.

   "Can we help?"

   "Absolutely! You couldn't have come at a better time!"

They were happy and energetic helpers. They made short work out of loading the bulky props into the truck and moving the large flat sets down to the storage tunnel. But, the payback for me was how excited they were to tell me how much they enjoyed the show. When they looked at the set pieces, they were quick to tell me that they remembered the scenes that they were used in. "I know what this is!" they would say. Then they would proceed to sing the song they recalled from that scene. "This is....There is too, too much to do! There is too, too much to do..." or "this is... Over the briny sea, boys! Over the briny sea!" They even tried to do the sailor's little jig!

These boys had not been in the show, they had just come to watch it several days earlier when we performed for the student body. I frankly was surprised to find that kids seated 'way in the back of the gym were engaged enough to follow the action of the show, let alone to remember the songs! That really gave me a thrill. They not only remembered the words, but got pretty close to recalling the tunes, too!

   Kind of renews your faith in humanity, doesn't it?

Amazing Substitutions!

3/22/2016

Our second performance of "The Adventures of Dick Whittington" was triumphant on many levels. I was amazed at how the cast supported the substitute players and helpers to make the show go smoothly. And kudos must go out to the children who stepped up to fill in for missing actors! We even had some brand new backstage helpers that rose to the challenge and made our cast look good! Many thanks!

Cast of "The Adventures of Dick Whittington" - Provost Elementary March 2016

The list of casualties included one "mouse" with a broken toe, a dancer with a broken arm, a missing Narrator who had gotten confused with when her community children's choir concert actually was, and a family that had a funeral that day. Fortunately, the broken toe and arm did not keep the actresses from performing. The funeral was early enough that the family made it back in time for the show. But the choir concert did prevent our Narrator #3 from performing. Luckily, one of her friends that had been helping on stage crew stepped up to the plate, memorized the lines, cues and movements and did a great job filling in. And another dancer handily changed her position in the "Spices and Perfumes" dance to fill in for Narrator #3 so that there would not be a hole. Whew! But the great news was that our little actress with the laryngitis Friday night recovered her beautiful voice and gave a brilliant performance! Yay!

I don't think the audience noticed or could even appreciate what went on backstage to make this performance happen. I told the kids that these kinds of things happen all of the time in live theater. I told them that this experience of juggling parts and covering for the missing actors was even something that seasoned professionals have to deal with. They were getting a real world experience. I was so proud of them that they hung together and made everything go smoothly!

Sing-a-Long Experiment

3/21/2016

Well, despite some last minute issues, the Premiere of the new children's theater production of "The Adventures of Dick Whittington" went very well. The grand experiment of having the audience join in singing some of the songs worked even better than expected. I think that sending a CD home with the actors actually insured that the families would learn the songs as well. The audience seemed to be very engaged and enjoyed being included in the action! Audience sing-alongs were an integral part of Old English Pantomime.

We were not without difficulties, however. Earlier in the day, I learned that the boy who had been working for a couple of weeks learning to pull the curtain would not be there for the show because he had a Scout camp out that night. So, one of the boys in the cast coerced another friend to take home a script and learn the cues. He did his best, but the Curtain cues were a little off. And two of the girls who had been working stage crew during rehearsals decided not to show up, so the two remaining stage crew people had much more to do. And a beleaguered stage manager got stuck holding up a piece of scenery during an entire scene because it had lost its supports during the set change. (Cute set painting, though, thanks to Lynn Stallard!)

At first, I was encouraged when so many adults came to help with "hair and make-up" before the show started. But it turned out that they all wanted to watch the performance. So we ended up not having enough helpers backstage during the actual show. Hence, the disheveled state of some of the actors who came out with costume parts and pieces on backwards or inside-out.

The most heart-wrenching moment of the evening though was watching one of the lead characters try to sing when she had laryngitis. I ended up singing her solo while she acted it out. Poor thing! We hope her voice is back for tonight's performance!

Live theater at the Elementary School level --- gotta love it!

Variations of Walking

1/21/2016

We are one week into a new production of "The Adventures of Dick Whittington" and I am finding that I am already way behind. The good news is that I have two wonderful assistants. The bad news is that they have different skills than I am used to having. One is a lovely pianist and the other is good at managing the children. Neither of them have had much experience in doing Children's Theater. So, where I have always been the one who does the overall directing and teaches the songs (since I wrote them), I need to utilize the pianist to teach the songs. And where I have usually had a terrific dancer as one of the assistants, it looks like I will also need to become the choreographer.

Well, as one of my choreographer friends used to say, "These are children with basically no dance experience. All you can do is teach them variations in walking."

So, what are the variations of walking she talked about? Walk, run, march, skip, slide, gallop.... And then you can always change the speed, direction, and intensity of the movements -- bend, lunge, lean, kick, point, hop, jump, twist, twirl, pivot, tip toe, sneak.... You can also vary the levels, planes and proximity of the dancers -- have different groups do different movements at different times in different spaces. Oh, yes, you can use arm positions and gestures, and my favorite, hand them a prop. There, this should be easy.

But what about paying attention to using historical details? This show is based on an old English Pantomime of Elizabethan times. What were the steps and dances popular in those days? Better do my research. Well, as I was writing the music, I did have music styles of the period in mind such as gigue, schottische, gavotte and reel. Are not these dance styles as well? Looks like I have ideas already forming in my mind for the dances.

My second assistant did say that she enjoyed doing Mexican dancing. Dancing is dancing, right? So if I came up with the choreography, she should be able to learn it with the kids and then be able to run their dances while I work on other things sometimes, right?

Variations in walking -- I think there is a lot more to it than it sounds!

Old English Pantomime

12/10/2015

Several years ago now, I was approached to write some songs for a collection of stories for an education company that was teaching English to children in Asian countries. These stories were selected from some of the most famous folktales, fables and original tales from all over the world, but more particularly from England and Europe. One of the stories that caught my attention was "Dick Whittington and His Cat." I had never heard of it before and was entranced by its charm. As I did some research into its origin and history, I was amazed by how it came to be.

“Dick Whittington and His Cat” is a very old English tale presented first in Pantomime form in England about 1605. It is loosely based on the story of a real person Richard Whittington who was elected Lord Mayor of London three times, in 1397, 1406, and again in 1419. English Pantomime was a much-loved popular entertainment for families from the English Renaissance (roughly 1520-1620). Certain stock players were expected in English Pantomime --- the Every-man (a normal, likeable young man that things happen to), a Love Interest (usually a young, feisty, fair maiden), the Do-good characters (kind persons, fairy godmother, beneficent wealthy person), the Dame (an extremely fat, over–the-top character who has a garish taste in clothing and wears outlandish wigs and make-up — usually played by a man), the Villain (ruffian, bill collector, jealous witch, evil Rat King, etc.), a Comic Duo who provide slapstick comedy, and at least one Funny Animal.

Audience participation in the way of cheering, hissing, and booing was encouraged, as well as a sing-along during or at the end of the performance.

The great William Shakespeare himself used this framework for many of his comedies!

The idea of using this recipe to create a Children's Musical piece was intriguing. I have been pondering my approach for a couple of years. Now is the time to make it work. I have a deadline. My new show is due to start production in January of 2016. I have done research on some of the many versions of this play that have been produced over the years. Apparently, it has been popular, particularly at Christmas time, in England for over 400 years! It has a pedigree that I must respect. In my research, I never found it produced as a Children's Theater piece for child actors to perform, though. Mostly, it is presented by adult actors to an audience that may include children. But there are many versions in storybook form for children. Curious.

I have not discovered why it is so beloved and performed as a Christmas show, yet. Maybe someone out there can enlighten me!

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After more research, I have the answer to the question above. Pantomime in England is traditionally done at Christmas time. It is considered family entertainment and any number of stories are presented -- usually folktales such as "Cinderella," "Robin Hood," "Jack and the Beanstalk", and many others. "Dick Whittington and His Cat" just happens to be one of the more popular stories.

Dick Whittington and His Cat

10/14/2013

The Tale of "Dick Whittington and His Cat" is a very old story that was actually based on a real person who lived in Elizabethan England long ago. This young orphan boy rose to become the Lord Mayor of London, but not until he came into a good fortune. In the story that became a folktale, this good fortune was all due to his clever cat. But in real life, there is no evidence that young Dick ever even had a cat.
The folktale was first performed as a PANTOMIME. The characters were richly costumed and acted without a set script. Music was played in true Renaissance fashion to accompany the exaggerated gestures and broad physical comedy of the stock characters. The audience was expected to understand the motivation and attitudes of the well-known characters such as the buffoon or fool or clown, the vice or devil, the Do-Well, or Do-Better, or Do-Best characters, the Everyman, and Death. In the story, the Protagonist (Dick) has interactions and experiences with forms of each of these stock characters. Later, in the early 19th Century, the story of "Dick Whittington and His Cat" was written into an illustrated storybook for children. By then the characters were refined to reflect a simple storyline about a boy who had the good sense to buy a cat to get rid of the mice problems he encountered along his way. This clever cat ultimately brought Dick good fortune when it rid the king of a faraway land of his mice problem.
When deciding how to write songs to fit this story, I decided that the music really fit in the Renaissance style period. I also wanted to introduce the characters as they would have been introduced in a Pantomime, with broad stokes using authentic Renaissance musical devices and instrument sounds. And since the story is to be performed by children, I decided to include plenty of little mice. They even get their own little scurry song -- in a happy mood before they encounter the cat and in an agitated mood as they are running from the cat. Then, the refrain from the first song is reprised for the finale.
"Dick Whittington and His Cat" is a wonderful story that has fun theatrical elements and interesting historical context.

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The Songs and Script are now available for this little 10-15 Classroom Musical.