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

Repeat After Seven Years

12/27/2025

The Cat with Mice in The Adventures of Dick Whittington

A child who was five years old when she was first enrolled in a Children's Theater show would age out of the program in seven years at age 12. That means that the director would be safe in repeating a show after seven years. I have been trying to decide if I have time or gumption to write another new show this year. Or maybe, it's time that I should repeat one of my earlier shows.

The Balladeers from The Adventures of Dick Whittington

Fortunately, I have kept a list of titles and dates of the shows I have previously written and produced. Not all of them have been mounted as Summer Camp Shows for one reason or another. Some may be too short, and some may be too long. Some may not work without a big stage with lights, curtains, variations in levels, and a large back stage area. Or maybe they just need to be revised in order to work on my backyard patio stage. There is much to consider

So, these are the Children's Theater shows that are possible candidates that I last directed prior to 2018:

The Adventures of Dick Whittington (60 minutes)
The Country Mouse and the City Mouse (30 minutes)
The Ants and the Grasshopper (15 minutes)
Parizade's Quest (60 minutes)
Momotaro (45 minutes)
The Three Billy Goats Gruff (15 minutes)
The Musicians of Bremen (15 minutes)

Some of these shows work better with a larger, older cast. Some work better for a smaller, younger cast. Too bad I have to make the decision before I know who might sign up to do the show. I need to have a plan in place before I start to advertise the Camp. It's quite the "Catch 22."

Safe Singing for Children's Voices

11/11/2025

For several weeks my granddaughter Roxy and I have been practicing her solo for her Ward Primary Presentation last Sunday. The song she sang was in Spanish. I really don't speak Spanish, but I know enough about languages and singing technique that I could help her develop. When the time came for her to sing, she had the song memorized and she looked up and sang confidently and beautifully.

Now, Roxy has natural talent, but she also demonstrated the desire to work on that talent. The song had a lot of words and the melody spanned about an octave and a fifth. Most children's songs are pitched within one octave from Middle C to Treble C. She really stretched to be able to sing all of those pitches without straining.

She is fortunate because she has opportunities to help her develop her talents. At school, the Elementary School Chorus teacher is very good and believes in choosing music that is pitched properly for young voices. Roxy has also been involved in my Summer Theater Camps where we spend a lot of time focusing on good and safe singing for young children. Plus, when she came to me with this special request to work with her privately, how could I refuse?

The other children in the Primary sang with lots of heart. Most tried to sing the words, but there were many who did not know how to match pitches. There were also many who just blurted out the words at the top of their lungs with no effort to sing in tune. The song leader had good intentions, but obviously not much experience in teaching singing to children. They did have a sweet spirit as they sang, though.

The safest way to promote good singing for young voices is to help them find their head voices first. When they can use their light high voices on the notes around Treble C, they can harness the ability to match pitches. After they learn to match pitches beyond their speaking range, it opens up so many more possibilities.

After they learn to safely match pitches, you can help them strengthen their posture and breathing to project their sound. When they simply work on singing loudly, they tend to strain their voices or shout in monotone. Unfortunately, if that happens, matching pitches throughout even an octave range becomes impossible.

Children singing together in tune can be so beautiful. I wish more children had the opportunities to learn to sing properly!

Staging with Movement

7/7/2025

Going to professional theater shows, I am always amazed when the shows have interesting staging. Scenes with big movement or dancing and also intimate moments of calm. The give and take of movement depends of course on the pacing of the script. It's no secret that variety in movement helps keep the audience engaged.

So what happens if the show is static with hardly any variety of movement at all?

Whenever I plan a Children's Theater piece, I try to build in times of movement or dancing, and also change up the number of actors on the stage through the scenes. I really try to write in opportunities for variety in the staging. Much of how people write for stage comes from tried and true formulas, but directors know to try to add fresh ideas as much as they can with the talent available.

However, sometimes your best ideas can be ambushed when reality sets in. A man came up to me after the "No Time for Monkey Business" show last week and gave me kudos for even attempting to get 10-year-old boys to do choreography. He said that was probably the least capable demographic to expect polished movement. Then he added that he knew this from his own experience. (Guess he was once a 10-year-old boy in a show with dancing. However, these three boys did pretty good compared to some of the others in this cast. I had very few "triple threats" in this show!)

As I was writing "No Time for Monkey Business," I had visions of lots of dancing and variety in the blocking of each scene. But as we were working on dance steps, it became obvious that these children could barely do the basics. They could step and march in place, from side to side, and front and back. That was basically it. They could possibly do some gestures as well, but not necessarily at the same time as moving their feet and rarely keeping the beat.

We also had kids who really had trouble wandering all over the stage. So I resorted to drawing chalk X's on the patio floor labeled with their names. (I've never had to do that before!) This was probably the most static show I have ever done. Maybe future productions of this show can be better filled with movement.

The most adventurous attempt at choreography was with the Hyena's song. We worked with the kids to learn a basic "cha cha" step. The girl who played the Hyena did very well, and the kids behind her looked like they had fun trying. I guess that was the main point after all.

From the Mixed-Up Files of...

7/5/2025

In the 1960s when I was young, I really enjoyed the children's novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. My mother used to read it to us while we were driving on long roadtrips. I loved the adventure and the mystery in the story. I also loved the idea of living in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. But mostly, I think I enjoyed that title: From the Mixed-up Files of...

As I have been trying to prepare my latest show for publication, I have reflected upon how the computer MAKES you have a filing system. It requires you to name your files and put them into folders. Each file and folder must have its own unique name, and so forth. And passwords? AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

I pity anyone who tries to decipher my filing system. I basically have none. My life should be titled "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Betsy Lee Bailey." Sure I can come up with names for files and folders, but can I remember them long enough to retrieve them? Of course I can't. I almost do better when everything ends up in MISCELLANEOUS.

Anyway, my new show is published now where anyone intent enough to look can find it No Time for Monkey Business on SheetMusicDirect and on SheetMusicPlus. The Director's Script, Piano/Vocal Folio of the songs, the Production Kit with reproducible items, and all of the Accompaniment Tracks are available. The video from our 2-week Summer Theater Camp is also now posted on YouTube. No Time for Monkey Business video

Generally speaking, I am pleased with how this show turned out. Sure there are many things I would have edited and refined better had I had the time. But all in all, it worked. My grand plans of having the songs recorded by my tremendously talented family would have been nice, too. But time just ran out. And it's always such a risk doing untried material with a group of novice children and expect a professional performance in just two weeks. (How presumptuous is that anyway?)

Sure, having an organized and updated system for filing and retrieving stored items is best. I am in awe of people who can think that way. I guess a creative mind like mine is just not wired that way. But, at least I can still write a catchy tune...

Pondering Schedules

3/19/2025

How many of you remember waiting all week for your favorite show to be played on television? Be it a situation comedy like "Gilligan's Island," a musical comedy hour like "The Carol Burnett Show," or even a new cartoon show like "The Flintstones," you planned your life around being free for that short half hour during the evening.

(We kids didn't get to watch TV during the day, except maybe cartoons early on Saturday morning.)

We are so accustomed now to being able to stream almost any entertainment at any time. We can start it or stop it for any reason. We can even roll it back if we miss something or run it forward to skip parts we don't like. We don't even have to sit through commercials if we don't want to. Schedule --- schmedule --- who needs to stick to a schedule?

I wonder, though, if we have gotten so comfortable with doing things at our own whim that we are less inclined to stick to a schedule, especially one that is planned by someone else, like an organization. Even school schedules are not as strict and may be rather changeable nowadays compared to how they have been in the past.

Last night I watched a biopic about Max Steiner, a composer who worked in the early film industry for many, many years. In fact, he is credited with "teaching" the movies to have emotion and dramatic crescendos. He himself said that he was just following in the footsteps of the great Austrian theatrical composers who knew how to create "leit motives" for individual characters and use those themes throughout the underscoring of the entire movie. And he was the first to do so. He wrote countless movie scores that are still remembered today. Some of the best are "King Kong," "Casablanca," and "Gone with the Wind."

What was quite impressive, and sad at the same time, was how he and his collaborators worked and worked to keep to the schedules. For example, instead of giving in to exhaustion and just walking away from the projects, or demanding more time (as in his situation with scoring "Gone with the Wind" in 1938), he went without sleep to get the composing finished. Unfortunately, the demands of strict schedules also cost him two marriages, and his health.

As I am now planning a Summer Theater Camp, I have to think about our schedule. We will have two weeks, that's 10 days, or just 30 hours, to accomplish everything it takes to put on a pleasing show. That's hard for seasoned professionals, let alone for inexperienced young children. Yet I have been pleased with the work of all the young thespians that have been in my camps before. So I have every hope that they can rise to the occasion and do it again.

Just hoping as time goes by that enough people will continue to understand and value the importance of things like coming on time, being prepared, and sticking to a schedule!

Testing Out a New Song

5/13/2024

Yesterday was Mother's Day, so I expected some of my children and grandchildren would come by. In anticipation, I had a costume for my little granddaughter that I was anxious to let her try on. Once she had donned the costume, she also took on that character's persona. She surprised me by singing the little song from my new show and dancing around.

I had hopes that CJ would prove to me that the very young participants (even younger than my 5-year-old age limit) could learn the songs. And she did. I had only sung the first part of the song with her a few times on her other visits to my house. But then, once she was in costume and also had her tiara on her head, she burst out singing "It's a Party for a Princess" and danced all around the house. I just had to take a short video! She is proof that the young ones will do just fine on this song.

After 50 years of working in Primary and doing Children's Theater, you'd think I'd be well acquainted with just what young actors/singers can do, but then again, I've never had so many such young participants in my Summer Camp shows before. I will have a 3 1/2 yrs, a 4 1/2 yrs, three 5 yr-olds, three 6 yr- olds, and three 7 yr-olds plus the usual number of 8-12 yr-olds. (The very young ones will be there only because their parents are my helpers.) We are working on "The Frog Prince."

One thing I am absolutely certain of is their CUTE FACTOR. If we handle the scenes just right and let the "littles" shine, their cute factor will steal the show.

I just have to be sure to bring them on stage in small doses so they don't distract the audience from the main plot line...

Summer Theater Camp 2024

3/11/2024

Here we are already in the month of March 2024. Time to make the announcement official about my Summer Theater Camp for children ages 5-12. This year we will do Camp from June 24-28 and July 1-6 (excluding July 4th). The performance will be July 6th at 10 am in my backyard for families and interested locals (Provo, UT).

The show is a retelling of the Grimm's Fairy Tale "The Frog Prince."

After reading a very short version of this story online, I realized that it need not include a love story. In fact, because in that version, the Princess had a birthday party, I also realized that many little girls wearing Princess dresses could be invited to that party. This story also can accommodate many Knights doing manly action-hero activities. We will use hand puppets to pull off some of the magical effects. Should be loads of fun!

There you have it, a "princess" show with parts for 20+ little girls (who all want to be princesses), as well as great comedic parts for a bunch of boys.

Now to finish writing it!

Effective Rehearsal Planning

9/25/2023

Often I am asked: How much time does it take to rehearse and mount a children's theater show?"

The answer, of course is: "That depends..."

If you know already that you are doing a 2-week summer camp and only see the children 3 hours a day Monday-Friday --- you do the math. 2 weeks x 3 hours of rehearsal per day = 15 rehearsal hours. That's not very long! Those few hours also have to include some breaks and "get-to-know-you" time. So obviously, you won't be choosing to do a long complicated musical!

The Bluebirds trio with Foxy Loxy

However, with enough helpers (and a few seasoned young actors that you suspect you know their capabilities) you can accomplish amazing things in those 15 hours. Motivated kids will do a lot of practicing on their own --- memorizing lines, songs, and dance moves --- at home when they are not at Camp.

Ducky Lucky with his family of exercise enthusiasts

Another key to ultimate success is to pick a show that can be divided into smaller sections for rehearsal purposes. You need to look for a show that has parts for many characters who are not needed in every scene. Try to avoid shows that only have a few of lead characters who are integral to ALL of the scenes and dances. It is helpful if the scenes have dances or songs that could be learned separately with a portion of the cast. That way you can "divide and conquer" more easily.

Loosey Goosey with her brood

For a small Summer Theater Camp of about 25-30 kids, you will still need at least four adult staff members to pull it off. (I often also recruit a few Junior staff helpers, too. Older teen-aged former camp kids are prime candidates.) Assuming you are the Director and will do the blocking and main artistic directing, you really should have at least three assistant directors - someone to teach the songs, another to teach the dances, and another to be the Stage Manager (who also does the odd jobs like fitting costumes, running down-time craft activities, or managing all of the back-stage issues). The four of you will probably also all chip in to create the scenery, props, costumes, and set-up.

Turkey Lurkey

As the Director, you will be responsible to coordinate all of your assistants and their efforts. You will need to create a schedule, talk through the "look" of the show, make sure all of the songs are learned on time, preview dances, and clue-in the choreographer to staging and blocking issues. Pre-Camp meetings are a must plus a healthy number of on-the-job brush-up meetings!

Henny Penny, Cocky Locky, and Chicken Licken with their family

An example of a script that lends itself to the "divide and conquer" plan is "The Tale of Chicken Licken." The cast is divided into barnyard fowl families. They each have a song and carry a scene. Then there is the story-within-the-story group that also can practice separately. Even though most of the cast is on stage throughout the show, they can learn their special scenes separately, then put the whole show together later in the rehearsal period.

With enough planning, big successes are assured!

Bring Your Own Chairs

6/26/2023

Our family enjoys going to hear the Brass Band play in the park during June. We
love the whole idea of gathering on a lovely summer's evening to hear fine music with a lot of other people who also enjoy music. It's the feeling of community that is so comfortable. Last evening's performance was the last of the series. What a wonderful gift to the community!

Of course, it is also fun to people watch. Besides watching the concert, it's fun to watch families watching their children and grandchildren playing on the swings and slides. My little granddaughter was giving quite a show as she danced to the music. We always enjoy the children's march, as well as looking around seeing family groups sharing snacks and clapping their hands in rhythm to the music.

Bring your own chairs.

As you can see on the ad for the concert series, at the bottom in small letters it gives the direction to "bring your own chairs." That really says something about the loyalty of an audience when it is understood that they will not only come but bring their own chairs. That assumes that the audience will put in some effort to be there.

Looking ahead in a few weeks to my Summer Theater Camp show, I also ask our audience to bring their own chairs. I have some chairs I can set out, but not nearly enough. Our audience is also very good to make such an effort to provide their own seating.

Just love summer in our community!

Getting Into Show Mode

6/12/2023

Planning schedules, taking applications and fees, organizing props and sets, going through costumes, and just taking stock. Those are tasks that I need to start getting a handle on and QUICK!

This summer's theater camp will present the Children's Musical "Stone Soup." Just waiting for all of the registrations to come in, but we should have about 25 kids in the cast ages 5-11. This is a smaller, tighter show. This show works best with a small cast.

Because of lots of family doings --- a new granddaughter's birth, family reunions, family moves, construction plans, etc. --- our Summer Camp had to be held later in the summer July 25th-August 5th. Though not optimum, it is what it is. (Maybe this will work out better. We have had so much rain this spring, perhaps by August, we will dry out a bit!)

That said, I have to get all of the preparations done and in place well before my house is overrun by 40 family members during our Family Reunion in the middle of July. So, I just had the scripts printed, I made arrangements to paint sets next week, I already sorted through my shed for the costumes and props, and I have organized the cast into groups. Now, I need to have prep meetings with my song leader, stage managers, and junior staff to make sure we will be ready when the camp starts.

So much to do!

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