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!

          Over the last few weeks I have been finishing up the writing of scripts to some Mini-Musicals (10-15 minutes in duration) for the Classroom setting.  The first four titles are "The Country Mouse and the City Mouse," "Dick Whittington and His Cat," "The Musicians of Bremen," and "The Tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff."  These stories are very well-known and have been loved for generations, if not centuries.  The challenge has been to keep their particular traits intact while giving them a few new twists and turns.
          
          When I taught General Music Classes in school, I always seemed to need a kind of culminating event to wrap all of the curriculum goals into a finished project.  So what if we learned some songs and how to read some notation, and play some instruments and learned something about history or culture?  Unless we could do a performance of some kind, all of those goals just seemed to fizzle and lose momentum.  These classroom Musicals are designed to meet this need on as high or low a level as the teacher desires. They could even be done as part of a Chorus Concert, in a Drama Class, or for a Home School Co-Op Enrichment Activity, or in the regular School Classroom.           

         Each story has an historical setting with songs reflecting the musical style period.  The script can simply be produced during class as a Reader's Theater, or the show can be performed with simple costumes, props and scenery in the classroom or on a stage.  Each mini-musical calls for a cast of 5-10 characters plus employs the rest of the class as a Chorus with jobs integral to the performance.  The actors read and/or act out the lines, but the Chorus kids help sing the songs, play rhythm instruments and provide sound effects within the framework of the narration.  Some of the stories teach interesting Theatrical concepts and practices from long ago.  Some have comedic action and adventure.  Some explore use of dialects and accents.  Some provide a stepping stone to studying music from famous composers.  Some employ the use of puppetry.  They can even be performed with choreography.  Besides, these stories are excellent entertainment!

         Each packet will include a Lesson Plan and Student Activity sheets, along with the Teacher's Script, Reproducible Scripts, Lead Sheets to the Songs, and a CD with Guide Performance and Accompaniment Tracks.  Piano/Vocal Scores to the songs will be available separately. The scripts are geared to fit two general age-ranges: K-3rd grades and 4th-6th grades.

        They are almost ready.  Should be available by September!