A performing and language arts program that allows the
participants to develop an entire storyline around a set of
characters presented in song.
The fun comes as the children brainstorm the characters to life, developing the entire show together without the use of a purchased script, what will become
a full length choreographed musical production.
Create Your Own Programs
Choose from a variety of
starting points
PROGRAM PROCEDURE....
"The Art of Listening" The participants listen to each of the songs in the packet, and discuss what images they have of this character. They will begin to draw them on paper, using the voice, the melody, and the general message of the lyrics, They will name them, if a name is not already given in the song. The instrumental versions of the songs will become the production numbers.
"Brainstorming the Story Line" Now, with a sense of character in place, we give the students a skeletal storyline, and begin to improvise the action and direction of the story, one scene at a time. We take all suggestions as we develop each scene, and even discuss entrances and exits, general scenery and special effects used throughout the production. When you are not married to a specific, copyrighted script, there is room for continuous change of all story elements. When all scenes have been developed through these brainstorming sessions, the basic storyline is written out, usually by the director, and each participant receives a copy.
"First Impressions" We share each other's pictures. It's amazing how they can all be listening to the same song, yet envision different impressions of the characters.
"Bringing Characters to Life" The students will begin to improvise together how these characters move, talk, walk, etc. They can give them an accent or a stutter or any quality they would like the character's voice to have. We begin to discuss personalities and how they may fit together in a storyline. We discuss protagonists and antagonists, and we begin to demonstrate how each of the characters we have developed thus far, perform basic, everyday actions: walk, eat, sneeze, comb their hair, drink, sit, and so on. After this characterization session, the students may begin to choose which character or type of character they wish to play. I usually let them choose 2-3 favorites.
"Improvising Through the Scenes" Rehearsals begin with this written story in hand. Improvising the dialogue one scene at a time, begins with this created knowledge of the story, theme, messages, and direction you and your cast have decided to take your audience. The adult lead of this group should be ready to ask prompting questions to help direct the development of dialogue. The teacher/director can feel comfortable making as many suggestions as needed for the students to begin this creative endeavor. As they themselves become more comfortable with their character and with the process of improv, they will happily adapt their words to best suit the character they have invented. And they take comfort in being told that nobody in the room will ever know that character, or know how to play them, as well as that performer will, because each player helped to create and grow their characters to their liking.
"To Script or Not To Script" There were many years when my casts never used or needed a script. They had become so comfortable with the tool of improvisation, that the performers not only knew their lines well, but knew each other's, and could play each other's part, if needed. However, as the years have gone by, I found that we were searching more competitively for time; after-school events, clubs, family commitments have all grown to such an extent, that I eventually saw a need to at least provide a raw, skeletal script, based on our improvs of each scene. Then we would begin to shift to that script as we moved into full scheduled rehearsals. Students could alter lines as they saw fit, right up to opening night, with no hesitation in fine-tuning and delivering dialogue; they simply knew how and what their characters would say in any situation. The key to their success; knowing their characters so well, that they presented authentic and credible characters, and a sensible sequencing of their plot. So with or without a final script, improvisation helped us to create characters, strengthen knowledge of literary elements, and to grow in confidence, creative thinking, and team building.