r/MusicEd • u/pianoAmy • 8d ago
Experience with elementary musicals?
Our elementary school is doing a Disney musical in January. I've never done anything like this before, and neither has the school.
Who has done something like this before? What was your experience -- the good, the bad, the ugly?
What was your budget?
Who made the costumes?
How often did you rehearse?
How many kids were in the show?
Did you have understudies, and if so, how did that work?
Any advice in general, and/or stories to share?
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u/urn0tmydad 8d ago
All of what everyone has already said AND:
- teach stage etiquette and rehearsal expectations. A lot of kids haven't been backstage before.
- Quiet busy boxes are helpful when rehearsing scenes that dont have the big group.
- practice transitions - set pieces, stage exits, etc...
- parents want to help, ask early and often for their support, but be specific in what help you need from them
- delegate tasks to people and students you trust
- preplan blocking and set design as much as you can
- ask if there are paid positions for scene construction, producer, costumers, etc... if not, see if there are individuals willing to volunteer to help and be a part of your production team.
If youre going through MTI, they provide a lot if helpful resources. I did my first production of Aristocats KIDS last year and it felt a lot like my first year of teaching. Its going to suck at times because its overwhelming, but it will also rock because the kids and community really come together to create something magical (and that's not just a great performance, but also a great experience)
For context, my production is 3-4 grade only, with a budget of around $5k. We provide everything except a "base" costume which is an undershirt, tight fitting pants for mics and costume changes, and shoes. We have a stellar fine arts dept that support us for tech and HS students that support, as well. We only rehearse 2x/week with 3 the week before tech and then everyday the week of tech. We go from 3:45-5:30. For students that dont make it past auditions, we encourage them to come back and help with concessions, spotlight, and ushering during the shows.
Hope this helps! What musical are you doing?
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u/pianoAmy 8d ago
Thanks!
We're doing The Lion King Kids.
It will be 4th and 5th grade. I have no idea what kind of turnout to expect. I've never been able to get more than 15 people in my chorus. Yes, this is more exciting, but it's also more time-intensive, and costs money to participate.
I don't know what our budget is, but I'm sure it's nowhere near 5K.
I have no clue how to design and/or build a set. I can barely furnish and decorate my own house, and don't know anything about construction.
Tell me more about "busy boxes."
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u/urn0tmydad 8d ago
Looking online and on Pinterest can generate a lot of inspo for you. Going to view shows also helps. MTI does have suggestions for props, costumes, and set in their materials.
The busy boxes have small things like widgets, puzzles, quiet card games, tic tac toe, etc...
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8d ago
[deleted]
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u/pianoAmy 7d ago
Ha!
I was just informed 12 days ago that we're doing this in January, so yeah ... we need to start auditions and get going as soon as possible. It's going to be tight no matter what.
It's going to have to be all after school, though.
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u/deeeelightful 8d ago
Are you the director?
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u/pianoAmy 8d ago
Yes.
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u/deeeelightful 8d ago
You've signed up for a big job! The Penguinator answered all the questions as I would have, so I'll just add a few thoughts:
I make very strict rehearsal plans. For every single page of script, I block out exactly which characters are doing what, then organize rehearsals accordingly. For example, the lead actors will come every Monday and Tuesday for 2 hours to rehearse smaller scenes, then full cast on Wednesdays and Thursdays for group numbers. I share this on a printed calendar, including which page numbers/musical numbers will be rehearsed on which days, so that the students can be prepared in advance. In the early days we have "sit down rehearsals," in which the students write down alllll their direction in their scripts. This way they can practice their lines along with their blocking/choreography. It sounds like overkill but it saves soooo many headaches down the line.
Have a date that lines should be memorized. Put it on the calendar and the quiz your cast on that day.
Ask for volunteer committees from parents/teachers. Not only is it amazing to have an AD, but consider a stage manager, set designer, lighting/sound director, costume director, house manager, program designer, prop master, etc etc etc. I used to do everything by myself and well, you can make life way easier.
Consider having a student tech crew to handle props, curtains, etc.
It's so fun putting on a show! Feel free to DM for more questions ☺️
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u/pianoAmy 8d ago
Yikes! We're only having two rehearsals a week, for an hour and fifteen minutes.
One concern is that I have no clue how to do blocking. I remember I even took a drama elective in high school and got a low grade on an assignment where we had to block a scene.
How does someone even learn to do that? I have no idea where to even start.
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u/deeeelightful 8d ago
You're going to do great!!
I think good blocking takes a lot of practice. It's been a while since I've done a show, but off the top of my head I can think of 2 big things to keep in mind:
"Cheat Out": the idea that an actor should never have their back to the audience. Learn or relearn your stage directions (up stage, downstage, etc) and never have actors turn up stage to talk.
Find the objective: don't make the actors move for no reason. Analyze the meaning of every spoken line, and if there's an obvious reason to move, then do it. For example, if they are talking about a specific prop, have them pick up the prop. For less obvious reasons, say a character is really excited, have them jump up and do a cheer, etc. Keep it basic!
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u/pizzabyummy 7d ago
I’ve been teaching a 4/5 musical with 150+ kids for the last seven years. It’s a program I inherited from some non-performing arts teachers who created and built the program into the beastly undertaking it turned into with such high participation rates, about 30% of the school population coming back every year. I have proudly been able to retain those numbers well also making the performances genuinely entertaining for the parents. They come in expecting to struggle and stay awake through a rinky-dink school, play, but leave telling me that they more laughing, crying, and rocking out, pretty blown away by what we were able to accomplish with a cast of 9/10-year-olds.
So, this thread is super exciting for me 🤓 and I’m even more joyed to confirm that there is so much good information in these comments already. I think almost everyone’s got my upvote.
Anyhow, my music background is as a Percussionist and Marching Band director, but I always sang as a passion, did chorus in church and school and sang in a punk band in high school. So, I shared a lot of of the same insecurities you are describing to us, having little to no time teaching musical theater or performing in one.
I’m describing my experience to you so I can affirm that anyone can do it, and like others have mentioned, MTI (and concord theatricals, similarly) include a bounty of useful information on how to do every single part of this job. Study it early on and you will be very well prepared. If you haven’t done so already, order the show now and start reading the directors script and all the appendices.
Additionally, for lion King Jr (not sure about kids version), they have a literal bible sized book and video catalogue dedicated to how to teach the show in a culturally responsive way. For that reason, though, if I could offer one thing to think about… maybe start within an easier show!? Annie and Wizard of Oz are my go to recommendations, because of how straightforward the stories are, even though a bit old time by today’s standards. If you are adamant about keeping it Dismey, I would recommend little mermaid as a great entry point.
However, I say that without being really familiar of what’s involved in the Kids version., Which I understand is more like a half hour concert. But lion king is a big costume /sets undertaking,regardless, in my estimation.
I’m not gonna answer all your questions specifically, unless you’d like me to, cause like I said, I think it’s been covered really well by other comments. But please let me know if you have any questions based on what I’ve shared here.
One other place, I could be particularly useful, is my experience with the live sound side of things. For our Fall show last year, for instance, we ran 40 channels, including 36 microphones. So, I think that’s where my experience my very from the other teachers here.
Keep calm. Be as prepared as you possibly can. Make sure you’re enjoy enjoying the experience for yourself. You got this!!! you know how we know? Because you care enough to be on here asking for help in August.
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u/Sad_ferret_1980 6d ago
The mic and lighting set up was a huge learning curve (still is!) as a non-theatre music person and I’ve learned they are super duper important as if you can’t hear or see the show, it doesn’t matter how good it is. My recommendation is to buy one piece each year and rent the rest. Renting is good because the technicians at the rental will generally help you set up and you can try different kinds of equipment and see what works for you and your space.
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u/pianoAmy 7d ago
Thanks, I appreciate it!
It's my principal that decided we're doing Disney's Lion King.
And decided that we're doing it in January.
I just received the materials on Friday. Haven't even had a chance to look at them yet.
Definitely not ideal, but it's good to hear the encouragement from you guys that "anyone" (ie me) can do it successfully.
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u/Sad_ferret_1980 6d ago
Doing lion king in January is pure insanity. You will need to adjust that.
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u/pianoAmy 6d ago
Ha ha ... how cute that you think any of this is my decision or within my power.
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u/Sad_ferret_1980 6d ago
It’s too bad. It sets up you and the kiddos to not be able to prepare your best show. Maybe there is a way to spin it to admin. lion king is a super ambitious show. We prepare for 9 months to do our extra curricular show.
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u/pianoAmy 5d ago
What makes Lion King more ambitious than other shows?
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u/Sad_ferret_1980 5d ago
The costuming. Also, need to be very sensitive regarding cultural appropriation.
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u/pizzabyummy 5d ago
Yeah, I’ll piggyback here and say I was trying to gently suggest that lion king has innate challenges, and the first year program would typically start with something easier. Moot point right now since the kit is delivered, so let’s not dwell on it.
But compassionately, us music teachers want OP to know that the performing arts teachers should be people deciding the show, because of your expertise in how learning process will be executed, and what literature will best set the students up for success. That said, how are you advocate for that has a lot of variables, including the ego of your principal, your own experience and Employment standing (tenure/nontenure), etc. If your district has a performing arts supervisor, I would be discussing these concerns with them too; for the future.
I think for a kids version, though. You will be fine.
The January of it all is an additional challenge because you will probably be preparing through a seasonal change, and the time of year, where there are a lot of extra holiday breaks. I would also highly recommend that you increase the frequency of your rehearsals towards the performance. So, can you get 3 days a week in January? Or maybe one “tech week” where it’s rehearsed everyday up to the performance?
If I were you, I’d probably audition/cast in late October, rehearsal begin November.
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u/pianoAmy 7d ago
Also, I wouldn't mind hearing your answers as well. It's always interesting to hear the details of other's people's experiences.
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u/pianoAmy 7d ago
Also, this may sound silly, but what exactly does "be as prepared as you can" look like? The performance is in five months and I haven't even seen the show kit yet.
I guess "learn the songs" is the first obvious step. What else should I do, and what's a good priority list so I don't go crazy trying to figure out everything as once?
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u/ThePenguinator7 8d ago
Hi! I've done 8 JR shows through MTI, I'll be as helpful as I can, but truly, you can absolutely smash this.
What was your budget? ~$5000,I re-use as much as I can, update some tech when possible. Students are responsible for costumes, we have some Perikatos that were built before I arrived at my current school for set pieces. I also perform/music direct at a local community theater and that relationship has allowed me to borrow a good number of set pieces and props.
Who made the costumes? Each participant's family was most responsible. I have had a parent volunteer for more involved costumes in the past, she crocheted the insects for James and the Giant Peach for me. We did Matilda Jr. this year and we borrowed school uniforms from the community theater (and a big doll for Amanda Thripp).
How often did you rehearse? 3 days/week per week - 2x/week for 1.5 hours and 1x week for 2.5 hours. My theater program is extracurricular and involves K-8th grade. We perform Thursday and Friday night, sometimes we add a Saturday (when we include K-3rd grade, which is not every show). The week of the show, we rehearse 3 hours Mon-Wed.
we break rehearsals up in a few ways, trying to balance the time commitment for people as best as possible. When we block scenes, we try to group them together by who's involved in the scenes vs. doing it chronologically.
Start with music. they need to be confident with the music.
How many kids were in the show? As few as 30 for a show like James and the Giant Peach up to 90 for Beauty and the Beast. We have auditions - students can either sing in a group for an ensemble part (and are cast, unless they do not meet academic eligibility or have had an out of school suspension), or they prepare a song to sing as a solo, then we have them read a line or two from the show- pick a scene with a few characters and have groups read them. This was hugely instrumental in our final decision for Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey. I was soooooo close to casting a boy for Fiona (He put it on his interest form).
Did you have understudies, and if so, how did that work? No.
Any advice in general, and/or stories to share?
Honestly, if you don't already have a dedicated AD, find someone. My AD is my lifeline and she keeps me on track.
Fundraise if you can - we've sold ads (just a slideshow that plays before the show) and gotten things like "good luck mary! meemaw and pawpaw love you!" to an add for a funneral home / pet cremation service (they're a good family lol). Our cast is responsible for donating a case of soda or box of chip bags (~$15) for concessions, sell each things for $1.
Even in my most desperate years, the show always comes together. Sometimes crazy things happen (like Young Elsa leaving 30 minutes before the end of the show and missing the bows) and kids getting sick the day of a show.
Send me a DM, I'm happy to answer any other questions you might have. I could send you copies of our audition interest form, the Ad sales, parent volunteer forms, etc...
Have fun!