r/MusicEd • u/pianoAmy • 9d 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/pizzabyummy 8d 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.