Dealing With Students with Performance Anxiety

Dealing With Students with Performance Anxiety

As a voice teacher, I work with pretty young kids. Sometimes I have to play the role of “Pretty Princess” and sing Disney songs with 5 year olds. Other times, I’m working with middle and high school students on repertoire

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Creative Fund Raising

The stress on the importance of arts in communities and schools has been pushed again and again in our American society. That stress comes from a constant need for funding to uphold programs that promote all the skills we want arts to

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Media Platforms Helping Us to Reach Our Audiences and Our Broadway Idols

Developed in 2010, Instagram became one of the leading social media applications out there. The platform was bought by Facebook in 2012 but has become more widely used than its media owner, in that the coming generations of media sharers have switched

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Accessing Broadway: Learning experiences that bring life and light to the world of theatre.

Broadway Educators is hosted and maintained by All Tickets, Inc., which specializes in group experiences and educational theatre experiences in New York City. One of the services offered by All Tickets, Inc. is access to a huge range of workshops

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Noisy High School Students and Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints

In college, I found that the strongest productions I took part in were the ones that started with exercises in architecture, special awareness, tempo, and topography, key elements to Anne Bogart’s philosophy of Viewpoint Composition. The reason why I enjoyed

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The Drama Machine

Behold, The Drama Machine.  This is an interactive application that demonstrates the variables that we always deal with in production.  It randomly combines factors: Script, Director’s Concept, Venue, Budget, and Time. It churns out the circumstances for a hypothetical production

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Creative Drama For The Classroom: Line Games

Pocket Lines: Pulled it Right Out of Their… Pocket The first lines acting game requires a great deal of preparation from the teacher beforehand. As the teacher, you must compile a variety of numerous different brief lines that might be

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Five Facts for Surviving in the Theatre – Do You Want a Career in the Performing Arts?

Too often those who are considering going into the theatre don’t understand the business in which they are interested. There are some common mistakes that those who are of high school and college age make. These including limiting their geographic

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Great Part-Time Theatre Jobs – Part II

Often working in the theatre means surviving in the business until you can get established and work full-time in your specific area of specialization. Not all, but many who are successful were able to keep connected with their chosen field

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Theatre Hierarchy: Who’s on First?

If you’re new to the professional theatre or to a professional theatre training program, you might not quite understand the role of each of the following: Producer Director Stage Manager Each of these people has a distinct role in the

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Tips for Directing a Farce- Fast, Clear, Clean, and Articulate Equals Funny

It’s interesting but farces, which should be hilarious, are often deadly on stage, and often it’s not the fault of the playwright. In fact, most audiences have witnessed some very fine farces given very poor productions, making them dull, slow,

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Stage Directing: Three Ideas on Theatrical Stage Dynamics, Part I

If you’re new to stage directing, there are some basic A-B-Cs of stage dynamics of which you should be aware. These dynamics, if used properly, will serve you greatly in staging a production. They did not substitute for the work

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Understanding Drama Through Script Writing: Three Exercises

There are many different ways in which instructors of all levels can help students better understand a play. Many times classroom instruction involves discussion, reading aloud, and writing a formal essay about some theme, character, or other aspect of the

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Stage Directors: Giving Actors an Environment for Success

Too often directors work against their actors rather than working with them by creating an atmosphere where they believe that they can succeed. Perhaps one of the most important attributes that a successful director possesses is the ability to instill

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3 Stage Directing Tips to Use When You’re Stuck

It happens to every director whether they’re a neophyte, a mid-career professional, or a sage veteran. At some point in time, you will find yourself stymied by the fact that you can’t seem to connect with an actor on a

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Three Quick Playwriting Exercises that Get Results

If you’re teaching playwriting, you may be frustrated or perhaps a bit anxiety ridden about ensuring your writers can actually create scripts. In other words, many who teach playwriting for the first time find that they have difficulty in getting

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Public Speaking and Theatrical Techniques

Many of us assume that powerful public speakers are simply born with a natural talent for effective presenting. While it is true that some people are better oral communicators than others, anyone can draw on theatrical techniques to improve their

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Camp Can Do: Assistive Technology Meets a Broadway Favorite

Camp Can Do The Lion King

Think about all the thoughts you’ve had today. You’ve probably thought to yourself about how hungry you were at lunchtime. You might have come up with a list of things to do in your head or a list of groceries

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Themes Revealed and Utilized in The Miracle Worker by William Gibson

In an earlier post on The Miracle Worker, we looked at the relationship between Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. Thematic discussions and explorations when analyzing a play like The Miracle Worker can also be helpful when attempting to connect a play’s characters, actions,

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Making Media Work for Performers: An Interview with Joel Zayac of the American Repertory Theater

Overseeing and directing media for a controversial and preeminent regional theatre in New England that makes historical and political statements translates into a lot of Starbucks for Joel Zayac. Sitting at his huge Mac computer in the corner of the graphic

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The Miracle Worker: The Relationship Between Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller

The Miracle Worker Character Study

Though most viewers consider The Miracle Worker to be about Helen Keller, William Gibson wrote the play as a tribute to her teacher, Annie Sullivan, and to her struggles in helping Helen understand language. Annie’s relationship with Helen is displayed

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The Major Theatrical Unions in the U.S.

If you are working in the professional theatre in the U.S., you may end up joining one or more of the various theatrical unions, or you may interact with union members. There are numerous theatre unions or professional organizations. There’s

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5 New Year’s Resolutions for Any Theatre Student or Practitioner Wanting to Grow

If you’re someone studying theatre arts, you should certainly be focused on getting better at what you do. If you’re in the business, you should be doing the same. Improvement and growth are essential to your being employed for the

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Playwriting: Can You Be Taught to Write a Play?

One of the common questions you often hear about writing in general and playwriting in particular, is can it be taught? Can a playwright really learn to write for the stage by taking courses in the subject? The answer is

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The Actor’s Dilemma: What Young Actors Need to Learn, Part II

Actor training and being casr

Many young actors live and die, or seem to, on the posting of the next cast list for either their college or conservatory production. After all, it’s not like being in the professional world where there are hundreds of casting

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