Theatre Resources for Students and Educators
It’s 1913 and the Women’s Movement is taking shape in America, anchored by the suffragists — “Suffs,” as they call themselves — and their relentless pursuit of the right to vote. Reaching across and against generational, racial, and class divides,
This highly imaginative musical features a fine book by Winnie Holzman and music and lyrics by one of Broadway’s most accomplished composers, Stephen Schwartz. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked will fill you with wonder as it takes
This video demonstrates briefly how safety expectations differ between a stage and public spaces. The full transcript is available here: https://scenicandlighting.com/article/managing-risk-in-the-theater-space/
The word “limelight” began as a bit of technical jargon two hundred years ago. The original meaning is long gone, but the word developed gravity . The metaphor has replaced the original meaning. “I’ve spent years when I’ve not been
This video is not an official part of the Projections on Stage sequence, but it is an excellent additional resource. It is intended to help people who are working their way into the use of scenic projections and might have only
In 2013, I posted a Theatre Hierarchy Handout. It has been very popular because in addition to showing lines of reporting (like a tree), it also shows lines of communication. It is also arranged to demonstrate performance vs. running
An Alphabet of Celebrities was written and illustrated in 1899 by Oliver Herford, an American humorist. It is almost forgotten today, but it contains a wealth of names and characters worth exploring. There are about 83 names or characters mentioned
We use a lot of ice-breaker activities in theatre classrooms. These often included revealing information about one’s self or emoting in some way. You can surprise your students with either of the following two activities that do not require any
This ten-minute video demonstrates the basics of lighting design. Washes, specials, distance, field angle, and other considerations are demonstrated in a virtual theatre space in a simple and conversational manner.
This is an open-education resource, like everything else on this site. It is a step-by-step lighting design project packaged as a PowerPoint file. The PowerPoint file can be downloaded here: https://scenicandlighting.com/downloads/Light_Plot_Assignment.pptx Your students are instructed to edit the PowerPoint slides.
How much do you remember of your high school vocabulary lessons? You would write down your word lists, find the parts of speech, the definitions, and put each word into a sentence. This educational tool would help young students to
From Rhett Ellis: DRAMAGLOM is the acting game. You draw three cards– Cue, Expression, and Intensity. You read the Cue card with the feeling of the Expression card at the Level (1-5) of the intensity card. Your team mate guesses
This is part three of a series. The previous part is Projections on Stage Part II: Making Good Use of Ordinary Projectors Anything that reflects light – even just a little bit – can be a screen. The bigger question
This is part two of a series. The first part is Projections on Stage Part I: How do I make them brighter? Design the set around the screens It is easy to think of projections as being just the background
Demonstrating theatrical lighting in an educational environment takes a lot of setup. I have some standard lectures where I take my entire class down to one of our theatres and spend the class powering different instruments on and off while
In a previous Broadway Educators article, I discussed tactics for working with young students with anxiety. As technology is more prevalent in everyday use and common conversations switch from live to digital, we start to see more students with anxious
In 2002, I created a set of browser-based light labs. These demonstrated the principals of lighting design, as well as creating an accessible place where people can experiment with light. There are some pros and cons to a browser-based lab.
During the summer when my teaching schedule dwindles down, I take on a bunch of arts summer camps. I help out as a counsellor for theatre camps for little ones and work with teen girls on songwriting and choral ensemble
Whether you teach voice lessons, acting classes, or musical ensembles… you’ve seen it. The blank stare as your student is performing. They go on complete auto-pilot and are clearly not thinking about the words they’re singing or saying. There are
Currently, I am working with a theatre in New England as an acting teacher for young kids. This class is an introductory course to theatre directions, jargon, auditioning, and acting games. It’s definitely a fun course though the majority of
In my blog series, Spreading the Acting Bug, I’ve talked about my experiences working as a theatre teacher for young ones, marketing theatre classes in a non-profit atmosphere, and helping teachers find the right monologue books for actively auditioning kids.
Working in multiple facets of performing arts education, I come across a lot of kinds of people. I come across families filled with performers looking to get their kids involved in what they grew up with, families whose kids are
Finding a common ground when you’re working with kids not familiar with the world of theatre can be challenging. You can belt out “Defying Gravity” at them all you want but they probably won’t understand. Though I don’t know why
When I started teaching acting classes, I knew I’d need to be able to start each class with some basic knowledge. The hard part about that is that I have some students who come back to take the same acting
When you’re a twenty-something doing a bunch of survival jobs and performing nights and weekends, chances are good that you’ll be roped into a teaching job at a local theatre. The results of these low-paying, high energy jobs can be
This week with Acting Bug classes, I got some new students, introduced some new themes, and wrote a scene for the kids to learn about blocking! With a focus on stage directions, silliness, and stopping them from facing their butts
As a creative professional who is working hard 9-5 to support a love for performance, it’s nice to make a little bit of money in arts teaching jobs. This holiday season, I will be teaching a couple of six-week acting
Broadway is excited about using kids for family programming once again! With current shows like Matilda, School of Rock, and Finding Neverland relying on child actors to drive the plot, the award winning West End production of Charlie and the
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
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
History The musical NEWSIES is a dramatized, but overall accurate description of what life was like for children in the U.S. back in the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. The newspaper boys (aka the “newsies”) were the primary way that
Theatre history can be a daunting subject to teach due to the fact that it is expansive, often loaded with facts and many of the classic plays can be difficult to comprehend when read. Here are 8 Mini-Assignments for a
Using theatre as a means to teach mathematical subjects makes class more interesting and enables greater learning for students. Theatrical approaches can be used for other educational subjects too, but as a former student who struggled in trying to understanding
This exercise asks students to create a triptych that tells a story with a beginning, middle, and end. The three panels, which are developed as collages, must utilize the principles and elements of design. This is the sixth of 10
In the fifth of 10 design aesthetics exercises from Auburn associate professor Fereshteh Rostampour, students are given the creative task of translating a 3 to 5 minute piece of music into a visual display. This is a wonderful mid-range exercise
This design aesthetics exercise focusing on composition requires that students convey a focal point, asymmetrical balance, and movement. Students write a short story or develop a theme and then illustrate their central idea through collage. The point is to create
This exercise, which is the third of 10 focusing on design aesthetics, demands that students create their own color wheel and tones. Tones are developed by using varying amounts of black and white. This is an exacting exercise from designer
In this innovative exercise from theatre designer Fereshteh Rostampour, students are given 9 adjectives and they must draw lines to illustrate the emotion each evokes. Creativity, execution and presentation are all important in what is the second of 10 design
It’s not uncommon for writers to observe people in everyday life and get ideas for characters and even entire plays. This playwriting exercise offers 30 pictures of 30 different people. The assignment is to create a play creating and using
A Bit of History ANNIE is a Broadway musical based upon the newspaper strip Little Orphan Annie, created by Harold Gray in 1924. The plot of the comic strip follows the adventures of Annie (who wanders throughout a world full
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