February 26

I'm sorry for the gap in my blog posts!  We have moved into our work on the play, and our schedule has been a little different.  Students successfully completed the audition process and are now "knee deep" in the work involved in rehearsing for our production.  We have been working on learning and understanding the terminology and concepts used by actors and directors.  Students are now very familiar with terms like "stage left", and they know where on stage that is.  Blocking, articulation, being in character, projection, movement--these are all things that we have talked about and are putting into practice.  Being on stage can be difficult and even awkward or uncomfortable for some, but all are making progress and learning about what to do! 

We are very fortunate to have Mrs. Susan Vandenbrink working with us again this year!  Mrs. Vandenbrink is a former DCS parent whose children are now college graduates, and she has graciously come back for many years to help us with our play.  She has a wealth of theater knowledge and experience, and she does a great job of sharing that with our students! 

We have blocked out entire show (your child can explain that to you!) and we are in the process now of running and working each scene.  We started today with the prologue and scene one, and we are working through each part in a detailed fashion, focusing on the characters, their lines, and their movements.  Students need to have their lines memorized in order to do this well!  The students have been told that lines need to be memorized, and this has been homework for them for some time now.  We are currently working on the first 20-30 pages of the script, so those lines should be the first focus, and as we work through the play, those lines will need to be committed to memory also.  Please encourage your child to be working on lines, and if you can, please spend some time working with him or her on those lines.  Really, the best way to practice lines is to speak them out loud, and if your child can have you or someone else read all the other characters' parts from the script, that is a huge help.  Thanks!

The date of our play will be Friday, March 30--so if you haven't already put it on your calendar, please do!  We will have an evening performance and an afternoon dress rehearsal.  If you're able, plan to attend both!  

Plan, too, for a couple of mandatory after-school rehearsals that week.  Students will go to OL Smith to get used to the stage and practice there on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 27 and 28 after school until 6:00. It will be very important to have all students present, so plan ahead to reschedule lessons and activities for your child on those days.

Thanks for your help and support of your child as we continue on in this exciting endeavor!