Broadway

Broadway is a magical place where anything you can imagine is possible. The productions can range from inspirational true stories to fantasy pieces that make us all feel young at heart. Many of the productions also have movies that follow a similar story line like “The Addams Family”, “Chicago”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, “The Lion King”, “Mary Poppins”, Mamma Mia!, etc. Ever since I was a little girl I always wanted to visit New York City and see a show on Broadway. The two productions I always wanted to see the most were “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid”. I have always had a fondness for these two stories because they were released about the time whenever I started to take an interest in fairy tales and finding my “Prince Charming”. As the years went by my love of Theatre and all the aspects of what went with it grew as well. Through my experiences in my high school drama club I came to understand what all was needed to put on a successful production and exactly how many individuals were needed. Unfortunately by the time I was in a financial position to make my way to Broadway, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast” were no longer playing. Two Disney productions that are currently playing on Broadway right now though are “The Lion King” and “Mary Poppins”. Although my dreams of seeing “The Little Mermaid” on Broadway were squashed as of August 30, 2009 whenever the production closed I do still have a second shot of seeing it on a different stage. A touring edition of the production is suppose to start touring nationally later on this fall. “Beauty and the Beast” was one of Broadway’s longest running productions. It ran from 1994 through 2007. Although it no longer is on Broadway, it is still a popular choice for high school and community theatres to perform. I can proudly say my own high school even performed it, as well as the group theatre from all the neighboring high school’s for their summer production. Considering both shows popularity and timeless storyline I would say that there is a good chance that either of them might make another appearance on Broadway.

Although the two shows I originally wanted to see on Broadway are no longer playing I would still like to go see a production. I thought this assignment would be a perfect opportunity to learn about other interesting productions that Broadway has to offer. One of the first productions to catch my attention was “A Little Night Music”. It is a wild, romantic tale based at a weekend country house in Sweden during the turn of the century. Although the production has an impressive cast from all of the awards the only name I was personally familiar with before doing some research was Catherine Zeta-Jones. Another production I thought would be interesting to attend would be “The Phantom of the Opera”. I always loved the movie and story it’s self so the stage version would have quite a bit to live up to in my book. From the reviews I have read it sounds like a magically production, it even won the Tony Award for best musical, but the simple cost of tickets dampened my enthusiasm for going. I’ll admit, I’m a struggling college student so I would like to be able to see a marvelous production without having to spend all my entertainment budget for the month. The last production that jumped out at me was “Mamma Mia!”. It seemed like an interesting performance to see since the storyline was created using songs by the group ABBA. One thing I really liked about this particular performance is that they may have student rush seating available on the day of the performance depending on one’s luck. Overall though I think that is I do get to venture to Broadway in the near future I am going to shoot for going to “A Little Night Magic”, I like that it is a big enough performance to be on Broadway, but that it is still relatively unknown to the everyday public.

The Sisters and The Frog

Characters:

Kelly Ann: Red Headed Little Girl With Green Eyes and Freckles (Missy’s Older Sister)

Missy: Blonde Haired, Blue Eyed Little Girl (Kelly Ann’s Younger Sister)

Carol: The Sister’s Tall Brunette Babysitter


Setting:

The story starts out at Kelly Ann and Missy’s home while Carol is taking care of them. Their parents are both at work until late at night. It is a very ugly, stormy day right now so the girl’s have chosen to play inside for the time being. Carol is busy trying to find something to occupy the girl’s attention since they are bouncing off the walls. They end up all together in the living room.


Dialogue:

Carol: Have you girls ever heard the story about the “Princess and the Frog”?

Missy: NO! Can we hear it???

Kelly Ann: Ewwwwww!!!! How would ever write a story about a slimy frog?

Carol: It’s a fairy tale you guys and it’s actually quite a good story if you guys will give me a chance to tell you it.

Missy: Ok, ok! Carol, come sit by me on the sofa.

Kelly Ann: Do I have to come listen to the story…?

Carol: How about you give the story a chance Kelly Ann and if you don’t like it we’ll do whatever you want whenever we’re done.

Kelly Ann: Ok, that sounds like a fair deal.

Carol: Ok, girls. So once upon a time there was a princess who wanted nothing more than to find her prince.

Missy: Was she locked up in a tower or something like the other princesses?

Carol: No, dear. She could move around as she pleased. She did find out though that her prince had been changed into a frog and only if she found him and kissed him would he ever be human again.

Kelly Ann: They made a fairy tale about kissing frogs???


Carol: Yes Hun, but the story gets better if you’ll let me finish. So after kissing every frog she could find in her village she began to give up hope on ever finding her prince charming.

Missy: Did she get warts from kissing all the frogs Aunt Carol?

Carol: I don’t think she did dear, but I don’t know for sure. Anyways just as she had given up all hope of ever finding the right frog, one jumped right up onto her lap. She told herself that she would kiss one more frog and if it wasn’t her prince charming she would give up kissing frogs forever. She picked up the little slimy bugger and laid one heck of a kiss on him. Suddenly the frog jumped out of her hands and onto the floor. In a giant puff of smoke her changed into a noble prince. He thanked the princess for her devotion and they we married the very next week. They lived happily ever after.


Missy: That was such a great story Aunt Carol.

Carol: Thank you Missy. I’m glad you liked it.

Missy: Is that how you found your prince charming Aunt Carol?

Carol: No dear, I never had to kiss any frogs. My prince was already in human form.

Missy: I wonder if I’ll have to kiss a frog someday to make my prince human.


Carol: I’m not sure dear. I guess only time will tell.

Kelly Ann: I can’t believe anyone would kiss that many frogs.

Carol: People do funny things whenever it comes to love. You’ll learn that as you grow older. I have an idea though. How about we go looking for some frogs and see if we can turn them human.

Kelly Ann: It’s raining outside though so there won’t be any princes out there.

Carol: You silly goose. Don’t you know that a day like today would be ideal for hunting frog princes They’ll see the rain as an opportunity to get a bath.

Missy: Can we please go hunting frog princes Aunt Carol??? Please, please, please….!


Carol: Ok, but if we’re going to do this, we have to do it right. Do you girls know where your raincoats and rain boots are?


Kelly Ann: I do!

Missy: I know where my raincoat is and my left boot..

Carol: Ok, Kelly Ann go get dressed and help your sister find her other boot while I gather up supplies for us.

Kelly Ann: Ok Aunt Carol. Missy did you look in your closet and under your bed for the missing boot?

Missy: Of course I did. That’s always where the monster hides my stuff.

Kelly Ann: Ok, well go get your coat on right now and then meet me in your room and we’ll look again.

Missy: Okey dokey.


Setting:

Missy and Kelly Ann are in Missy’s trashed room.


Dialogue:

Kelly Ann: So you’re sure it’s not under your bed Missy?

Missy: I’m positive, I cleaned under there last week.

Kelly Ann: Then why did I just find it there?

Missy: The monster must have put it there last night.


Setting:

At the doorway, about ready to go outside.


Dialogue:

Carol: So are you girls ready to go hunt down some fro princes?

Kelly Ann and Missy: We sure are!

Carol: Here are some nets for you guys to use. It’ll make it easier to catch the slimy little things. (Carol opens up the door.) Here we go!


Setting:

Outside of the girl’s house, in the flower garden.


Dialogue:

Kelly Ann: I think I see one!

Carol: Then try to catch it silly!

Kelly Ann: I almost have it! (Stumbles along with the net and ends up falling in a mud puddle whenever she tries to grab the frog with the net.) I got it!!!!

Missy: Kiss it! Kiss it!

Kelly Ann: Muah! Nothing happened… I don’t think I found my prince charming, but I think I’ve had enough of hunting for frog princes for today.

Carol: There’s always another day to find your frog prince. Let’s get you guys inside though before you catch a cold.

Relating Theatre To My Major

Ever since I was little I always looked up to my teachers. As I grew older and older I saw where they had more and more influence on my life. Eventually I realized I wanted to be one of those teachers who are able to influence children’s lives in a positive way. I am planning on doing a dual major in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education.


Since I was eighteen I have worked at my local YMCA Daycare. I mostly work with the pre-schoolers, three through five year olds. Preschoolers are the man age group I would be working with if I would get a job using my Early Childhood Education. Smaller children like preschoolers are especially troubled by distress in others around them. They do not understand yet the troubles of the world so a good preschool teacher needs to also be a good actress. They need to be able to hide their emotions whenever they are around the children so the children do not become upset and everything turns to chaos. There is always going to be activities that are not that exciting for adults like “Ring Around The Rosy”, but as a Preschool teacher I would have to act just as excited and happy as the kids are. With an age group like that one emotions spread like wildfire so it is my job to act as happy and excited as can be so the children can enjoy themselves. Another similarity between the responsibilities of a pre-school teacher and theatre is how the area is set up. In theatre the set is arranged to eliminate as many blind spots as possible which is similar to that of childcare. When thinking about how to set up a room we need to think about what area is going to be used for and if that area can be seen easily. Another aspect that is the same is the use of costumes. Little children love to play dress up and make believe. As a teacher it would be my job to determine what kinds of costumes would be appropriate for my kids to have and how accidently they should be constructed. For theatre use more expensive fabrics would be appropriate while less expensive materials would be more suited for children since they would most likely be destroyed in no time.
Similarly to theatre, elementary teachers need to be able to adapt older materials to new ideas. Like in theatre older ideas need a makeover every once in a while to be able to capture a new audience. An example of this is “Romeo and Juliet” for instance. The script “Romeo and Juliet” is one of the great classic love stories, but every once in awhile it needs someone to come along and give it a makeover so it can reach a new generation. In my English class in high school my teacher choose to present the material to us as a script first, then we watched a older film version of it and then finally the mid 90’s film version. Whenever we were asked about what version was easier for us to understand the majority of the class voted that the 90’s version was easier to understand. Similarly concepts taught in elementary school need makeovers at times to so they are more relatable to current students. It may be as easy as substituting apples to perform math visually or changing names in a story being taught. As with anything in life a passion for doing what you do makes any task simpler. Actors would not choose to act unless they loved it and in a similar fashion a love of teaching makes it easier to teach. In conclusion, we are all masters of the theatre in our everyday life even if we do not realize it. We create a character of what we want the world to view us as and we act accordingly. In reality sometimes we become so engrossed in acting the part of the character we want others to view us as that we lose ourselves in the process.

Interview With Director Lisa Chorle

For my interview I choose to interview my high school drama director, Lisa Chorle. I have known her for the past six years. She graduated from Philipsburg Osceola Senior High School in 1984 and continued her education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English Education and a minor in Theatre. After graduating from college she moved back to her home town of Philipsburg where she now teaches English classes, Theatre classes, and directs the school’s Fall play and Spring musical.

She is also a second generation English teacher as well as Theatre Director. Throughout her high school and college career she explored all the different positions that the Theatre world had to offer. Her passion for Theatre is part of the reason I decided to join the Theatre department whenever I was a student in High School. From my interview I was able to gain a better understand of my friend’s and former teacher’s love of the Theatre and love of being a director.

• What made you decided to be a Theatre Director?

I would say the main reason I became a director was because of my mother’s positive role model. From a young age I grew up in the Theatre. I would sit in on practices whenever my mother was a director and as I grew I was able to take small roles in plays as a child. Whenever I reached high school I was able to expand my role in the productions by learning the importance of all the behind the scenes jobs as well as the pressures of being cast as a lead. The more and more I became involved the more I came to love Theatre and decided to I wanted to follow in my mother’s footsteps. Throughout my college career I stayed involved in Theatre and finally got the opportunity to be a director whenever I became a English teacher.

• What is the most difficult part of your job?

“The most difficult part of my job would be trying to work with a budget of zero. Our school district does not support the drama department so we have to be self sufficient. Another difficult part of my job is trying to work around all the other school activities. We try to work around each other’s schedules so the student’s do not have to choose between activities.”

• What part of your job do you find most rewarding?

“The most rewarding part of my job would be the relationship I form with my students. I can proudly say that all my drama kids have became extensions of my own family and I love all of them just like they are my own.”

• Do you prefer to direct plays or musicals?

Overall I prefer musicals because of being able to add the extra element of dance to the performance. One advantage plays do have over musicals though is that they are less complicated.

• What was your favorite play you directed and why?

The play I feel a close connection to is “A Wonderful Life”. I had a special connection to that cast in particular and my own daughter Sarah was able to take a small role in the play. Whenever I think back I just have a lot of fond memories from that play.

• What was your favorite musical you directed and why?

There’s two musicals that are close to my heart, “The Beauty and the Beast” and “The Wizard of Oz”. “The Beauty and the Beast” was a great experience because of how close the cast was. They all truly cared about each other and worked together like a giant family. “The Wizard of Oz” was just one of those magical experiences where I do not think things could have worked out better.

• Is there any musical or play you regret choosing to perform?

“There is no play or musical I regret doing, but I did learn a lot from directing “Hello Dolly”. I learned how to not do things and what things work well and what things do not work at all.”

• Do you prefer to make your own costumes or rent them?

Overall we usually prefer to make our own costumes. Most of the time we go “Goodwill Hunting” or sometimes we will luck out and parents will volunteer to help make the costumes. The only play we have ever rented the entire wardrobe for was “The Beauty and the Beast”.

• Do you find it hard to play the role of mother and director at the same time?

“I use to find it very hard to juggle the roles of mother and director. I even considered stepping down as director until my girls were older. After talking to them though I learned that they loved the Theatre just as much as I do and they love the fact that I am a director.”

• Do you think you will continue to be a director even after your children are in college?

“Most likely I will continue directing even after my children are gone. If nothing else it should be able to help me adjust to having an 'empty nest'.”