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Even with your costumes, your 50s look isn't complete without the right hair. That brings it all together. Below are some YouTube tutorials on how the hair should look, so start experimenting with ponytails and pompadours. Girls, the video I posted has four options, but you're welcome to search for others. Boys, there's one for you too, but it's not as difficult. You just have to have a part in your hair and slick the sides down.
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Click here to see the costume list for All Shook Up. If there are monetary issues at home, please see Ms. Levy for help buying your costume.
Please see the attached document for information about costumes. Use the photos as inspiration, but be sure to READ the actual descriptions. If there's a monetary issue at home, please see Ms. Levy for assistance with money for costumes.
Just back from another Broadway Teachers Workshop that was filled with lots of insight that I have to pass along to all of you. Recurring topics that come up year after year that we're asked to share with out students, so here we go: 1) Be Tenacious. The industry is not an easy one, so if you want to work in theater, you must be able to stick with it when you hear "no" a million times or when someone gets the job you were going for. Stories were shared by performers of playing the part in a workshop version of a show to have the part re-cast as it went to Broadway with other people playing those parts. Etai Benson shared a story of auditioning for "The Band's Visit while he was on tour across the United States with "An American in Paris." He flew back for seven auditions (and paid for his own tickets) and then had one day to learn to roller skate backwards while singing and film it in a parking lot of a theatre he was performing at to send to producers. It paid off because he got the part, but he had to jump through hoops to get it. 2) Be Nice. In numerous workshops, the idea that being someone that people want to work with came up. Hamilton's musical director shared that word-of-mouth is how musical directors get jobs in New York. Stephen Sondheim was introduced to Hal Prince through mutual friends (if you don't know those names, google them). Making connections and being someone that people want to have in the room will always be something that is beneficial to you. In all aspects of life. 3) Be Versatile. In today's world, you can't just do one thing well. There are too many other people who can also do that. So you need to expand your repertoire. Katie Ladner from "Heathers" shared that as a bigger girl with a big personality, she gets asked to play older roles all the time, so she has a classic soprano song for those types of auditions. When she's going in for a younger, more modern role, she has a strong belter's song that shows off her ability to sing pop music. In 2018, you need to be able to sing, dance, act, speak different languages, roller skate backwards, and basically do anything else they ask of you because if you can't, they'll find someone who can. Make yourself well-rounded. 4) Be Open to Different Things. Many of the presenters were there talking about their backstage roles in the theater world. They are set designers, prop masters, makeup artists, choreographers, and stage managers, amongst others. Many said they started acting in their school drama programs and didn't even realize that these other jobs existed until they got out of school. Explore all of the opportunities that can immerse you in theater from a different side of the curtain. I took a bunch of videos, so you could hear the advice from the pros. Enjoy the clips below. Another year is coming to an end, and it's been a pretty great one. Andrew Soel made a "recruitment video" to which a bunch of you contributed. It contains some rehearsal footage, clips from some of our past shows, and messages from our members. Take a look. The Josephine Foundation was founded to provide encouragement and assistance to the Long Island theater community. Your drama director was nominated for Best Director for last year's musical Fame. Your music director was nominated for Best Performer for her performance in Broadway Blockbusters, a revue featuring songs from different musicals.
If you'd like to vote for us, you can complete the top of the document and sending it in as is, or if you have other performers you'd like to nominate for the other categories, feel free to fill the rest of the form out. You do not HAVE to fill the rest of the categories out, but you MAY. If you do, it must be for productions from 2017. Once you've entered your information at the top, you can e-mail it back to [email protected]. It's one entry per e-mail address, so let friends and family know too. Thank you! Rehearsals are starting, so here we go! Costumes are due to Ms. Levy for approval by the day we return from break (Feb. 26th). You can e-mail a photo or bring it to school. Attached is the costume list for the musical. If there are any financial issues at home, and you'd like the club's assistance purchasing a costume, just send an e-mail.
Love this article. They make so many great points about theater's value for young performers. Give it a read.
Invigorating! Intense! Inspirational! The past three days were spent in the city refreshing and refining my repertoire, so I can come back to all of you in the fall with some new tricks up my sleeve. Day one began with an incredible talk about the music of Frank Loesser. If you know me, you know Guys and Dolls is my absolute favorite show, so learning about how the history of the time period and the man himself contributed to the music of that show and his others was so fascinating. It featured some incredible performances from talent like Lindsay Mendez (Dogfight). Next was a discussion with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Tony and Oscar-winning songwriters/lyricists behind Dear Evan Hansen and La La Land (and some songs from my favorite musical theater TV show, Smash). It was amazing to hear the story of two young men who thought they'd be performers and realized, when they didn't have the success they wanted as performers, that there were other ways of being involved in the world of theater. Look at them now! They talked about working together, how their ideas evolve, hobnobbing with Justin Timberlake at the Oscars, and ultimately thanked all of us, as teachers, because they acknowledged that even though they didn't realize it at the time, their education created a safe space for them to try, fail, grow, and ultimately succeed. After lunch we had a session on stage management. Tips of the trade were given to us by a woman who's worked as the stage manager on Finding Neverland and lots of others. Her organizational methods were so extensive; it made me think of my wonderful own stage managers! To end day one, we heard about different paths to Broadway and audition stories from stars of Come From Away and Bandstand. They each performed a song that they use for auditions and we were blown away! Day two began with a session on interpreting song with Jenn Colella (Tony nominee for Come From Away). Her heart was the biggest takeaway from the session. She listened to interns who were working at the program sing and helped them grow in the little time they spent together without actually giving them direction. She asked them questions ("To whom in your real life are you singing?" "What does your character want the end result of this song to be?") that guided them to elevated performances. My favorite thing she said is on the video below. She acknowledged that everyone in New York is talented, are there are two things within our control as actors. See what those two things are below. Next was especially meaningful for me because it was a session on directing. The director of Newsies came with some of the stars of the National Tour, and they performed a scene in many different ways examining how slight differences change a moment. Performing is like playing, so we play with different ideas and see what feels best. The video from their session shows the difference between a read-through of a scene and a scene that has been blocked with movement. Some of the blocking was done naturally by the actors and some was directed by Mr. Calhoun. It's a collaborative effort. After lunch, we had a workshop on creativity with Susan Blackwell who hosts a show on Broadway.com. We got to share our experiences, and it was incredible to hear from the other teachers in the room about the incredible things that they're doing with their own students. Our final day took place at the New Amsterdam Theatre, which if you know me, is a Disney mecca. We met with the man who cast Aladdin, Mary Poppins and other show to learn more about how they cast their shows. He explained that first, one needs an agent. Then they will be sent on casting calls by the agent. We received a copy of a breakdown that people receive before going on an audition, so they may prepare. I'll attach it below, so you can have a look. He stressed the importance of not trying to recreate a movie character on stage because that's already been done. They want fresh interpretations of their classic titles. We then took a tour and learned the history of the stunning theatre that has been standing for over 100 years. We ended our time there with a Q&A session with Disney Theatrical executives. I had to ask why my favorite stage production, Hunchback of Notre Dame, was never brought to Broadway. They explained that it was written for a choir of 60, and it would just be too expensive to produce on Broadway. Mr. Grosskreuz, the drama director from Mepham was a the program with me, and I'm trying to convince him to do it. Alas, there's no junior version. Over three days, my program included workshops and shows that taught me new things and made me appreciate the arts even more than I already did (not sure how that was even possible!). I made some new friends, caught up with some old ones, and most importantly, am coming back to all of you with lots of joy and insight! On Friday, April 7th (the day before the break) from 3-5pm, actors and actresses who work for Zara Aina will be visiting to do a workshop with all of you. They'll work on creating your own stories and telling them through performance. They wanted to keep the group intimate, so they could really spend time with each of you, so they asked that we keep the number of people at 30. My English students in first period chose names, and here are the ones invited to attend. If you cannot attend, please let me know ASAP, so I can give your space to someone else. See you on the 7th!
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