Stagecraft
In Stagecraft, we are just starting our build for the Spring Play โUp The Down Staircaseโ, a show about resilience and believing in yourself. It stars Mrs. Barrett a first year teacher whoโs excited to start her new job at Calvin Coolidge High School, but learns quickly that this job isnโt going to be at all like she expected. Please make sure your student has finished their summative design project, if they didnโt get it done this week they will not get credit for the weeks build, make sure they have it done by the start of next week so they can get credit for that weeks build. -- Mya Baumer
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Hello Families!
I apologize for the delay in an updated newsletter, but this winter has been one for the books! We have been extremely busy finishing up our musical and prepping for our final show of the year, and finally have time for an update! Let's see what the kids have to say about what is going on! Drama I
In Drama I, we are currently working on a show called โThe Last Half-Hourโ. Students learned about the Doโs and Don'ts of auditioning and auditioned to get their roles within the play. We will be performing this whole class play at the end of the semester for a group of 5th graders. Weโre excited to learn how a whole show comes together. -- Amber Torzala
Drama II/III/IV
In Drama II, weโre rehearsing for a play that the Drama IVโs are directing. The play is called โThe Lotteryโ by Shirley Jackson. The Drama IVโs will be learning how to direct and how to put together a whole show. The Drama II's and III's will be having fun reviewing memorization techniques, creating full characters, and on stage focus. We hope to put โThe Lotteryโ on for some classes here at North that are reading the book. -- Kyle Katauskas
Drama Club
This February we performed our musical, The Addams Family, and had 4 amazing shows that left each audience in awe. The cast worked tirelessly to put on the best shows they possibly could. But now that the musicals over, weโve held auditions for the Spring play and weโre all so excited to get this play up and running. The show we are going to be putting on is called โUp The Down Staircaseโ. The show runs May 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, make sure to get your tickets at www.seatyourself.biz/waukeshanorth when they go on sale April 1st.
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StagecraftWe have just started building our set for The Addams Family The Musical, the show dates are February 14-17. We have also just finished a design unit, in which we watched the musical we will be building for and learned about how set designers make the decisions they make. There were 2 sheets your student should have finished if they have not finished it yet they will not get credit for this week’s build. After school crews have started meeting as well, if your student is interested check out this link goo.gl/forms/o1lWF5fs6MxLFWBy2. - Mya Baumer (Stagecraft) Drama 1In Drama I our class is learning about character voice and movement. And how we’re practicing this, is we are going to be performing short skits we’ll be working on for the remainder of the month. The skits will be memorized and performed in class in front our peers, and given a summative grade on how well we were able to embody and create our characters. We’ll also be receiving a grade on how well we were able to create and sustain a character voice. While we are preparing our skits other classmates will be criticizing us. We’ll also be working on how to properly critic and give back helpful feedback. - Amber Torzala (Drama 1) Drama 2For drama II we just got done doing spooky scenes. It started off with students auditioning for the drama 3s. After the audition process everyone was put into a group, and given a script that was written by the drama 3s. We rehearsed for all the different aspects such as lines, blocking, scene changes, and costuming. We eventually performed them like a play in front of the class. Now that we finished that, we are starting the advanced improv unit. That consists of really detailed activities to help improve us. We’re getting really deep into the techniques and strategies to truly be successful. By doing this it also helps for general communication and thought process. Click here to watch Drama 2's spooky scenes photos.app.goo.gl/UrKJJ5ZTj8g36AFN8 - Kyle Katauskas (Drama 2) Drama ClubHi! My name is Jenny Korthas and I am the President of Drama Club. It has already been a busy year for us. In November, we performed our fall comedy, Harvey, about a man whose best friend is an imaginary rabbit. It was a blast! Our cast and crew was full of new members, and we couldn’t be more excited to have them. We are currently in the beginning stages of the busiest time of the year - musical season! This year, we’re doing The Addams Family. Almost 60 people auditioned! We’ve been rehearsing for about two weeks and have made very encouraging progress so far. The show opens February 14th and we have been busy trying on costumes, building set pieces, and learning lines. The show is entertaining, hilarious, and just a little bit ‘abnormal’, so mark your calendars and come check it out! Click here to look at photos of our last performance Harvey photos.app.goo.gl/7GqVuJ7NhK4YtUum6
Drama I Families
Stagecraft FamiliesIn Stagecraft we have started the set build of our Fall production of Harvey, having just finished our Tools, Materials and Theatre Safety Unit. Everyone in the class took a safety test and picked crews. If your student is in the crew of Lights, Paint, or Set they need to have a pair of their own safety glasses, these can be found at Walmart, Amazon or any Hardware Store. We have lots of work ahead of us, but the enthusiasm of the students now that we have started the build process is truly exciting! Don’t forget to come and see the show November 15th-18th to see all of the hard work the Stagecraft Classes have put in! Stagecraft students get into the shows for the reduced price of $2! Drama II FamiliesIn Drama II we are currently working on auditioning and how to pick a monologue, as well as the steps and tips to give successful critiques. Students are searching for dramatic monologues to perform for the Drama III students who will then cast them for scenes they are directing. The Drama III’s are writing spooky scenes from short stories written by famous authors. They will be asked to evaluate the Drama II monologue performances, and select them to act in their scenes. Last but not least, we have the Drama IV students who are working on and will perform self-written monologues about an event that has happened to them in their life. They are learning about the monologue writing process and how to create a complete story arc within only a few minutes. These monologues will be performed at the same time as the Drama II students! Drama Club
General Class InformationHello parents! Now that we are fully into the school year, I wanted to share some information with you to clarify a few items that I have been receiving questions about over the last week or so. GRADING POLICY As stated in the class syllabi (which you can find linked in the, "Class Presentations" located at the bottom of the Google Classroom stream/feed), assignments are weighted as Formatives 0%, Summatives 100%. However, in order to receive credit for the Summative assignment/performance, students must have 70% of the Formatives turned in by the Summative deadline. This means, that if we have 15 assignments in a unit, students must have at least 11 turned in by the final deadline to receive anything other than an IE in the grade book for that Summative. This also means that it is ok if a student has one or two missing assignments in either Drama or Stagecraft. I give kids this wiggle room since my classes are often used to pull students out for meetings with counselors, etc, and the assignments done in class can rarely be made up if the student was absent. Many of the assignments we do are done in tandem with the activities we do during the class period, so it would require a time machine for the students to go back and accurately complete missed work. The kids still get plenty of Formative practice during the classes they are present for, so as long as they are at the 70% turn in ratio, they will get credit for their work and the practice they need to grow their skills. MISSING ASSIGNMENTS I have received several questions about how missing assignments show up in Infinite Campus, and missing assignments in my classes. Infinite Campus can be quite confusing at times, so I have a few clarifications and tips to make checking for missing work in Drama and Stagecraft classes easier. One of the biggest questions I get is, "Why does the same assignment show up as missing multiple times on Infinite Campus?" The answer to this question has to do with which learning targets are being assessed by each Formative or Summative assignment. If a missing assignment hits multiple learning targets, it will show up once for each learning target it is assigned to. So, if the same, "Do Now" assignment (which hits 3 learning targets) shows up 3 times on the missing assignment list, and the same, "Reflection" assignment (which hits 2 learning targets) shows up 2 times, it means the student is actually only missing two assignments, not 5. Unfortunately, this is a setting in Infinite Campus that we are not able to change, so it often makes it look as though students are missing several assignments, when it may only be one or two. Along with the confusion IC provides, I also often get approached with is, "Ms. Stone, my mom says I am grounded until Infinite Campus is updated and shows that those missing assignments I had are turned in now. Can you update the status of these 'x number' of assignments for me by tonight so I am not grounded this weekend?" I get more emails like this than you can imagine on Friday afternoons! To help make checking for missing assignments easier for parents (and to help cut down on the number of emails like this that I receive), I suggest checking your student's "Classwork" tab in Google Classroom instead of Infinite Campus. First, if your student does not have a "Classwork" tab at the bottom of their class page, I HIGHLY recommend having your student delete the app and reinstall it through SelfService to get the latest update. The latest version formats assignments in a way so they are much easier to find them. See the photo below for an example of the new update. Next, as you are looking at all of the assignments for each unit, you will see the assignment title, and a small colored circle to the left of the title. These circles will alert you to whether or not an assignment has been completed and turned in. If the circle is grayed out, that means your student has turned in the assignment. If it is in full color, that means the assignment is missing. Clicking on the title will also show you more details about the status of the assignment. Please note, that just because an assignment is turned in on Google Classroom, does not mean it will show up as turned in on Infinite Campus immediately. I do my best to update IC every 2 weeks, as is district policy, but seeing that I have nearly 200 students, it is a very lengthy and time consuming process and can take time since I must enter in each grade, for each student by hand. This is why for the sake of my classes Google Classroom will be the most accurate representation of turned in versus missing assignments for your student. Infinite Campus will always be updated ASAP with the accurate information on your student, but if you need immediate reassurance as far as what your student has completed, Google Classroom is the place to look. Also note, that if a student turns in a missing assignment AFTER the Summative deadline, I will NOT update that assignment as, "turned in" in the grade book. The kids know that they are unable to turn in missing work past the final performance, so since it no longer counts towards their final grade, I will not update it in the grade book and the, "Missing" tag will remain for the rest of the semester/year. See the photo below for a closer example of what Assignments will look like under the, "Classwork" tab. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me through email at [email protected] and I will be happy to help however I can! Drama I FamiliesSo far in Drama I, we have been spending our time working on Ensemble building within the class and teamwork skills. Since feeling comfortable around their classmates is integral to having successful performances throughout the year, we spend a lot of time practicing these skills in the beginning. The class has had discussions around our class expectations, and participated in several team building activities over the last few weeks. They created class rules as a whole group and worked together to create a short skit to present their rule to the rest of the class. Groups began performances this Monday and have already impressed me with how well they have come together as an ensemble! I can't wait to see the growth this class has over the next few months! Stagecraft FamiliesStagecraft has been similar to the Drama I class in that much of our time this year has been spent working on team building. Students who have taken the class before led new students in a discussion about necessary rules and procedures for the class, and we created a class safety contract, which all students signed and returned to me. This contract will be the basis for our interactions throughout the year and will hopefully help keep the students on task and making safe choices! Last week, we moved on to the Theatre Hierarchy, our class hierarchy, and conflict management techniques, since the students will be working closely together in peer-run groups. We discussed the different kinds of conflict that can happen during a class like ours, and learned about the different ways to solve those problems in appropriate and professional ways. The students were then placed into small groups and created videos displaying an assigned conflict management strategy. The videos were due today and I am looking forward to watching the final products. I was really pleased with how well the groups worked together overall and hope that this is a sign for what is to come the rest of the year! Next steps are to learn about the stage, tools, and materials, and then we are on to building! Drama IIDrama II students began the year by making SMART Moral Character Goals and were asked to think about how they can become the best person they can be, and then make a plan towards self-improvement. For the last week, they have been working on scenes reviewing the basic movement, vocal, and character building skills learned in years past. Students are grouped by level (Drama II, Drama III, and Drama IV) and got to choose scenes based on their difficulty level. We have just finished up the character work over the last few days and plan to present the scenes next week. Drama II is always a great group, so I am truly excited for the rest of the year! Drama Club
Drama I Families!Last month, the whole class auditioned and were cast in a short play called, The Princess and the Princess, which we will perform for a Summit View class in the next few weeks. This month, we learned about Costume Design and how it relates to character development, and chose costumes for the show. The class also read about prop design and how it enhances the storyline of a play. The group has had to deal with some last minute casting changes and handled it like professionals. I am very pleased to see that they are starting to take risks on stage as their characters and are really beginning to think like actors and making deeper character connections. I am hoping to perform the first full week of May and will let families know the date and time if they are able to make it! Drama II Families!
Stagecraft Families
Drama Club
Stagecraft Families!This February in Stagecraft, we finished all the final touches on our set for the musical, 9 to 5. Set crew overcame many challenges such as getting our set pieces to rotate without falling apart. Paint crew got to work with new fun and vibrant colors. Wardrobe crew learned how to hem all sorts of things such as pants, skirts, and dresses. Props crew got to search through all the props we own and find the perfect ones to use in the show. Lights crew got to experiment with fun new colors using our new light board! As we head into March we're about to start a completely new build for our upcoming show, A Murder is Announced with new crews and new challenges. Check back for more information about the show to see our hard work come to life! Drama I Families!At the end of February, the Drama I classes learned about auditioning and and all off the Tips and Tricks. This was in preparation for auditions for the whole class short fairytale play we will be performing this Spring. The whole class auditioned and were cast in a short play called, The Princess and the Princess which we will perform for a Summit View class later this Spring. We are now in the process of rehearsing and learning about the whole production process, as well as advanced character development techniques. Stay tuned about information regarding a possible performance this Spring! Drama II/III/IV Families!In Drama II/III class we just completed a monologue unit and some students were very ambitious and attempted Shakespeare. We were lucky enough to take a field trip downtown to the Civic Theatre to enjoy watching some of Shakespeare’s most famous works. Now the class is beginning to work on a one act play directed by a Drama IV student. This is a great opportunity for him to gain some knowledge about everything that goes into putting on a show! We hope to have a final performance for parents sometime later this Spring! Drama ClubThis past February, the Drama Club presented this year’s musical, 9 to 5 and it was a huge success! Over the course of the weekend, we had almost 1000 people come out to see the show, and they left us with rave reviews. Check out the link below to see some great photos from the show! Heading into March, we have just started rehearsals for the Spring Play, A Murder is Announced. The Spring Play opens Thursday, May 3rd so mark your calendars! Hello Families! Here is your December Drama, Stagecraft, and Drama Club Newsletter, written by Drama and Stagecraft Students! Drama I"We are learning about characterization and how to be the character not just pretend. Currently we are focusing on the memorization of lines, but previously we were focusing on other topics. The other topics include character analysis, motion, and voice. Character analysis is finding out who your character is and finding out how they act. Motion and voice are important because everyone moves, talks, and acts in a different way. Learning how your character is helps you really bring he character to life. Most of the class focuses on transforming yourself into your character and really being to impact other people by being a different person. " Stagecraft"In Stagecraft we are working on getting everything ready for the musical. I am the crew head for wardrobe and in my crew we are working on pulling costumes that for the time period and the storyline of the play. We started by printing out pictures for a vision board so it was easier to put outfits together. We are also working on making sure everything stays organized in the green room so it makes this process easier." The class also completed a mini Principles of Design unit in preparation for this musical build. We learned how specific design choices can convey different emotions, moods, and tones to try and best tell the story of a play. Otherwise, we are working hard at getting things ready for February! Drama IIDrama II and Drama III students are performing the student written scenes this week. A folder with links to the performances will be uploaded next week! Drama Club"In drama club we are also working on getting everything ready of the musical. I am the head of wardrobe in drama club, and I have a after school that comes to help out. For the first few weeks we will be doing the same things we are doing in Stagecraft. We like to make sure everyone has a costumes before we starting sewing and hemming.
The actors are just starting this fun process. They just finished getting there blocking and now it’s time to learn the lines and start dancing. They also have been singing away in the choir room with Mr. Hyland." Mark your calendars for the musical this February 8th-11th! Tickets are on sale at www.seatyourself.biz/waukeshanorth Drama Club News!Hello Families! This month holds some exciting things for the Drama classes and Drama Club. First, the Fall Play The Creature Creeps opens this Thursday, November 16th at 7:00pm in the Waukesha North Auditorium. This hilarious send take on the horror story genre has an ancient castle, creaking doors, a mad scientist, his misshapen assistant, a grim housekeeper, secret laboratory, shrieks from the depths of the cellar, disappearing villagers, an incredibly stalwart and stupid hero of sterling character, the scientist's absolutely dopey daughter, and so many laughs you'll lose count. Get your tickets in advance at www.seatyourself.biz/waukeshanorth Also coming in November, are musical auditions! Auditions will take place November 27th-30th after school in the auditorium. Students must be present Monday-Wednesday to participate in the dancing, singing, and acting auditions. Callbacks will take place on Thursday. Students may sign up outside of room 903 and can contact me with any questions. Drama IThis month, the Drama I students are learning about the basics of vocal technique in theatre. In order to do this, they are creating, "Spooky Radio Broadcasts" which will test their ability to create character voices, and have proper projection and articulation. Students found or wrote a scary story and have been working on turning the piece into an old-style radio program, complete with sound effects and advertisements. Performances will take place before the Thanksgiving break. Below is the example students were given to use as inspiration and a shot of students editing and giving feedback on the stories of their peers! Drama IIThe Drama II and Drama III students are working together on student written and directed scenes inspired by H.G. Wells and H.P. Lovecraft. The Drama III students have written these scenes and are leading their Drama II actors through their creative choices. I am impressed with the quality of the scripts the students, feel free to browse through them here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Bwe_v1uao0m_qHHO7HFlBSxgtOkzTe_q The hope is to perform these scenes in a showcase with costumes, lighting, etc, and I will make sure to send out a notice to parents if this happens! StagecraftThe Stagecraft classes have done such a fantastic job that we finished our set build ahead of schedule! To keep us busy before it is time to take all of our hard work down, we will be engaging in a mini design unit.
Make sure to come out to see the Fall Play this weekend to see all of their hard work. Stagecraft students get in for $1 if they give their name at the door! Hello Families! Welcome to the next edition of our monthly class newsletter! Here is a run down of what we've been doing in class so far this year. Drama ISo far this year, the Drama I class has learned about what it means to be an ensemble and participated in a lot of team building activities. We are currently finishing up our first, "real" unit of the year where the class has learned about character movement and how actors can change their bodies and how they move to best portray characters on stage. The students have been working in pairs to create a pantomime scene. Each student got to pick a character from TV, Hollywood, etc, and they then had to create a scene showing how those two characters would interact in a given location. For example, this year we had the scenario if, "What would happen if Olaf from Frozen and The Grinch met on the beach?" Students had to analyze their chosen characters to replicate their movements and mannerisms, and practice bringing them to life. They then had to research these characters and think outside the box to determine how they might react to their location and scene partner. Students have had fun coming up with storylines and trying to figure out how to clearly tell a story without using any words! I am excited to see how the final products turn out at the end of this week. Next week we will be starting our Voice unit and students will get to create, "Spooky Radio Broadcasts" to show off their character voice skills. It is one of my favorite projects for the year, so stay tuned! StagecraftThe Stagecraft classes have finally finished up their tools and stage safety unit for the year and have moved on to the good stuff. The build! The set, lights, paint, wardrobe, props, and publicity crews have been hard at work trying to make our Fall production, The Creature Creeps come to life. We are quickly turning plain piles of wood and foam into the workings of a castle in Transylvania! The kids are just as excited as I am to see their work come to life. Student crew heads have been doing a great job of keeping their groups on track and keeping us rolling. I am really proud of the extra responsibility these advanced students have taken on this year being in charge of their groups. It is exciting to see our new students learn from the veterans of the class. Check out some of the photos of our progress below! Drama IIIn Drama II/Drama III we have been reviewing many of the skills we learned last year. The kids started with a short scene study to review character movement and vocal techniques, as well as refresh their memories on how to conduct a full character analysis. Now, we have finally branched off into groups of Drama II students and groups of Drama III students in preparation for our first student led performance for the year. The Drama II students have been working on a mini audition and critique review unit, preparing audition monologues. The Drama III students have been writing scripts inspired by a work of H.G. Wells or H.P. Lovecraft. The Drama II students will then audition this Friday to be cast in one of 6 scenes written by the advanced students. Next week, we will start the rehearsal process, where Drama III students will begin leading a cast of their own. Since these advanced students were the actors in the project last year, I am looking forward to seeing how they handle a cast of their own and learn from the successes of their predecessors! Drama ClubAfter school Drama Club rehearsals are in full swing with only 3 and a half weeks left until opening night!
This year, we have had the largest number of students yet come out to help with after school crews, which has been a huge help. I am hoping we can keep this momentum going throughout the rest of the year so this program can continue to grow! Anyone interested in donating concessions to sell during intermissions or those willing to help feed the kiddos during our late nights tech week, feel free to sign up using the links below: Concessions sign up: http://signup.com/go/BYyZFje Tech week dinners sign up: http://signup.com/go/jOLmFtN As for the show itself, tickets are on sale now! Go to www.seatyourself.biz/waukeshanorth to skip the line and get your tickets ahead of time! |
AuthorResident Drama Mama at Waukesha North High School. Archives
January 2023
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