" Anne of Green Gables": a One-Act Musical Based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's Novel. Cue Sheet for Teachers

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AUTHOR Flynn, Rosalind TITLE "Anne of Green Gables": A One-Adt Musical Based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's Novel. Cue Sheet for Teachers. INSTITUTION John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC SPONS AGENCY Department of Education, Washington, DC. PUB DATE 1994-00-00 NOTE 10p.; Additional funding provided by The Kennedy Center Corporate Fund and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. AVAILABLE FROM http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/cuesheet/theater.html. PUB TYPE Guides Classroom Teacher (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Audiences; Class Activities; Cultural Activities; Novels; Playwriting; Secondary Education; *Theater Arts IDENTIFIERS *Anne of Green Gables; Drama in Education; Montgomery (Lucy Maud); *Musicals

ABSTRACT This performance guide is designed for teachers to use with students before and after a performance of the one-act musical based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's novel, "Anne of Green Gables," with music by Richard DeRosa and book and lyrics by Greg Gunning. The guide is designed to help teachers foster students' appreciation of theatre, dance, and music. The activities involve students in high-level thinking skills, accommodate differing learning styles, and draw connections to various parts of the curriculum. The guide, called a "Cuesheet," offers five activity pages for students. Materials for teachers address using the reproducible student activity pages and offers background information on author Lucy Maud Montgomery, Prince Edward Island (where the story takes place), on theatre conventions, adapting the novel into a musical play, and on audience collaboration. They also list resources about Lucy Maud Montgomery. Students' reproducible activity pages include a story synopsis, a look at the characters in the play and how actors double roles, lines from the play and character insights, items from the Victorian era, and the role of imagination in the theatre and in the character Anne. (SR)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. "Anne of Green Gables": A One-Act Musical Based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's Novel. Cue Sheet for Teachers.

by Rosalind Flynn

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization kr) Originating it. BEST COPY AVAILABLE Minor changes have been made to improve M reproduction Quality. v-4 Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. _J 2 A one-act musical based on ontgomery s Novel Mus!c by Richard DeROW POO* & 'Lyrics by Greg GunningPresented.. by AratsPouver, Inc.

Welcome to Cuesheet, one of a Information for Teachers themes, objects, and how theatrical series of performing arts Using the student activity pages: problems are solved. resource guides published by Synopsis, Characters, Listen for These Each activity section has two com- the Education Department of the John Lines, Look for These Things, Use ponents: something to do before the F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Your Imagination. performance and suggestions for follow- Arts, Washington, D.C. Cuesheet is The reproducible student activity up after the performance. designed to help teachers foster stu- pages are designed as The activities involve students in r. dents' understanding and appreciation a series of commu- reading, recalling, predicting, of theater, dance, and music. The nications (letter, categorizing, imagining, dis- activities involve students in high-level FAX, postcard, cussing, using background thinking skills, accommodate differing etc) written knowledge, thinking yir learning styles, and draw connections by an Anne of visually and creative- to various parts of the curriculum. Green Gables ly, and building enthusiast to a vocabulary. This Cuesheet contains: friend who has The activities can be done For Teachers, pages 1-3 moved away. The individually or Information for Teachers on the text and activities alert cooperatively. use of student activity pages students to events and Each can serve as an Background Information on peo- songs in the play, char- impetus for classroom dis- ple, places, and ideas, and Resources acters, dia- cussion or as a theme about Lucy Maud Montgomery. logue, lyrics, to explore For Students, pages 4-8 through Five reproducible activity pages writing, drama, or Cuesheet contains many questions visual and activities. Pick and choose those art. that best suit your purposes and time constraints. This Cuesheet is designed for students to use independently, in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class. Background Information Gulf of St. Lawrence

0 Lucy Maud Montgomery Cavendish Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of th `-ho oti novel Anne of Green Gables, was born S? Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, Canada, in Prince Edward Island 1874. Her mother died when Maud Lucy Maud Montgomery based the fictitious Green Gables town of Avonlea on (she was called by her middle name) her hometown of Cavendish. She used other actual Canadian locales in her was on 1y21 montmonths s oold. Herer fatherherle f t 4.books such as Charlottetown, PEI and Halifax, Nova Scotia. her to be raised by her maternal Prince Edward Island, the setting of Anne of Green Gables,is grandparents when he moved Canada's smallest and least populated province. It lies in the Gulf of off the island in search of St. Lawrence on the east coast of Canada. It is separated from the work. He never returned. provinces of New Brunswick to its west and Nova Scotia to its Her grandparents were in south by the Northumberland Strait. their 50s when she went Prince Edward Island, because it is so far north, is ice-bound to live with them. They from January to April each year. Most of the island is rural farm- were strict and required land. Its biggest tourist attraction is the Green Gables House their high-spirited young in Cavendish. Visitors can tour the house and grounds of the granddaughter to be home that Montgomery used as inspiration for Anne's home. quiet and well-behaved. Therefore, like her character Anne Shirley, Maud often became internationally bered. No one was more surprised than used her vivid imagination famous. The first Anne she at its popularity. She thought that to create companions and book and its nine young girls might like her story, but to entertain herself. sequels have been trans- received letters from school boys and She loved to read and lated into many lan- college students, grandparents, monks, began writing when she guages; they remain missionaries, and red-headed people all was quite young. At age popular today. over the world telling how much they 15 she had a poem pub- Montgomery mar- loved Anne. lished in a local newspa- ried a minister named Theater Conventions per. Ewan MacDonald in An implicit understanding between She became a 1911, but continued audience and performer is the agree- teacher and continued to write under her ment to "suspend disbelief," to pretend writing poems and maiden name. Before together that the action is real and is short stories. Anne of her death in 1942, happening for the first time. This Green Gables, her first she had published agreement is often maintained through book, was published more than 20 books the use of theatrical conventions (prac- in 1908. It was an and hundreds of tices accepted as a part of playmaking). immediate success, short stories and These theatrical conventions are and Montgomery poems. It is for Anne evident in Anne of Green Gables: of Green Gables, Performers who play more than however, that the one role in the play: Called "doubling," author is primar- in theater terminology ily remem- Actors who "freeze" in position on stage in full view of the audience, indicating that the audience should not focus on them until they begin to move and speak again Split stage effect: The technique

4 BEST COPY AVAILABLE of using two sides of the stage for Arts Power, the producer of this show, Resources scenes that occur simultaneously in dif- Anne's red hair will only be mentioned Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote a series ferent locations if an actress who has red hair or is will- of Anne books. Look for: Anne of Actors who speak to imaginary ing to dye her hair red is cast as Anne. Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of characters in order to provide the audi- If your students have read Mont- the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne ence with necessary information gomery's novel, you may want to dis- of Ingleside, Anne's House of Dreams, Actors who play the spirits of cuss other variations in the book and Chronicles of Avonlea. dead characters the play. Focus on trying to imagine Because this is a musical play, why the playwrights made certain artis- Video recordings:Anne of Green Gables, performers sing individually and togeth- tic choices when adapting this story for Anne of Avonlea. Sullivan Films, Inc. in er. The audience accepts the notion the stage. association with Canadian Broadcasting Corp., PBS/Wonderworks. Written, pro- that these people "spontaneously" Audience Collaboration break into song. The songs provide duced, and directed by Kevin Sullivan. information, reveal inner thoughts of Theater is a collaborative art which Walt Disney Home Video, 1993. requires the work of many people the characters, and move the action Sound recording:Anne of Green playwright, director, designers, actors, forward. They also create mood. Gables. 8 sound cassettes. Washington, and the final collaborators the audi- D.C.: Audio Book Contractors, 1980. Adapting the novel into a ence. Therefore, students should know musical play that the audience is an important part About Lucy Maud Montgomery: Readers familiar with the novel Anne of of every theatrical performance. A play Green Gables should be aware of several is prepared for an audience, but the Kindred Spirit: A Biography of L.M. differences evident in this stage adapta- audience needs to be prepared for its Montgomery, Creator of Anne of Green tion. Because it is a touring production part, too. Gables by Catherine M. Andronik. for school audiences, it is an extreme Help prepare your students to pay New York: Atheneum, 1993. capsulation of the novel. With a run- close and quiet attention during the Maud: The Life of L.M. Montgomery by ning time of only 55 minutes, the adap- performance. Encourage them to laugh Harry Bruce. New York: Seal Bantam tors had to make choices about which and applaud at appropriate times, but Books, 1992. events and characters to include and stress that their job is to watch and lis- which to exclude. ten. There are good reasons for this: "It all began with Anne" by Molly While the novel covers five years plays take longer to unfold than Colin. Publishers Vtkekly, Oct. 19, 1992. of Anne's life, the play covers only sev- 30-minute television programs; that eral days. The play uses dream means that to appreciate plays fully, it is sequences to touch upon events that necessary to pay attention to what the 111111 1111111 111111 occur in the novel, but are too lengthy actors say and do The Kennedy Center to treat fully on stage. For example, in other members of the audience James D. Wolfensohn, Chairman Anne's school dream sequence, she who are listening and watching closely Lawrence J. Wilker, President Derek E. Gordon, Associate Managing Director, goes to college, wins a scholarship, and are easily distracted _ Education becomes a teacher. All of these events, actors in a play are in the same Anne of Green Gables that unfold over many pages in the room as the audience and are therefore Based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's novel novel, are treated briefly in one musical affected by audience behavior. Unex- Music by Richard DeRosa scene. pected noise and activity can destroy Book & Lyrics by Greg Gunning Produced by ArtsPower, Inc. In both the novel and the play, their concentration Anne calls a person with whom she has Part of the success of any live per- Writer: Rosalind Flynn. Editors: John C. CUECarr, Lynne Silverstein.Design: Paul a special connection or relationship a formance rests on how well the audi- SHEET Dupree Communications. ID1994 The John "kindred spirit." Her friend Diana is her ence does its part. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts foremost kindred spirit in the book. In This project is funded In part through the sup- port of the U.S. Department of Education, the the play, Matthew receives that honor. Kennedy Center Corporate Fund, and The Morris Anne's red hair is integral to her and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. character in the novel. According to II INIIIIIIII MIMI 3MIIIIMI IIIII 5 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Oc.tob&r 14, 1994 Pear Ghric, Remember how we loved those Anne of_CvIre,&n Gables cp&c.ials that were on TV? And after we wate-h&d them, we mad all the Anne boolcs? Well, the other dalI Ft to gro to the theater and see a music-al Flail of Anne of Cvire,&n &able's?It

was pr&c&nta bl Artsrovv&r,Inc..of Ridwood, New J&rc&I. ttow I wish you still lived here so you could have Aon& with m&!

gut what? Artcro-w&r isa tourin ..theater company, and they 5.0in5.. to

Perform the.th& show inour town!I just knew 1ou'd want to jro, co I de.c.ide,d to writ& and 1&11 1ou some 1-hin.5 about it? first of all, th& platiis a one -act muck-al based on the book.. That means that some of the c-liarac-t&rs and events in the Flail are the same ac in the book., but

some thin5.5 have been c-han pd or le,f+ out. I5.1e4c thvi c,ouldn't fit &v&riithin5.. from a 300-pap novel into an hour-Ion A..

50, here's what happens in Tii& Play. I c.ti- out this Synopsis from the pro m. (Oh, b1 the way all the musical numbers are in bold print) Your friend, MYY11

At the same time, Mrs. Rachel Lynde, The morning of Anne's first real day the town gossip, visits Marilla. Rachel of school, Manilla discovers that her warns Marilla about the dangers of adopt- amethyst brooch, which Anne liked, is ing orphans while Anne tells Matthew missing. Anne says that she tried the pin everything she imagines about her new life on, but put it back. Marilla accuses Anne in Avonlea. Both Anne and Rachel are of lying and sends to her room until she .t is the early 1880s. In a town called known for"Talkin' Too Much." tells the truth. Anne is heartbroken at the Avon lea on Prince Edward Island in Matthew and Anne arrive at the thought of missing school. Canada, a train conductor talks to a Cuthbert house, Green Gables. Anne is Matthew goes to the General Store to young girl sitting at his train station. She is told that she will be sent back to the buy Anne a dress with"Puffed Sleeves." an orphan waiting to be picked up by the orphanage in the morning. Because He is too shy to ask for it at first. He buys elderly Mr. Matthew Cuthbert. He and his Matthew has heart problems, Manilla many things before he gets what he really sister Marina are going to adopt her. Her wants a boy to help with the farm work. came shopping for. name is Anne Shirley, and she loves to However, Matthew protests and Anne is Anne invents a confession that she talk and "Imagine." permitted to stay for a testing period. lost Marina's brooch. Marina tells Anne to As she waits, she imagines a scene On a visit, Rachel insults Anne by pack her bags. Just then, Rachel arrives from her unhappy days at the orphanage. saying she's homely and an orphan. Anne with the sad news that Matthew has died She was treated poorly by the Head- loses her temper, insults Rachel, and must of a heart attack. She tries to hurry Anne mistress and by two people who only be convinced to apologize. off to catch the train back to the orphan- wanted to adopt her to make her their ser- Anne's imagination runs wild when age. However, Manilla realizes that she vant. They called her a"Problem Child." she thinks about her first day at school. needs Anne and her vibrant imagination Shy and quiet Mr. Cuthbert is sur- She dreams up schoolmates, Gilbert and to stay at Green Gables, especially now prised to find a girl waiting for him at the Diana, and her teacher. All of these char- after the loss.of her brother. train station. He and Manilla had request- acters take part in Anne's imagination of CUE SHEET FOR STUDENTS ed a boy orphan. Mr. Cuthbert takes her years of success in school. They call Anne home anyway. her"The Smartest Girl in Avonlea." nne Reis11.11.1.EHNINNNINE. roducibleActivit Pa. INNreenimabler BEST COPY AVAILABLE 6 are There 1994 15, synopsis?eleven that are on October in there count but "double" you Anne, Chris, did Gables, Dear Green whoplays characters of one many Anne the and how in So, actors except quickly, four roles a performers, only All change isplaying will actor on roles. actors an double roles. the when actors think know has doyou audience p' How the company will how role? productionactors? byactors the eleven different think playedother doyou hiring seven Why of characters instead three ofthese roles ofthe which names guess the to atOrphanage you Try Man give roles. plays: I'll on also ofOrphanage Teacher whodoubleofthem each Gilbert plays roles Headmistress who Diana Actor LYNDE Conductor RACHEL Train Orphanage whoplays plays: at also Woman Actor CUTHBERT MARILLA plays plays: who also Actor CUTHBERT MATTHEW plays: Hint also right! guessed ifyou see can tomorrow. you this addto theperformance, I'll After besurprised! now. may you myhomework finish togo friend, Ihave Your r. Terry

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P 0,1111-04,i.TO: Chris 4t4'T FROM: Terry DATE: October 16, 1994 foren these ,Clues NUMBER OF PAGES: 1

Dear Chris, I'm back again! Last nightI was thinking about some of my favorite lines from the play.I decided to type them up on the computer and get you to think about them, too. loy ,_.1 one!What do Anne: Which would you rather be: divinelyThat'sa °r? ck, ioyrfri"415- beautiful; dazzlingly clever; or think and will baskand tell me. angelically good? VVrite

Headmistress: (sings) You're a The Headmistress&ails Anne, a Problem Lh1Idbee-ause problem child! You're a dreamer, she daidmarvic, reads, writes, and talks too mv&h. a trial,a pain, you're a pest! Thins cure have &hailed eine& the 1E3E300

I made alist of what miAlit make com&bodi &all a kid a ``Problem &hike todal. I'll seng lots mi NO if loull send m& lours. A 1990s Problem Child:

It turtle out that Mathew was rijrht. Poec it Seem Matthew: Maybe we need her cfrane that a Oiloldman and his strict and sensible more than she needs us. sister mis5ht need a child in their Peaceful lives? An eneretie, talkative, imaginative row. 5:10?

Itoo,doijou think that their lives mi5hf chap for the better? Talk it over with a friend and fill out this &hart.

MATTHEW AND MARILLA CUTHBERT Life at Green Gables BEFORE Anne Life at Green Gables AFTER Anne

After the performance, think about whether you would change or add to any of your ideas about these lines. Do you have favorite lines thatI didn't include? I'm tired so I'll sign off! I've got more to add tomorrow! Until then!

Your friend, CUE SHEET FOR STUDENTS Terry BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Reoducible Activit Pa .e 0 reenables

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5inc-& Anne uses her imagination all the time, I thought I would challenge you to do the same. Imagine that you are the dire&tor of this play. There are two Sc-enes that happen in Anne's mind, but you have to show them on the Ow:

Anne imagines Anne remembers the teacher and two the people at the .lassma-l-es she will meet in orphanage who ordered (s&hool. Together they sin5, and her around and said mean ac-1- out Anne's dreams of +hinj,..sto her. 9.teeessfigl future.

063)3eforeyou to to the play, think about how you &odd show that these seenec happen in Anne's imagination. Kemember, you c-an use Ii5.h+s, sound effec.+s, voic-es, c.os+vmes, Scenery, furniture, and objecA-s (props). AP-et- the performan&e, compare your ideas with those of the direc-tor of Anne of Green &ableS.

Well, I hope all that I Sent you makes you eager to see Anne of Coreen Gables. Write bac.k soon and tell me what you think!

Your friend, Terri

I7.5.You &odd also write to the people who presented the show, if you wank. Address your letter to: Kennedy Genter Youth and -rafting.'

Programs, Washington, PG 205'66. CUE SHEET FOR STUDENTS nne Re roducible Activit Pa .e o eenables

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