Directed by Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill Musical Direction by Josh D. Smith Choreography by Freddy Ramirez

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

MARGARET E. HALL AARON MARQUISE Associate Artistic Director Arts Education Manager [email protected] [email protected] 518.462.4531 x410 518.382.3884 x128

1 Table of Contents Capital Repertory Theatre’s 39th Season - 2019-2020 LOBBY HERO by Kenneth Lonergan 3 A Letter from our Education Department SEPT 29 – OCT 20, 2019 4 About Us 5 Attending a Performance IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE 6 Literary Context: Synopsis of the Play Live from the WVL Radio Theatre Frank McCourt Bio Adapted by WVR Repoley from the motion From the Original Production picture by Frank Capra Vocabulary Words NOV 22 – DEC 22, 2019 10 Historical Context: Counties of Ireland Events Mentioned in the Script YOUR BEST ONE by Meridith Friedman Irish Potato Famine East Coast Premiere Immigration JAN 17 – FEB 09, 2020 Figures Mentioned in the Script 15 Scientific Context: Potato Blight THE IRISH AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY Famine and other Illnesses By Frank McCourt, featuring the music of 17 Musical Context: Songs … Ireland Instruments in the Show MAR 06 – APRIL 05, 2020 Song Sheet for 15 Miles on the Erie Canal 20 Who’s Who in the Production SISTER ACT 21 Ideas for Curriculum Integration Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Glenn Slater, 24 Resources Consulted Book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner 25 Teacher Evaluation Based on the Touchstone Pictures Motion 26 theREP’s Mission In Action Picture, SISTER ACT, written by Joseph Howard *Parts of this guide were researched and written by Dramaturgy Intern Eliza Kuperschmid. JULY 10 – AUG 16, 2020

theREP’s ON-THE-GO! IN-SCHOOL TOURS We come to YOU!

To book a tour, contact Aaron Marquise at [email protected] | 518-382-3884 x128

Victoria Benkoski

Tour Dates Tour Dates Oct. 7 – Nov. 3, Feb. 24 – March 2019 19, 2020

Public Public Performance Performance @theREP @theREP 10/26/19 at 11am 3/21/20 at 11am

2 Spring 2019

Dear Educator:

Welcome to Capital Repertory Theatre!

We are thrilled that you will be attending the student matinee performance of The Irish and How They Got That Way, one of theREP’s main stage productions – and the last one in our current home (111 North Pearl Street) as we prepare to move up the street to our new home on the corner of Livingston and Pearl – and we hope you will find this guide to be a useful tool.

You have permission to reproduce materials within this guide for use in your classroom. It is designed to introduce the cultural and historical context of the play as well as provide resources and ideas for integrating the theatre experience with your curriculum.

Productions by theREP are likely to generate questions and opinions among your students. Our hope is that you will join us for a talkback with the cast following the performance where you and your students can share your questions and reactions with the performers.

The arts provide young imaginations with stimulation, points of reference, and intellectual resources for the mind and spirit. Our goal is to make live theatre attendance possible for all students in the Capital Region. Over 11,000 Capital Region students attended student matinees and theREP’s On- the-Go! in-school tour performances last season. We hope to continue to grow and serve the needs of the Capital Region education community.

Let us know how you are using theatre in the classroom! Your success stories help us to keep the program funded. We love to receive copies of lesson plans, student work related to our performances and your letters. These are important testimonials to the value of the arts in education.

And finally, please fill out the Teacher Evaluation at the back of this study guide. Completing the evaluation form will help us to continue to provide programs that serve the needs of Capital Region students.

We look forward to hearing from you!

With deepest gratitude,

Margaret E. Hall Aaron Marquise Associate Artistic Director Arts Education Manager 518.462.4531 x410 518.382.3884 x128 [email protected] [email protected]

3 ABOUT US

Capital Repertory Theatre (theREP) is a non-profit professional producing theatre. In its 39-year history, theREP has produced more than 8,000 performances for the people of the Capital Region. A member of LORT (League of Resident Theatres), theREP strives to bring quality work that explores the essence of the human condition through the stories of people, events, and phenomena that shape our contemporary lives. Theatre, at its best, entertains, cajoles and inspires by engaging the heart and mind through its most powerful ally – the imagination. There are two basic types of theatre companies: producing and presenting. theREP is a producing theatre. The theatre hires a director and designers for the set, costumes, lights, and sound. The Theatre’s Artistic Director and the director select appropriate actors for all the roles in the play. Then they all come to Albany, where the play is built and rehearsed. In addition to the theatre space, theREP has a scene shop where sets are built, a costume shop where costumes are constructed and cared for, offices where the administrative staff works, a rehearsal hall where the shows are rehearsed, and housing facilities for actors. The resident staff of the theatre works with visiting artists to put the production together. In contrast, presenting theatres host shows that have been designed, built, and rehearsed elsewhere. A theatre company at many different theatres frequently presents shows of this kind regionally, nationally or even internationally over an extended period of time. What you will see at theREP or with our On-The-Go! tours is unique to theREP where it was built. No one from anywhere else will see this production just as you see it!

4 ATTENDING A PERFORMANCE

Being a member of an audience is an important job. Live theatre couldn’t exist without you! That job carries with it some responsibilities. Follow these suggestions in order to have the best theatre experience possible!

BRING WITH YOU u ideas, imagination, an open mind, observation skills and a sense of wonder. LEAVE BEHIND u cell phones, pagers, pen lights, food and drink and anything else that might distract you, the performers or other members of the audience. THINGS TO DO BEFORE A PERFORMANCE u learn about the show you are going to see, arrive on time, find your seat, visit the restroom.

DURING A PERFORMANCE PLEASE DO u applaud, laugh, pay attention and notice little details, think about questions you would like to have answered by the actors after the show, stay in your seat until intermission and the end of the show. PLEASE DON’T u talk, sleep, eat or drink, distract others, exit the theatre during the performance. 2019-2020 EDUCATION SEASON .

OCT 17, 2019 DEC 6, 11 & 17, 2019 MAR 12, 17, 25 & APRIL 2, 2020 10:30am 10:30 am 10:30am

STUDENT MATINEES | Performance at theREP at 10:30am PRICE $12 a student CHAPERONES For every 15 students, one complimentary adult ticket is provided. LOCATION 111 North Pearl Street, Albany, NY 12207 RESERVATIONS Call Group Sales at 518-382-3884 x139 SCHOLARSHIPS Visit www.capitalrep.org for information and applications.

5 LITERARY CONTEXT: A Synopsis of the Play

The Irish…And How They Got That Way is an irreverent history of the Irish in America according to Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt, diced with ribald tales and spirited songs.

There was a period in the 1990s when all things Hibernian (of or concerning Ireland) were all the rage – in walks Frank McCourt (metaphorically speaking), a retired Manhattan high school teacher to contributing to the Irish cultural surge taking place by writing “Angela’s Ashes.” His, best selling memoir, was about a destitute childhood in Limerick Ireland, and it won him a Pulitzer Prize.

McCourt, who had acted in plays at the Irish Repertory Theater and the Irish Arts Center, seized the Hibernian moment and went on to write The Irish…And How They Got That Way – a revue about the Irish immigrant experience in the United States.

Through a combination of primary documents – letters, journal entries, and newspaper reports – The Irish…And How They Got That Way paints a picture of the lives of Irish men and women during the 19th century (which was not always a joyous time period). The spoken-word passages of McCourt’s play are augmented by a host of songs ranging from jaunty to dour, from familiar (“Too-Ra-Loo-Ra- Loo-Ra” and “Erie Canal”) to relatively obscure (“Shores of Amerikay”). The piece strings together a buoyant blend of traditional Irish folk songs, show tunes and pop music – including contemporary Ireland’s U2. The moments of spoken-word (or dialogue) and the music (and their lyrics) work to convey a history of the Irish including the Irish potato famine that caused them to flee their homeland as well as the bigotry and hostility that accompanied the arrival of Irish immigrants in America.

McCourt’s razor sharp wit, coupled with his trademark bitter irony, and his boundless love for the Irish People are all underscored by glorious music.

The Flag of Ireland

The Emerald Isle

6 LITERARY CONTEXT: Frank McCourt, Bio

Pulitzer Prize winning author, Frank McCourt, was born August 19th 1930 in Brooklyn, NY to Irish immigrant parents. Unable to find work during the Great Depression, the McCourt family moved back to their hometown of Limerick, Ireland, where they unfortunately sunk deeper into poverty.

McCourt’s childhood was not an easy one. Living in poverty. His father was an alcoholic, often without work, and would eventually abandon his family altogether. Three of his six siblings passed away due to diseases exacerbated by malnutrition and the conditions surrounding them. At 10 years old Frank himself would battle disease, fighting for his life and ultimately surviving typhoid fever. At 13 years old, McCourt quit primary school and – in an effort to feed himself, his mother, and his three surviving brothers – he took up odd jobs and petty theft. By the time he was 19 he had moved back to the United States and drafted into the army at the onset of the Korean War and stationed in Germany. Under the GI bill, Frank returned to the U.S. and pursued a college education at NYU (“he never finished high school but was able to persuade the NYU admissions office to let him in”). After graduation he went on to teach creative writing in the NYC public school system for 27 years.

“I taught what they call ‘Creative Writing,’ though you and I know how hard it is to teach anyone anything,” McCourt says. “Instead of teaching writing I ‘conducted’ writing classes. I tried to show my students the significance of their own lives, which they sometimes thought insignificant. I hoped they’d realize the value of their own lives, that they

were good enough to write about.” ~Frank McCourt

ADDITIONALLY:

• In 1984 he co-wrote and co-starred in a play with his brother, Malachy McCourt, called A Couple of Blaguards. • In 1996, after retiring from teaching, he published his first book, a memoir called Angela’s Ashes, and it was a smash hit. • Angela’s Ashes sold over 4-million copies; has been published in 27 countries; has been translated into 17 languages; and has won McCourt the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the ABBY Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Biography. • While his memoir was met with praise and awards, it was also notoriously offensive to the people of Ireland, who felt that McCourt’s portrayal of his hometown of Limerick was far too bleak and that life was not as horrible/hard as he had painted it out to be. • He continued his life story in the sequel-memoirs called ‘Tis and Teacher Man. • Frank McCourt died on July 19th 2009 at the age of 78.

7 LITERARY CONTEXT: From Original Production

The two following quotes were printed in the programs for both of the Irish Repertory Theatre’s productions of The Irish…And How They Got That Way:

Benjamin Disraeli Politician, novelist and The Irishman is an imaginative being. He lives on bon viveur, Benjamin Disraeli was a man an island in a damp climate, and contiguous to the with many interests, melancholy ocean. He has no variety of pursuit. but it was as a There is no nation in the world that leads so Conservative monotonous a life as the Irish, because their only politician that Disraeli occupation is the cultivation of the soil before achieved lasting fame. them. These men are discontented United Kingdom because they are not amused. Prime Minister for 7- years. ~Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, 1868

Recent works of historical investigation have offered explanations of how the Irish saved civilization and how they became white. Now comes Frank McCourt to answer any and all questions about Irish behavior (and misbehavior) with a Unified Force Theory of penetrating vision and universal application.

For those who continue to be baffled, amused, fascinated, titillated, or terrified by the Irish; McCourt explains the inexplicable. On occasion, his explanations may strike some as utterly implausible. But if implausibility isn’t an essential Irish characteristic, what is?

The Irish and How They Got That Way will tell you everything about the Irish that you were either afraid to ask or, perhaps, didn’t care to know. It’s all here: the Peter Quinn is a second-generation Irish- musical comedy/tragedy of the race that God (with American writer and historian. He grew up in the Bronx and attended Manhattan College and some help from the English and some self-help from Fordham University for history. In the 80s, he the Irish) made mad. began researching for a new novel based on the 1863 Civil War Draft Riots in New York and There isn’t a person on earth more expert than Frank meet with other aspiring writers William McCourt at ferreting out the laughter which resides Kennedy (an Albany, NY native) and Frank McCourt. within the human condition – Irish or otherwise. Not bad for a kid from Limerick. His first novel, Banished Children of Eve, was published in 1994 and won an American Book ~Peter Quinn, September 1997 Award (1995). (Author of “Banished Children of Eve”)

8 LITERARY CONTEXT: Vocabulary Words

SOME KEY TERMS: (from the script and/or from within the study guide materials)

ADAPT – verb | make something suitable for a new use or purpose; modify; alter (a text) to make it suitable for filming, broadcasting or the stage

ADAPTATION – noun | Something that is changed or modified to suit new conditions or needs; a form or structure modified to fit a changed environment.

BLIGHT – noun | Plant Pathology | the rapid and extensive discoloration, wilting, and death of plant tissues.

EMIGRATE – verb | to leave one country or region to settle in another; migrate.

FAMINE – noun | extreme and general scarcity of food, as in a country or a large geographical area; extreme hunger/starvation.

HIBERNIAN – adjective | of or concerning Ireland.

IMMIGRATE – verb | to come to a country of which one is not a native, usually for permanent residence.

WATERSHED – noun | an important point of division or transition between two phases, conditions, etc.

Original productionplaybill cover

Interesting Facts (taken directly from the text): 1. “The medal of honor, the highest decoration awarded to members of the American Armed Forces, was instituted by Abraham Lincoln in 1861. The 202 Irish-born recipients constitute the largest group of immigrants ever to receive this award.”

2. “Twenty-two United States Presidents claim a direct paternal or maternal line to Ireland, including Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, William Jefferson Clinton, Barack Obama and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.”

9 HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Counties of Ireland

The country of Ireland is broken up into counties. The counties themselves are sub-national divisions that have been used to geographically demarcate areas of local government. These land divisions were formed following the Norman invasion of Ireland in imitation of the counties then in use as units of local government in the Kingdom of England. The principal function of the county was to impose royal control in the areas of taxation, security and the administration of justice at the local level.

Counties are no longer used for local government in Northern Ireland rather districts are used there instead.

The counties of Ireland are much like the States in the United States.

*Frank McCourt moved to Limerick during the Great Depression.

10 HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Events mentioned in the Script

• In 1862, a British Magazine “Punch,” printed an article denigrating the Irish. The article called “The Missing Link” refers to the Irish as “creatures.”

• The “Discovery of America” by St. Brendan, Bishop of Clonfert in the sixth century [545 AD]. Navigato Sancti Hayes by Julia Icon Brendani depicts St. Brendan as an explorer who discovers a land widely believed to be a representation of North America before the Norse Vikings, Amerigo Vespuci, or Christopher

Columbus ever set foot on the continent.

• Irish fought in the Revolutionary War, in fact, at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, it is documented that 689 Irish were present.

• The Erie Canal – construction on the canal began in canal the on working Irishmen 1817, with the official opening of the canal in 1825. The State of NY carved out the 363-miles of canal (40 feet wide, 4 feet deep) after the federal government declared it to be ‘too ambitious an undertaking.’ NY was not to be deterred, and the canal was dug out with nothing more than the muscle power of men and horses. Many of the men working to dig the canal were

Irish.

• American Civil War a war in the United States, from April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865, fought between the northern and southern states – which began after decades of simmering tensions between the north and south over slavery, states’ rights and westward expansion.

• The Fighting 69th (or the Irish Brigade) is a legendary Regiment formed in NYC initially as a State Militia unit. It served with distinction in every major campaign of the Civil War. Facing them in battle, General Robert E. Lee was responsible for giving them their nickname when he referred to them as “That Fighting Sixty-Ninth.” They continued to serve with valor during WWI. o In 1940 an American war film starring James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, and George Brent was made and called The Fighting 69th. The plot of the film is based upon the actual exploits of New York City’s 69th Infantry Regiment during WWI.

• Molly MaGuires are members of a secret society of Irish miners that waged a campaign of terror against oppressive mine owners in the Pennsylvania coalfields.

• Tammany Hall was a New York City political organization that endured for nearly two centuries, and was formed in 1789 in opposition to the Federalist Party.

11 HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Irish Potato Famine

Irish Potato Famine (also known as Great Famine, Great Irish Famine, Famine of 1845-59)

Between 1845 and 1849, Ireland succumbed to a great famine when their potato crop failed several years in a row. It was the worst famine to occur in Europe in the 19th centuray causing starvation, disease, death and mass emigration.

The crop failures were caused by late blight, a disease that destroys both the leaves and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plant. The cause of late blight is the water mold Phytophth infestans.

The potato had become a staple crop in Ireland by the 18th century, it was a hardy, nutritious, and calorie-dense crop that could be relatively easiy grown in the Irish soil. By the early 19840s almost half of Ireland’s population – but primarily the rural poor – had come to depend almost exclusively on the potato for their diet.

Heavy reliance on just one or two high-yielding types of potato greatly reduced the genetic variety that ordinarily prevents the decimation of an entire crop by disease. This made the Irish extremely vulnerable to famine, and in 1845 a strain of Phytophthora arrived accidentally from North America. The same year Ireland had unusually cool moist weather allowing the blight to thrive. Much of Ireland’s potato crop rotted in the fields that year – that partial crop failure was followed by more- devastating failures from 1846-1849, as each year’s potato crop was almost completely ruined by the blight.

The famine proved to be a watershed in the demographic history of Ireland.

As a direct consequence of the famine, Ireland’s population of almost 8.4-million in 1844 had fallen to 6.6-million by 1851.

About 1-million people died from starvation or from typhus and other famine-related diseases, and the number of Irish who emigrated during the famine came close to 2-million.

Between 1841-50, 49% of all immigrants entering the United States were Irish.

Great Famine Victims of Ireland’s Great Famine immigrating to North America by ship; wood engraving c. 1890. ©Photos.com/Thinkstock

12 HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Immigration

Ellis Island is an historical site that opened in 1892 as an immigration station, a purpose it served for more than 60-years, until it closed in 1954. Located at the mouth of the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, Ellis Island saw millions of newly arrived immigrants pass through its doors. In fact, it has been estimated that close to 40 percent of all current U.S. citizens can trace at least one of their ancestors to Ellis Island. Immigration: Ellis Island, Seen from NY Harbor, 1903. Geo. P. Hall & Son/The New York Historical Society/Getty Images When Ellis Island opened, a great change was taking place in U.S. immigration. Fewer arrivals were coming from Northern and Western Europe (Germany, Ireland, Britain and the Scandinavian countries) – while more and more immigrants poured in from Southern and Eastern Europe. Among this new generation were Jews escaping political and economic oppression in czarist Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as Italians escaping poverty in their country. Before Ellis Island was an immigration station, during the mass emigration of Irish from Ireland due to the Potato Famine, many emigrants entered the United States by way of Canada. They left Ireland, most dressed in nothing more than rags, with out enough food to last the 40-day journey across the Atlantic Ocean, nor enough money to buy food sold on board. While some sailed to Great Britain and then to Australia, most went to America. As fares on the Canadian ships were cheaper, many emigrants sailed to Canada and then walked across the border into Maine and then south through New England. Conditions on the Canadian ships – called ‘timber ships’ as they transported lumber – was bad. They were not meant for, nor prepared for, human transportation. These ships became known as “coffin ships” due to the great number of deaths aboard (or in quarantine after they reached Canada) due to the poor conditions they traveled in. Those who could afford the higher fare traveled directly to New York City on American ships where conditions were much better. Though most who traveled via American ships survived the journey, those who were already suffering from fever (etc.) when they arrived in America were kept in quarantine on Staten Island, until they were better.

ACTIVITIES: Classroom Discussion: Immigration Then versus Immigration Now Take the statement “Irish Need Not Apply” – used heavily in the script, and used heavily when the Irish firs immigrated to the U.S., and discuss it’s similarities (or differences) to statements made by politicians (employers and citizens) in the U.S. today, about others immigration “now.”

If you were not already a citizen of the United States in 1845 to the early 1900s, would you have wanted and attempted to immigrate to the U.S.? What about today?

Interactive Tour of Ellis Island: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/#event13

13 HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Figures Mentioned in the Script

Within the text of The Irish… a number of historical figures are mentioned. Here are a few:

George Clooney James Cagney Pat O’Brien Maureen O’Hara Spencer Tracy • American born • American • American • Irish- • American born actor (born born actor born actor American actor (1900- 1961) whose (1899-1986) (1899-1983) actress (1920- 1967) to Irish- great great to an Irish- of Irish 2015) Catholic great American decent parents grandfather

father Nicholas Clooney hails

Oscar Wilde from Kilkenny George Bernard Shaw • Irish poet and playwright • Irish playwright, critic Born 1854, Died • and political activist 1900 • Born 1856, Died 1950 • Playwright of The Playwright of Pygmalion Importance of •

Being Earnest

John McEnroe – An American tennis player, with Irish ancestry, known for his John McEnroe shot-making artistry and volleying skills.

Charles Trevelyan – Also known as Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet – was a British civil servant and colonial administrator. By 1840 he served as assistant secretary to the Treasury, a position that held the responsibility for administering relief during the famine in Ireland. Charles Trevelyan Charles

Daniel O’Connell Daniel O’Connell – also known as The Liberator or The Emancipator – was a lawyer who became the first great 19th century Irish nationalist leader.

14 SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT: Potato Blight

Potato Blight also called late blight, is a disease of the potato and tomato plants. It is caused by the water mold Phytophthora infestans. The disease occurs in humid regions with temperatures ranging between 4 and 29°C (or 40 and 80°F). Infected plants can rot within two weeks time.

The Great Famine in Ireland in the mid- 19th century was caused by late blight of the potato plant.

Late blight also destroyed more than half Potato: late blight | Scott Bauer – ARS/USDA of the tomato crop in the eastern United States in 1946. This led to the establishment of a blight-forecasting service in 1947.

What Blight Looks Like: When plants become infected, lesions (round or irregularly shaped areas that range in color from dark green to purplish black and resemble frost injury) appear on the leaves, petioleds, and stems. A whitish growth of spore-producing structures may appear at the margin of the lesions on the underleaf surfaces. Potato tubers develop rot up to 15mm (0.6 inches) deep. Secondary fungi and bacteria (particularly Erwinia species) often invade potato tubers and produce rotting that results in great losses during storage, transit and marketing.

Phytophthora survives in stored tubers, dump piles, field plants, and greenhouse tomatoes. Both sexual oospores and asexual sporangia are dispersed by the wind to nearby plants, in which infection may occur within a few hours. At temperatures below 15°C (59°F) sporangia germinate by producing zoospores (asexual spores with flagella) that encyst and later form a germ tube under certain temperature and humidity conditions. Above that temperature most sporangia produce a germ tube directly. Foliage blighting and a new crop of sporangia are produced within four to six days after infection. The cycle is repeated as long as cool moist weather prevails.

The disease can be managed with a timely application of fungicide, though epidemics can occur rapidly once crops are infected. Given that oospores have thickened walls and are able to persist in the soil for several seasons, the disease can be difficult to eradicate.

Blight resistant tomato and potato varieties have been developed.

What blight on a potato leaf looks like:

15 SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT: Famine and other Illnesses

Typhus is an uncommon disease caused by a bacteria called Rickettsia prowazekii. It is spread to people through contact with infected body lice. Though it was responsible for millions of deaths in previous centuries, it is now considered a rare disease.

• Typhus fevers are a group of diseases caused by bacteria that are spread to humans by fleas, lice, and chiggers.

o The North American typhus epidemic of 1847 was an outbreak that can be directly linked to the massive Irish emigration caused by the potato famine. Irish fled their homeland aboard croweded ships that enabled the rapid spread of the diesease.

Swamp Fever is a generic term for any number of infections that are more common in swamps and typically transitted by mosquitoes, such as malaria. Many who worked on the Erie Canal succumbed to swamp fever.

• Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite called sporozoites, transmitted to humans by the bite of a mosquito. Once bitten, the sporozoites travel Malaria Parasite through the bloodstream to the liver, where they mature and release another from, the merozoites. The merozoites enter the bloodstream infecting and destroying red blood cells. Individuals infected with malaria experience fever, chills, flu-like symptoms and anemia. If left untreated, they may develop severe complications and die. Malaria is treatable.

o Anemia a condition marked by a deficiency of red blood cells or of hemoglobin in the blood, resulting in pallor and weariness.

16 MUSICAL CONTEXT: Songs…

• U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin, formed in 1976. The group’s members are Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. A few of their popular songs are: “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “With Or Without You” off The Joshua Tree (1987) album and “One” off Achtung Baby (1991) album.

• George M. Cohan (or George Michael Cohan, Jr.) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and theatrical producer. He began his career as a child - performing with his parents and sister - in a vaudeville act known as “The Four Cohans.” A few of his most famous songs are: “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”

SONGS IN THE SHOW (instrumental and or sung)

• Whiskey Before Breakfast • The Shores of Amerikay • Music for a Found Harmonium • The Anchor’s Aweigh • The Butterfly • Give Me Your Poor • We Are The Music Makers • No Irish Need Apply • The Rose of Tralee • An Irish Washwoman • Believe me if all those endearing young • The Letter (Do You Love an Apple) charms • Canal Diggres Lament • Holy Ground • The Erie Canal (Low Bridge) • Galway Bay • Give My Regards to Broadway • Carrickfergus • Mary’s A Grand Old Name • I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen • Harrigan • If You’re Irish, Come into the Parlor • I’ve Got Rings On My Fingers • Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ra (That’s an Irish • Has Anyone Here Seen Kelly Lullaby) • Paddy on the Railway • God Save The Queen • Moonshiner • Notre Dame • Who Threw The Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s • Exotic Chowder? • Rule Britannia • Scarborough Fair • Deutschland/Marseilles/As Time Goes By • Finnegan’s Wake • Spancil Hill • Battle Hymn of the Republic • Mrs. McGrath • Shenandoah • Yankee Doodle • Dear Ould Ireland (Ireland Boys Hurray) • Mother Maccree • The Ghost of Molly MaGuire • The Rare Ould Times • Danny Boy • Does Your Mother Come From Ireland? • George M. Cohan’s Wartime Medley • Greensleeves • To the Chief • Fields of Athenry • Johnny, I Hardley Knew Ye • The Praties • Weep Not For the Memories • Skibbereen • I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for

17 MUSICAL CONTEXT: Instruments in the show…

Tin Whistle Bodhrán Fiddle Electric Violin

Mandolin Fife Cajon (Box Drum) Cello

Spoons

Upright Bass Glockenspiel

Vibraslap Anvil

Melodica

Banjo

Electric Bass Guitar Acoustic Guitar

Accordion

Marching Snare Drum

Piccolo Tambourine

Piano 18 MUSICAL CONTEXT: Classroom Sing Along

19 Who’s Who: In the Production Director: Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill Music Director: Josh D. Smith Choreographer: Freddy Ramriez

Actors (in alphabetical order) Kevin McGuire* Patrick John Moran* Emily Mikesell* Lauren Wright* Caroline Whelehan*

Musicians Josh D. Smith* Harry Lumb Dough Esmond

Production Stage Manager: Jessie Jardon* Assistant Stage Manager: Laura Crawford Dialect Coach: David Girard Costume Designer: Miranda Giurleo+ Set Designer: Brian Prather+ Lighting Designer: Travis McHale+ Sound Designer: Rider Q. Stanton Projection Designer: Nathan Scheuer Casting Director: Stephanie Klapper, csa

*Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of +Denotes a member of Professional Actors and Stage United Scenic Artists Managers of the United States

20 Ideas for Curriculum Integration SOCIAL STUDIES

1. RESEARCH & REPORT! The script lists a series of “Famous Firsts” – accomplishments (mostly) that are attributed to the Irish. Students are asked to select one, research it and report on it. This could be as a paper or as a power point presentation. a. First witch hanged in New England was Irish b. First doctor to remove an American appendix was Irish c. Maker of the first American piano was Irish d. Firs steamboat inventor was Irish e. First plot to poison George Washington was by an Irishman f. First labor strikes were organized etc. by the Irish g. First draft riots were organized etc. by the Irish h. First man elected to congress from a prison cell and from two different states at different times was Irish i. First man elected to the senate from three different states at three different times, and first man to start a fist fight on the floor of the senate j. First Catholic in the White House was Irish k. The first doctor to do an ovariotomy was Irish

ENGLISH

1. WRITE! Students are asked to write a short story, poem or monologue from the point of view of the individuals in the photo below (or another photo teachers choose). Things to take into consideration: When was the photo taken? What was the world like then? Where was the photo taken? What does each person’s body language tell you? How are they relating to one another and the audience/viewer?

Immigration: Ellis Island Immigrant children being examined by a city health officer upon arrival in 111.

21 2. WRITE! Students are asked to research and write out the story of how their ancestors came to live where they do. Did anyone in their family emigrate from Europe or elsewhere?

3. REFLECT & WRITE! Students are asked to write a review of theREP’s production of The Irish…And How They Got That Way. Things to consider when writing the review: a. What was the most compelling or intriguing aspect of the production? b. How did the set, lights, costumes and props add (or take away) from the production? c. What did you think of the music? d. What did you think of the stage movement and choreography? e. What did you think of the direction of the piece? f. What questions arose for you, about the production, was anything confusing? g. Would you recommend this production to others? h. Can you make any connections between this play and other plays you have seen? i. Can you make any connections from the play to your own life?

SCIENCE

1. MALARIA: Doctors did not know what malaria was when outbreaks of the disease first occurred and struck many of the men working on the Erie Canal. Share the symptoms of malaria with students (fever, chills, body aches, upset stomach…). Next, students should compare those symptoms to other diseases of the time. Discuss how easily it was to misdiagnose a patient at that time.

Taken a Step Further: discuss how advances in medical technology, and medicine itself, has made malaria (and other “old world diseases”) preventable/treatable.

Finally: discuss with students how there are still areas of the world where malaria outbreaks occur, and why.

VISUAL | PERFORMANCE ARTS

1. DRAW! Set Design The Irish…And How They Got That Way is set in a traditional style Irish Pub. Ask students to draw their own version of a Traditional Irish Pub. What else could/would be there? Make sure students think about the small details as well as the big ones (like lighting fixtures, pictures on the pubs wall, etc.).

2. DRAW! Students are asked to design a show poster for a production of The Irish…And How They Got That Way. The posters should include student’s original design as well as the production date and venue; the title and author; and most show posters include the name of the director, perhaps it’s you, as the teacher, are the director whose name should be included.

22 3. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: In Their Shoes: In this activity, students will explore the lives of those individuals who immigrated to the United States. Using images/portraits from the 1800s to early 1900s (and or now) as inspiration, students will create a character biography that explores the thoughts and emotions of the subjects in the photographs. For this activity you will need a large, open space, and a collection of images relating to immigration (then or now or both). Teacher can provide or ask students to bring in photos. Photos § Place photos in a circle on the floor. (These will be the characters the students ‘create’.) § As students enter the room, tell them to sit by a photo that they are drawn to. § Ask the students to study the picture. Notice every aspect of physical appearance—clothing (color, fit, style, etc.), expression, stance, etc. § Once students feel like they have a sense of the character’s physical appearance ask them to lie on their backs. Visulization § Have students close their eyes and bring their attention to breathing. § Visualize the person that they saw in the photo. Ask them to remember every detail that they picture. § Begin to visualize how the character moves, sits and walks through the environment seen in the picture. § When each student can envision this they rise to their feet. Character Walk § Students start to walk around the room and bring their attention to certain aspects of movement. Tempo, Body Center, Stance, etc. When all students have made their character choices they may walk, as a group, into a circle and drop the character. WRITE § Next, ask students to write an inner monologue for their characters (this should be what their character is thinking during the moment the photograph was taken). Have students share their monologues with the class.

Photo Examples:

23 RESOURCES CONSULTED

Website: www.dictionary.com www.imdb.com www.wikipedia.com https://irishrep.org/show/2000-2001-season/irish-got-way/ https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/theater/reviews/05irish.html https://www.britannica.com/science/late-blight#ref240597 https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/benjamin-disraeli-the-earl-of-beaconsfield https://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/aia/collections/ihoral/quinnp/quinnp.php https://www.cdc.gov/typhus/epidemic/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/typhus/index.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties_of_Ireland https://biography.yourdictionary.com/st-brendan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1847_North_American_typhus_epidemic https://thewildgeese.irish/profiles/blogs/the-irish-backbone-of-the-erie-canal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fighting_69th https://glc.yale.edu/fighting-69th-irish-brigade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2 https://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/george-m-cohan/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_M._Cohan https://www.irishfamilyhistorycentre.com/article/george-clooneys-kilkenny-roots-revealed https://www.history.com/topics/us-politics/tammany-hall https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/trevelyan_charles.shtml https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-OConnell https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/ellis-island https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-26-2-the-potato-famine-and-irish-immigration-to-america.html

Newspapers • “The Irish…And How They Got That Way at the Irish Repertory Theatre.” Back Stage. July, 29, 2010. Page 41. • Wester, Andy. “Tale of Immigrant Tribe Viewed in Emerald Lens.” The New York Times. August 5, 2010. Page C2.

Other • theREP’s 2016-17 Study Guide for They Built America: Workers of the Erie Canal

***This guide has been constructed for educational purposes only. theREP, which is a non- profit organization, does not make any money from the guide.***

24 TEACHER EVALUATION: The Irish…Way

Your feedback is vital to the growth and continued success of theREP’s educational programming. It helps us to constantly improve and attract additional underwriting. Please take a moment to fill out this form.

We encourage you to make multiple copies so that all of the teachers in your group may respond.

1. Name:______School:______2. Phone:______E-mail:______

3. How would you rate the quality of today’s performance? Excellent Good Fair Poor

4. Did attending the performance assist you in addressing classroom curriculum? Very Much Somewhat Not At All N/A

5. Were the on-line study materials useful in preparing students and deepening their experience? Very Much Somewhat Not At All N/A

6. Please check all that apply: ____Today’s performance price was affordable for my school. ____My school required a subsidy in order to afford today’s performance. ____My school would provide performances for more students, more often, if additional funds were available.

7. Any additional information / comments welcome:

The completed form may be submitted by email to [email protected] or by mail to: Aaron Marquise, Arts Education Manager, 432 State Street, Schenectady, NY 12305.

25 theREP/Capital Repertory Theatre’s Mission In Action! Creating an authentic link to the community we serve…

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH are key components of theREP’s mission, “to create an authentic link to the community we serve.” Through a wide range of programs, theREP strives “to provide the Capital Region with theatre programming which inspires a greater understanding of the human condition” and helps “to develop future audiences by instilling the notion that theatre is a vital part of the cultural life of all vibrant cities.”

PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS

Student Matinees (Classics on Stage) Performances of most of the theatre’s professional productions are scheduled during the school day with dramatically discounted prices for area students to allow for greater accessibility. Each season, at least one play is designated as Classics on Stage, for its direct connections with curriculum. On-The-Go! in-School Tour Specially adapted professional productions designed to play to students on- site in schools. Last season, theREP’s OTG program reached more than 9,500 students. Young Playwright Contest Providing students, ages 13-19, with the opportunity to submit their work to be produced on the Capital Rep stage. In addition, the winning playwrights are given a mentorship – prior to the production of the play – with a professional playwright. Summer Stage Young Acting Company Providing young actors the opportunity to work together, with leading professionals in the field, on a production that will take place on the Capital Rep stage. Company Members hone their acting skills while rehearsing and then performing the Young Playwright Contest-winning plays. Acting Intensive I & II provide teens, ages 12-17, the opportunity to hone their acting skills by providing these week-long comprehensive workshops. CAST (Cultivating Arts & Students Together) provides students with the opportunity to volunteer at the theatre and earn community service credits at the same time. Teens get an in-depth learning experience that satisfies their passion while fulfilling their needs. Artist In Residency Programs theREP works in conjunction with school educators to bring highly trained teaching artists to work in extended residency within the classroom. Opportunities to embed the theatrical experience into the curriculum are available for teachers and students for every work in our 2018-19 Education Season. Career Development theREP is dedicated to helping to build the next generation of theatre professionals with programs like the Professional Apprenticeship Program which provides year-long or summer-long paid apprenticeships, and Internship Program provides college students internships in many disciplines of theatre. These programs are specifically for young people beginning a career in the performing arts and arts education.

2019-2020 EDUCATION SPONSORS & FOUNDATIONS

CSArch Architecture|Engineering|Construction Management Pitney Bowes David and Candace Weir Foundation Lucille A. Herold Charitable Trust McCarthy Charities Price Chopper’s Golub Foundation Sidney & Beatrice Albert Foundation The Michael Tuch Foundation The Review Foundation

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