™ TENACITY: A Key to Success DAVID DABBON l Dance Music Arranger AT THIS STAGE HOLLY RAYE l Moderator, Actress and Director LESSONS THAT PERFORM Grades: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (ELA, Life Skills, Music) AT THIS STAGE™ LESSONS THAT PERFORM FEATURING David Dabbon A LESSON FROM BROADWAY Tenacity: A Key to Success BACKGROUND

SYNOPSIS is a high-energy adventure about family, love and living life to the fullest. The musical tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager obsessed with the whole “being dead thing.” Lucky for Lydia, her new house is haunted by a recently Daniel Coston deceased couple and a degenerate dancing demon who happens to have a thing for stripes. When Lydia I used to think that to be a professional was all about calls on this ghost-with-the-most to scare away her how“ fast I could work. Over my years, I’ve learned that insufferable parents, Beetlejuice comes up with the being a professional is knowing where to focus my time perfect plan, which involves exorcism, arranged and what work needs to get done. My advice to students marriages and an adorable girl scout who gets scared is to keep asking questions. Even when you are stuck out of her wits. Plus singing and dancing, of course. find a question to ask. Success is not defined by the Beetlejuice is based on the 1988 Geffen Company film luck of how little you’ve failed along the way, success is of the same name, directed by , with story knowing you’ve made the best decision trying out every by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson. option first! ” —David Dabbon RESOURCES ABOUT THE EXPERT To learn more, visit the following authorized sources: DAVID DABBON is currently represented on Broadway Official Website:https://beetlejuicebroadway.com/ as the dance arranger for the musical Beetlejuice Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ and previously with Disaster!. He is a prolific channel/UCgQ5kxoF7MY-ZuEVAkr-XOQ composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator and music Cast Recording: https://open.spotify.com/ supervisor for today’s foremost artists working in film and album/3Nkueud4hqLWhSzOepKi7p on the stages of prestigious theatre companies including Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, The Feature Film: https://www.amazon.com/ Pittsburgh CLO, Goodspeed Opera House, Delaware Beetlejuice-HD-Alec-Baldwin/dp/B002KJX4IE Theatre Company and Seattle Children’s Theatre. David’s For information on group sales or single tickets call extensive music credits include HBO’s documentary Six 800.447.7400 or visit https://www.telecharge.com. by Sondheim, Audra McDonald Live at Lincoln Center for For information on group sales or single tickets, call PBS, Audra McDonald at Carnegie Hall, the Grammy 800.447.7400. Award nominated Sondheim on Sondheim and original compositions: Bacha Bazi: Boy Play, Game On and Mario To learn more about David Dabbon or inquire about and the Comet He is a frequent master teacher at leading . private coaching, visit https://www.daviddabbon.com/. institutions such as New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Carnegie Mellon, Montclair State and Pace AT THIS STAGE® is presented by Camp Broadway LLC. University to mention a few. For more information, visit For more information about other AT THIS STAGE digital workshops, write to [email protected] www.daviddabbon.com. or visit www.campbroadway.com.

Page 2 of 6 AT THIS STAGE™ LESSONS THAT PERFORM FEATURING David Dabbon A LESSON FROM BROADWAY Tenacity: A Key to Success LESSON PLAN WORKSHOP TITLE: Tenacity: A Key To Success STUDENT OBJECTIVES SUBJECT EXPERT: David Dabbon, Music Dance Arranger • Students will understand how tenacity, focus and MODERATOR: Holly Raye, Actress & Director/ collaboration contribute to accomplishing goals Choreographer • Students will be able to identify their interests or SUBJECTS: ELA, Life Skills, Music hobbies and understand how to research ways to apply GRADE BANDS: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 their knowledge to possible career options • Students will have insight into the process of creating a OVERVIEW music dance arrangement and make connection to their AT THIS STAGE presents an in-depth discussion with David own interests Dabbon, Music Dance Arranger for Beetlejuice, the critically acclaimed new musical playing on Broadway. David shares ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS his unique journey of personal discovery which began as • How does tenacity contribute to accomplishing goals? an 8-year old song writer and developed into his career as • How does the use of trial in error help us be more an accomplished composer, conductor and collaborator creative in achieving success? to many other Broadway artists. He discusses tenacity, • How do we identify our own personal qualities that can focus, teamwork and the importance of trial and error in help us overcome obstacles and achieve our goals? achieving success in all aspects of life. Students will also get insight into his role on the Beetlejuice creative team and a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how he makes music VOCABULARY dance through a video clip of the show-stopping number backstory (noun). a history or background, especially one created for a fictional character “That Beautiful Sound.” collaborate (verb). work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create something integrate (verb). combine (one thing) with another so that they become a whole Pictured (l to r): process (noun). a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end (Beetlejuice), Sophia Anne tenacity (noun). the quality or fact of being very Caruso (Lydia) determined or persistent trial and error. the process of experimenting with various methods of doing something until one Matthew Murphy, 2019 Matthew Murphy, finds the most successful STANDARDS ALIGNMENT English Language Arts CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1.C National Core Arts Standards 1.Comprehension and Collaboration: Pose and respond to specific questions TH:Cr2-7 Examine and justify original CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1 with elaboration and detail by making ideas and artistic choices in a drama/ Engage effectively in a range of comments that contribute to the topic, theatre work based on critical analysis, collaborative discussions (one-on- text, or issue under discussion. background knowledge, and historical one, in groups, and teacher-led) with CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.2 and cultural context. diverse partners on grade 6 topics, Interpret information presented in texts, and issues, building on others’ diverse media and formats (e.g., ideas and expressing their own clearly. visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.

For more information on AT THIS STAGE, write to [email protected] Page 3 of 6 AT THIS STAGE™ LESSONS THAT PERFORM FEATURING David Dabbon A LESSON FROM BROADWAY Tenacity: A Key to Success CLASS ACTIVITY DO NOW MAIN ACTIVITY CREATIVE CONTEXT Class Exercise (10 minutes) Beetlejuice was adapted from Group Presentation (30 minutes) One Word Circle Story: Form a circle in the movie of the same name Staging the Story: Divide the the classroom. Students can stand or sit. by Anthony King and Scott students into small groups (4-5 Inspired by Beetlejuice, the students will Brown. The story follows death- students per group, if possible). develop a story that features: (1) a young obsessed teen Lydia Deetz, Each group will write a short script girl, (2) a dead couple, (3) a demon, and, (4) whose home is haunted by a (5-10 lines) about the characters additional characters, if they want. Each deceased couple, Mr. and Mrs. in the story they just created as a person can only say one word at a time. Maitlands; and the degenerate group—having fun developing the (Example: Person 1 says “Once”; Person 2 demon Beetlejuice, who agrees original characters they imagined says “upon”; Person 3 says “a”; Person 4 to scare off her insufferable beyond the initial plot line. Give says “time”; Person 5 says “there”; Person parents. , the each group 10 minutes and creative 6 says “was”; etc.). The story must make show’s composer and lyricist, freedom to prepare the material in sense and include a beginning, middle and explains, “Every character is any format they want. (For example, end. It starts with the phrase “Once upon so well crafted and larger than they could speak it like a hip-hop or a time…” and end with “everyone lived life that they seem to have rap, sing it as a traditional theatre happily ever after”. their own groove and their own song, present it as a modern dance Assessment: Turn and Talk. In what tempo… It’s a world where and/or all three.) Students who are in ways did we collaborate as a whole group literally anything can happen.” “the audience” should be respectful, to create a complete story? How did we Beetlejuice features a wide range supportive and encouraging of their support each other? Why is this important of music styles, from reggae to fellow performers. when creating an artistic piece? dancehall, zydeco Assessment: Write. How did to ska—with your group use trial and error plenty of indie when creating your piece? Why is rock sounds. cooperation so important when working as a group to create a piece of art? How did you support Pictured (l to r): Alex Brightman other groups when they performed? Rob McLure, , , and STUDENT Adam Dannheisser 2018 Matthew Murphy, ASSIGNMENT LESSON RATIONAL Students can document their As the Dance Music Arranger for Beetlejuice, David had to collaborate with a Notes and Reflections on this ed- creative team that included the composer/lyricist, choreographer, director ucational experience from Broad- and others. The focus on this pre-event lesson is for students to experience way on the worksheets provided. the collaborative process and help them understand that creating one fluent We hope this class on Tenacity story together will require tenacity, teamwork and, potentially, trial and error. and Collaboration will provide them with insights, suggestions and ideas that will inspire them AT THIS STAGE Produced by Camp Broadway LLC AT THIS STAGE of their lives. Lesson Plan by Karen Sarah Watson; Educator, Curriculum Specialist and Professional Actress Materials Designed by Kathy Giarrano

AT THIS STAGE™ Page 4 of 6 For more information on AT THIS STAGE, write to [email protected] LESSONS THAT PERFORM AT THIS STAGE™ LESSONS THAT PERFORM FEATURING David Dabbon A LESSON FROM BROADWAY Tenacity: A Key to Success SESSION NOTES Student Name______

Video Title/Topic ______

Background What is your “backstory?” Describe a situation when you were Knowledge: tenacious or achieved your goal through trial and error.

Meet the Artist: What insights did you learn from the presentation?

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New Vocabulary: What new words did you learn? Use each word in a sentence.

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AT THIS STAGE™ LESSONS THAT PERFORM For more information on AT THIS STAGE, write to [email protected] Page 5 of 6 AT THIS STAGE™ LESSONS THAT PERFORM FEATURING David Dabbon A LESSON FROM BROADWAY Tenacity: A Key to Success REFLECTIONS

Question: How did David Dabbon’s story inspire you to think about your own career goals?

Connection: Describe a situation when you experienced trial and error. What obstacles did you overcome? How did you achieve your desired goal?

Application: How can you apply the lessons learned from this session to your school work, hobbies or goals for the future?

Exploration: Describe a possible career you might explore and list the first three steps you can take to learn more about it.

Career

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™ AT THIS STAGE Page 6 of 6 For more information on AT THIS STAGE, write to [email protected] LESSONS THAT PERFORM