California State University, San Bernardino CSUSB ScholarWorks Theses Digitization Project John M. Pfau Library 1983 Directing a high school musical Richard R. Solano Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project Part of the Educational Methods Commons, and the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Solano, Richard R., "Directing a high school musical" (1983). Theses Digitization Project. 3153. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3153 This Project is brought to you for free and open access by the John M. Pfau Library at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses Digitization Project by an authorized administrator of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. California State College San Bernardino DIRECTING A HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL A Project Submitted to The Faculty of the School of Education In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in Education: Secondary Option By Richard R. jSolano San Bernardino, California Committee Member ....... TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I r PAGE NUMBER RATIONALE................................................. .......... .............. .............................................. 1 INTRODUCTION..................................... ..................................................... .......................2 / LIMITATIONS.................................;................................................................................. 4 STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES......... ..................................... ................ ....... '................... .5 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE........................ .......... .............................................. .................. 6 CHAPTER III SELECTING A MUSICAL.................................................... ............ .............. ................... 10 CHAPTER IV CASTING............................ .................................. ......................... ................ ......... ...13 REHEARSAL SCHEDULE............. ..................... ................ .............. ................ .............16 CHAPTER V REHEARSALS.............................................. ......................................................... 19 CHAPTER VI COSTUMING............. ......................... ............ .................................................................. 27 CHAPTER VII EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS________ _________ ___________________ ___________ ____ 31 CHAPTER VIII BUSINESS........................ ................................................................................ ............. 35 CHAPTER IX SET DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION.................. ...........'.......................................................38 TABLE OF CONTENTS CONT. CHAPTER X PAGE NUMBER LIGHTING....................................................................................... 44 SUMMARY........................................................................................................................... 49 APPENDIXES A - MUSICAL PLAYS FORH IGH SCHOOL PRODUCTION................................................. 50 B - MUSICAL AUDITIONF ORM.................................................................. 52 C - AUDITION FORM.............................................................................................. 53 D - THE WIZARD OF OZ (CODE CHART)............................................................... 54 E - REHEARSAL SCHEDULE....................................................................................55 F - BYE BYE BIRDIE (CODE CHART)............................................................... 58 G - REHEARSAL SCHEDULE....................................................................................59 H - COSTUMES (NO NO NANETTE)........................................................................ 62 I - COSTUMES (NO NO NANETTE).......................... .63 . J - COSTUMES (NO NO NANETTE)........................................................................ 64 K - COSTUMES (THE ROAR OF THEG REASEPAINT)................................................ 65 L - THE FLAT...................................................................................................... 66 M - FLATS, PLATFORM.......................................................... 67 N - DOOR FLAT, CUTOUT, GROUND ROW, JACK................... 68 0 - LIGHT PLOT.............. .69 P - COLOR CHART............................. ................................................................... 70 Q - GLOSSARY OF TERMS......................... .71 BIBLIOGRAPHY......... .................................................................... ................................... 75 RATIONALE Directing a high school musical involves a great deal of preparation and organization, the person in charge should either have a working knowledge of every department of the performing arts, or engage assistants whose expertise in their field qualifies them to direct and prepare a certain portion of the production. At times, however, a director(s) with limited experience in certain genres of the performing arts may themselves be faced with such a task, and unable to procure assistance. Under such circumstances, a manual containing information and ideas for all components of a high school musical may be useful. The chapters and appendixes in this project are designed to provide infor­ mation and methods of organization and implementation on areas of casting, scheduling, blocking, singing, choreography, costuming, set design, lighting, publicity, ticket sales, etc. The procedures and charts in this manual are selected suggestions and possibilities, and are by no means intended to be the only (or best) way to approach a particular area. 1 2 INTRODUCTION For over 60 years "The Musical" has been one of the most popular forms of theatrical entertainment. It is unique in that its components include acting, singing, dancing and orchestral accompaniment, the combination of which can not be found in any Other idiom of the theater. It is these same components that make the musical one of the most difficult theatrical pro­ ductions to produce, direct, plan, rehearse and ultimately perform. In recent decades the musical has crossed over from the professional stage into the educational system. And at the present, high school musical productions are a very common and useful form of performing arts education in our country.1 By it's nature the musical poses, for the high school educator in charge of its direction, a multitude of problems, in casting, planning, rehearsing (acting, music, choreography), funding, staging, and costuming. Additional problems in set design and construction, lighting design,, sound design, pub­ licity, and ticket sales are also ever present. The responsibility for these duties is usually dispersed among the school's drama director, vocal director and instrumental director. In many instances one person may assume more than one of these positions. It is essential from an educational standpoint to have a detailed organizational system that encompasses all of the previously mentioned activities and that all people in charge work together and adhere ^■Katharine Ommanney and Harry H. Schanker, The Stage And The School. Fifth Edition (St. Louis, MO.: McGraw - Hill, 1982), p. 398. 3 to this system in order to ensure the best educational experience for the students. Multiple differences in states, districts, school administrations educators and students make it virtually impossible for any one method to be useful to all high school musical directors. This manual is an example of an educational and organizational method for the production of high school musicals.2 20mmanney and Schanker, p. 401. 4 LIMITATIONS Some of the limitations of this project are: (1) it is developed only for high school level productions; (2) it pertains to musical productions only and not dramatic plays, variety shows, etc. (3) it may not be adoptable in certain school districts where musical productions are not well attended; (4) it may not be adoptable in schools where there are not enough interested and talented students to comprise a cast and/or crew; (5) it assumes that the musical director(s) have the correct background and knowledge that will enable to teach and coordinate the necessary skills and activities that encompass such a production; This manual includes, by it's nature, much theatrical and music term­ inology. Many of these terms are defined within the paper itself for the sake of continuity. However, a glossary defining additional terms and phrases is included on page 71 (Appendix Q). 5 STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES The objectives of this project are to: (1) provide ways to choose, read and adapt the script and music of a musical for one's own particular high school cast and crew; (2) provide various ways by which to cast the musical; (3) provide a system by which to code the scenes, parts of scenes, and musical numbers so as to insure the easiest possible, way to insert this coding system in the cast rehearsal schedule; (4) provide helpful suggestions in devising a rehearsal schedule for cast and crew using the above mentioned coding system; (5) provide various rehearsal techniques in acting, blocking, music, and choreography; (6) provide various suggestions for funding; (7) provide examples of costuming and costume design citing various musicals as examples; (8) provide various suggestions and diagrams for set designs