This course is a year-long elective for students who are interested in learning about musical theater. The class will focus on a behind-the-scenes look at putting on a show including a who’s who backstage, projects and presentations dedicated to set, costume, makeup design, playwriting and student performance. A wide variety of historic, classical, and contemporary musical theatre composers will be studied at length including Lerner & Loewe, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, and Webber.

Over the course of the year, students will go through the process of completing a full musical theatre audition: singing, acting, and dancing. Monologues will be written and performed in class. A mock dance audition will be conducted by teaching students a short dance combination. Lastly, with help from the teacher, students will choose a musical theatre song that fits their voice to perform during Vocal Solo Night.

The capstone assignment will be a Theater for Young Audiences performance at local early education centers.

Projects

Voice-over project

Students work in partners for this project. Each group chooses a song in any genre. One person sings into a live mic behind the curtain while the other partner lip-syncs onstage in front of an audience a la the musical, Singing in the Rain.

Musical Presentations

Each student will create a GoogleSlides presentation on a musical of their choosing. Each presentation will contain the following information,

• year the show premiered on Broadway
• composer & lyricist
• a brief synopsis
• video clips of 3-4 songs from the musical selected by the teacher

Monologue

Each student will gain experience as both a playwright and an actor during this project. First, students will learn how to write a monologue. The topic is "Fractured Fairy Tales." Students may choose a major or minor character from a fairy tale and write their side of the story a la the musical, Wicked.

Vocal Solo Night

Each student will perform a song from a musical from memory onstage in front of an audience. Students will have plenty of time during the school day to rehearse.

Choreography Project

The class will be divided into two groups. A famous dance number from a Broadway musical will be randomly assigned to each group. Students must then work collaboratively to choreograph a roughly one minute and thirty second section of the number.

Headshot & Resume

Students will learn how to write a theater resume by including any parts they may have had on stage, backstage, and any related experience. Students will then work with a partner to take a headshot outside on school grounds.

Theater For Young Audiences

The class will be divided into two groups. Students will audition for roles in two shows. Each show will be a picture book that has been adapted to a play. The final project for the year will have students performing for young people in the community. Past shows have been adapted from "The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt, "Wild Things" by Maurice Sendak, and "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss, and "Pout Pout Fish" Deborah Diesen.