Please download these...

This is the schedule of rehearsals and performances that take place at the Two Roads Theater during the week of 12/10 to 12/13.

And here is To Do list that I passed around today -- this also will be updated frequently. You can gain points by doing these jobs. Many of you already have the 10 points you need for the Final (which is the performance)

Othello Rap

For those of you doing the Othello Rap, please listen to this.

Also, you should do a YouTube search for "Othello Rap" as there are several different groups of people performing this same song.

Performances: DECMBER 12 and 13

Although we’ve been announcing it daily in Drama, I want to make sure all the parents know when our tech rehearsal and performances are for the Drama performance.

The times listed here subject to change by a half-hour or so, but the dates are solid.

Wednesday, 12/12: After school until 6:00 – rehearsal at the theater.

Thursday 12/13: High school performance at 4:30, Dinner break from 6 to 7:30, another performance at 8:00

The theater is the Two Roads Theater at 4348 Tujunga (near Moorpark) in Studio City.

We will arrange carpools and supervision the week before the shows. The evening performance on Thursday should end by 9:30-ish and kids will stay ½ hour more for clean-up.

The Finals schedule has been rearranged so that the only final on Friday the 14^th is Block 2 (Drama). Since the performance is our final, drama students will use that 3 hours as a homework study period (facilitated by Pat and Terry) to catch up on any review they may have put off while preparing for the show.

Hope everyone is ready for the most varied variety show since Vaudeville days!

SCRIPTS DUE TOMORROW

Please be reminded that if you are one of the students writing a sketch for the show, you must turn in a first draft by tomorrow. It’s okay if the script is altered later, but you must email a completed draft to me and Pat before the end of the day.

Grading for the final

Your final grade is based on the preparation for and execution of the show we do at the end of semester. You will participate in the show at many levels, and for the most part you will choose each aspect of your participation, such as performing solo, in a group, helping another group with technical elements, playing music, writing or directing. You accumulate credits for each level of participation, and you will need a minimum of 10 credits.

Once you commit to 10 credits worth of tasks, your grade will depend on how you prepare and execute them.

Credits available

4 credits for a monologue (approx 2 to 3 minutes)

4 credits for creatively leading a scene (writing and directing – acting is optional)

3 credits for full participation in a scene (acting)

1 credit for minor participation (3 lines or less , no more than 1 entrance, 1 exit )

1 credit for being in “Review Reader’s Theater”

1 to 3 credits for tech, depending on how significant

You will be graded on:

Preparation

• Costumes
• Props
• Line memorization
• Rehearsal outside of class, not including rehearsals organized by the teachers

Execution (dress rehearsal and performance)

• Teamwork
• Crisis management (keeping cool if something goes wrong)
• A healthy “show must go on” attitude

Music For Movement

Here is the music we will be using for our movement project over the next couple of weeks.

Field Trip on Wedensday, November 28

UPDATE:
The Drivers who have volunteered are...

1. Renee Morey
2. Marcia Jacobsen
3. Wendy Brazill
4. Kitty Petti (not returning to school; taking the Pasadena/La Crescenta carpool home from play)

The High School Drama class will go on a field trip to see Ray Charles Live! (yes, I know, he's dead), a new musical at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Date: Wednesday, 11/28
Place: Pasadena Playhouse
Leave Bridges @ 12:45 p.m.
Return @ 5:00 p.m.

Cost: $22 per ticket - pay Lori at the front desk

Transportation: Pat and I will each drive a car, but we could use three parent volunteers who are able to take at least three students per car. Most cars will return to Bridges to be picked up by their parents, but in some cases (like folks who live near Pasadena) you can choose to take students home or have them picked up at the theater by their parents. Drivers will get one complimentary ticket.

Permission: In addition to parental permission, you must get permission from the your Block 7 and Block 8 teachers, as those are the classes you will miss. If you are significantly behind on your work for either of these classes, you will not be allowed to go on the trip.

Theater Reviews

This semester, you will write three one-page theater reviews for drama.

The first one is due this Friday, October 12. (9th Graders going on the trip to Catalina may have an extension until Tuesday, 10/16).

The only requirements for the review is that it be about one page long, typed and double-spaced, and be about a play you saw between September 1 and December 15 of this year.

This will not be graded the same way an essay for English class would be graded -- just record your thoughts on the play as accurately as you can, and if things like grammar and syntax slow you down, go ahead and be sloppy. I have most of you in English anyway, so we can can deal with it there.

If you have trouble getting started, here are some questions you should ask yourself. The answers should add up to a pretty thorough review.

• Was the set interesting and useful? Did it allow the actors to make more of an impact?
• Were there special effects that added to the impact of the play?
• Did the actors make certain choices that were probably not in the original script? If so, did this help or hinder the point the playwright was trying to make?
• How did the costume choices effect the message of the play?
• Were the actors articulate and interesting in their performances? Did any single performances stand out above the rest? Were there any weak links?
• What do you think the director of the play had in mind? Was the directorial interpretation true to what the playwright wanted?
• If music was used, was it effective?
• Did the lighting design add to the dramatic impact of the play?

Remember, you do not have to use these questions if you already know what you want to write about. This is just a way for you to get started if you need it.

Monologue Memorization

The final performance of your monologue will be Wednesday, October 10.

You should have it fully memorized by Thursday, October 4. Then you will have the weekend and Monday's class to perfect the blocking and inflections.

Some of you have worried that you wrote too much too memorize; if this is the case, you are certainly allowed to edit it down a bit. But you must turn in a written copy containing only the text that you will memorize for the final performance.

In class, several students have performed paraphrases of what they have written, or done it extemporaneously as they further develop their ideas. But the time has come now to commit to a precise text.

Minor differences, such as I went out for a drive vs. I went out driving are acceptable. However, there should be no additions or deletions of whole sentences.

Length: Between 90 seconds and five minutes. But even if you are on the longer side, what you say needs to match what you wrote.

Pat and I have been thrilled watching and listening to all of you as you dig within yourselves to find the humor and pathos that drives all dramatic literature. Wednesday should be quite a show!

Wednesday

On Wednesday, we will finish giving notes to the four monologists we didn't get to today (Jordan, Joseph, Max and Zucchini).

For those of you who are late turning in the written version of your monologue -- you know who you are -- it is essential that you have a draft completed and emailed to me before the beginning of Wednesday's class.

As an accomodation, points will not be taken off for late work that arrives Wednesday, but after than, the grade for this assignment will go down :

• -%10 if it is turned in later Wednesday 9/24 before the beginning of class.
  
• -%20 if later than Tuesday 10/2 before class
  
• -%30 if later than Thursday 10/4 before class
  

The penalty will never be more than -%30, but you will still have to complete it. But what fun will that be knowing the highest grade possible is a %70? You're much better off getting it done before Wednesday's class!

Turn in Written Monologue

The first written draft of your monologue is due Monday, September 24.

Please post it as a comment to this blog entry. You should probably type it into a word processing program first and make sure it is saved, then when you make your comment post, just copy and paste the text in.

Be sure to put your first name in the post somewhere. If the process of doing this post is difficult, as a computer-savvy fellow student during to give you a hand!

Field Trip on Sunday, September 30 at 3:00

We will see Julius Caesar at the Knightsbridge Theater in Los Feliz at the Sunday matinee on 9/30.

Cost is $15 per student -- please drop the money off with Lori as soon as you can.

Parents can attend as well (at the same price) or do drop off and pick up at the theater. We will arrange carpools a few days before the trip for those who want to meet at Bridges first and then go to the theater.

Personal Narrative Project

A worksheet was handed out today describing a project that will begin this Friday and continue for about two weeks. If you need another copy you can download it here.

Syllabus

Drama

Bridges Academy

Taught by Terry Haley, Assisted by Pat Scortino

2006 – 2007

terry@bridges.edu

Essential Understandings for this course

Drama is a collaborative art. Playwrights write, actors act, and directors direct, but none of them can do it alone. Every element of the performing arts involves collaboration with other people, not the least of whom include your audience. Even the more technical elements of theater – such as lighting, costumes, sound and set design – require constant interaction with other people in order to realize a central vision.

Conversely, drama is also a highly personal discipline. Who you are and how you develop as an individual matter a great deal as you enter the world of drama and theater. Your ability to record your experiences, analyze and connect with dramatic texts, and reflect on your own learning will be essential in this class.

Keeping in mind the balance of intrapersonal skills (knowing yourself) and interpersonal skills (working with others) we will develop, here are some of the essential understandings to work on:

• Theater is always collaborative.
• Drama is a wider concept than performance; it can also apply to literature, psychology, interpersonal communication and a variety of other areas.
• To some degree, we “perform” our own lives every day.
• Improvisation leads to creative expression and creative writing.
• Every theatrical discipline – acting, lighting, set design, directing, etc. – requires script analysis.

Reading

There will be various readings for this course distributed throughout the year, including plays and articles such as theater reviews or features. However, as you embark on individual projects or scenes, you will do reading specific to your work (for example, if you are doing a scene from a play, you should read the whole play to understand it thoroughly).

Grading Scale 89.5-100% A 79.5-89 B 69.5-79 C 59.5-69 D 59.4 or below F

Assignment Categories Percent of Grade Journal 15 Performance (participation) 15 Collaboration (participation) 15 Scene and Monologue Projects 35 Theater reviews 20

Social Skills

In addition to the spirit of collaboration described above, other key values in this course are communication, trust, and risk-taking and a sense of humor. Our commitment to these values will create a safe, exciting and creative learning environment.

Journal Entries

After each class meeting, you will make a short entry in your journal. Though we will sometimes use the journal in class, most of this work is done at home. The journal entries are very free form; you can write about whatever is on your dramatic mind. If you are working on a scene, you might want to write about what difficulties you are going through, or talk about what discoveries you have made about the character you are playing. Hate handwriting? You can do it on the computer and then past it into the journal entry for that day. Hate writing? Well, you can even draw a picture as long as it relates clearly to your experience in class. You can also write dialogue or poetry. You get what I mean by VERY FREE FORM, right?

Theater-going

In addition to any field trips we may take together as a class, you are expected to see at least three plays each semester (for a total of six) and review them. Reviews should be typed and 1-2 pages in length. There will be some class trips to see plays, but you will have to see about half of them on your own.

Homework

Homework assignments will vary somewhat in this class. Sometimes you will be asked to memorize something, other times to simply read a play.

Scene work and Monologues

Your major projects in the class will be performances. Most your scenes and monologues will be performed more than once. You will be graded each time you perform, but it is your final performance that will be weighted the most. Your grade is based on your willingness to adapt, to take risks, to try things, to collaborate, to work well with others.

Class participation

The surest way to get credit for class participation is to be an active contributor in all class exercises. However, if you are not ready to jump in, you can participate in other ways, such as helping or seeking out help from one other student, doing research on our topic that can benefit the whole class, or perhaps you will think up something I haven’t!

Syllabus as a Word file

Click here to see the syllabus for the 2007/2008 High School Drama class at Bridges.