The Drama Teacher

The Sound of AUS (DVD)

2008-07-22T13:55:00.004+10:00

If you're doing work on Australian Drama with your students at any time, there's a great DVD on the Australian accent (or should I say accents) I'd like to recommend. This show was first screened on ABC Television Australia in November 2007.

The Sound of AUS is an excellent documentary about the Aussie accent, something us Australians take for granted. When overseas it is our calling card, as the Aussie accent is recognised in almost every corner of the globe. At the same time, it is regarded as one of the most difficult accents to imitate.

This DVD covers the origins of the Australian accent, the debate over whether there is one (or three) distinct Australian accents currently in place, and whether each major location in Australia has their own unique accent? People interviewed include speech pathologists, film makers, comedians, sporting personalities, well known Australian actors and everyday Aussies on the street.

Do Queenslanders speak differently to Melburnians? Do those in Adelaide pronounce their vowels differently to their friends in the eastern states? Do Tasmanians have a drawl? And what about those living in outback Australia?

This is a very educational and entertaining DVD for teachers and students (well, my students loved it!).

55 minutes, plus extras.

ABC Blurb 1
ABC Blurb 2 and Sales Info
ABC Shop Blurb and Purchasing Info
The Sounds of AUS Study Guide
DVD Cover (back and front)

Justin's Theatre Links Site Upgrade

2008-06-25T21:46:00.004+10:00

A note for those of you who use my other website Justin's Theatre Links, a fully annotated and categorised links directory to thousands of theatre-related websites from across the globe. The website has just gone through a major upgrade and until search engines such as Google crawl all the pages within the site, you may be receiving some dead pages if querying the site via a search engine. Until then, it's best to just enter the home page URL www.theatrelinks.com into your browser and navigate the rest of the site's web pages from there.

Tony Award Winners

2008-06-17T16:25:00.002+10:00

Sorry folks, I would have posted these results sooner, but I was running a senior Drama night at school last night, hence the day's delay on publishing the winners at this year's Tony Awards.

My personal triumph was seeing the fabulous August: Osage County win Best Play and Deanna Dunagan win Best Performance by a Leading Actress for her role as the matriarch in the same play. August definitely seemed the season standout for dramatic plays, capturing five Tony's on the night and its win, in my opinion, was thoroughly deserved.

Best Play
August: Osage County
Author: Tracy Letts
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler, Jerry Frankel, Ostar Productions, Jennifer Manocherian, The Weinstein Company, Debra Black/Daryl Roth, Ronald & Marc Frankel/Barbara Freitag, Rick Steiner/Staton Bell Group, The Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Best Musical
In The Heights
Producers: Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller, Jill Furman, Sander Jacobs, Goodman/Grossman, Peter Fine, Everett/Skipper

Best Book of a Musical
Passing Strange - Stew

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
In The Heights - Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Best Revival of a Play
Boeing-Boeing
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Bob Boyett, Act Productions, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert G. Bartner, The Weinstein Company, Susan Gallin/Mary Lu Roffe, Broadway Across America, Tulchin/Jenkins/DSM, The Araca Group

Best Revival of a Musical
South Pacific
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, Bob Boyett

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Paulo Szot, South Pacific

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Patti LuPone, Gypsy

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Jim Norton, The Seafarer

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Rondi Reed, August: Osage County

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Laura Benanti, Gypsy

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Michael Yeargan, South Pacific

Best Costume Design of a Play
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Catherine Zuber, South Pacific

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Donald Holder, South Pacific

Best Sound Design of a Play
Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Scott Lehrer, South Pacific

Best Direction of a Play
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County

Best Direction of a Musical
Bartlett Sher, South Pacific

Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, In The Heights

Best Orchestrations
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman, In The Heights

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Special Tony Award
Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981), in recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by South Pacific.

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Stephen Sondheim

Theatrica New York January 2009

2008-06-15T16:00:00.004+10:00

If you're a regular reader of The Drama Teacher, you'll know I'm more than happy to promote a product or service relevant to Drama teachers or students if it is a worthwhile one.

After recently going on a trip to New York and Los Angeles with a group of my own students, I was more than impressed with every aspect of this tour, organised by Charles Slucki from Theatrica. If you visit the menu of archived posts on the right sidebar of this blog from 23/3/08 to 5/4/08, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. It was a fabulous performing arts tour that I highly recommend for Drama teachers and their students in Melbourne, Australia.

So, in the upcoming January summer holidays, the Theatrica group is running a teachers-only tour of New York, visiting many of the Broadway shows and sights that I recently saw back in March of this year. If you'd love to visit New York and see what all those Broadway shows have to offer, but are hesitant to take the students along and make it a school tour, then this teachers-only trip is just for you!

The tour leaves Melbourne on 7th January and returns on 19th January 2009. Below is a link to Theatrica's website, where more information can be obtained and where all queries regarding the tour should be directed to. I have also posted a pdf of the tour brochure below, for your reading.

Theatrica_New_York_January_2009_Teachers_Tour_Brochure.pdf
Theatrica Website

Student Leadership & Drama Captains

2008-05-23T14:54:00.008+10:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Busy, busy, busy. Right now, student corrections beckon, so I thought I'd throw up a quick post, instead :)

In my most recent post, I talked about developing and nurturing the right culture in the Drama classroom and now I wish to blog about leadership.

When I arrived at my current school seven years ago, I inherited a bunch of student Drama captains. This is how the structure works:

Year 7 Drama Captain (Semester 2 only)
Year 8 Drama Captain (who also covers Year 7 for Semester 1)
Year 9 Drama Captain
Year 10 Drama Captain
Year 11 Drama Captain
Year 12 Drama Vice Captain
Year 12 Drama Captain

Linking with my previous post, if the culture in the school or Drama Department is right, being voted a Drama Captain (or Prefect) at your respective year level should be a prestigious and sought-after position. If it works, the system goes beyond students merely voting for the most popular student or the lead in the high school play etc., but rather for the most capable candidate.

If your school already has an established leadership system, having Drama Captains should merely be a process of adding them to the structure that already exists. But keep in mind approval for this may take several months in the school year prior.

Drama Captains should ease many of the everyday burdens for Drama teaching staff, particularly in the area of co-curricular activities so common to Drama Departments such as musicals, plays, Drama nights etc. This also applies to daytime any day-time activities run by the Drama Department in your school.

Drama Captains can assist with auditions, rehearsals, directing, run Drama clubs, promote the subject or shows among the student body, run set and prop painting sessions ... basically anything but making you coffees during the day (although you could always arrange that, too!).

Here's the list of Drama Captain responsibilities at my school:

encourage and support students who take initiatives with regard to Drama
be involved with a committee of Drama Captains at all year levels in the school that should meet on a regular basis
assist backstage and front of house for all school productions
organise in-house school Drama activities and festivals etc
assist in the publicity of all school Drama events
taking responsibility for finding and looking after props and costumes
encourage student participation in the building and painting of sets
assist in the organisation of Junior Drama Club
attend Leaders Day seminars
model appropriate standards of uniform and behaviour for the year level

Having a leadership team of Drama Captains can help operations run smoothly, promote the subject and allow students to take responsibility for various activities throughout the year.

Culture in the Classroom

2008-05-17T17:45:00.005+10:00

I was recently asked at a Drama professional learning seminar with fellow teachers, if I had any tricks up my sleeve, or tips for success?

My response: create the appropriate culture in the Drama classroom.

I firmly believe if, as teacher, you can create the right culture in your teaching and learning environment, then the sky's the limit in terms of what your students can achieve.

I was reminded by it yesterday in a Year 9 Drama class (14 year-old girls), when in a unit on comedy, the students performed a simple satirical sketch of various workplaces or environments (McDonalds restaurant, a family reunion, a train station, the beach etc) focusing on demonstrating one-dimensional stereotypical characters via the four expressive skills of voice, movement, facial expressions and gesture. It was, in reality, fairly simple stuff. I even told the class in advance that I was super-busy and wasn't quite ready to move on to the next topic (slapstick and farce) until next week, so there was a big neon sign saying 'filler material' hanging from the ceiling of the classroom! I also made it clear we were not assessing these improvised skits and that they were simply extended exercises.

Such is my students' love for Drama, they arrived to this class yesterday with about half a dozen individuals nervously unsure as to whether the skit was assessable or not (they'd forgotten), not because they weren't prepared, but rather because they wanted to do well if I were grading the piece.

Then between each group's performance, we analyzed verbally and critically evaluated the pieces. They were performances way beyond my expectations in terms of quality of thought, structure and acting skills. Definitely not indicative of the 45 minutes over a couple of lessons they'd had to prepare them.

A visiting student teacher in her 2nd year of university studying education and performing arts, asked me afterwards 'how do you get this sort of standard from a Year 9 class?'. 'Culture' was my answer. All you have to do is create the right culture and the students will hit it right back at you with material beyond their 'perceived ability'.

I always create a positive culture, as we all know negativity should have no place in a Drama classroom. I am inspired by a fellow colleague who is a university lecturer in Drama. I have been a student myself in one of her classes over the years, and even when an essay is weeks overdue or a piece of work I have submitted has completely missed the mark, her positive comments as feedback make me feel worthwhile. She has this knack of creating such a vibe of positivity, no matter what the situation. As far as I'm concerned, that's a skill.

So, I always try to turn everything into a positive. Recently a few of my Year 11 students got a 'D' on their first written assessment. But even a 'D' can be turned into a positive at parent teacher night. And so it must be for all those students who fall in the middle range with 'C''s and 'C+'s' in practical work in Drama classes. There has to be a real and achievable goal for them to strive for next time, otherwise why would they ever continue with your subject?

Of course, if you're a regular reader of The Drama Teacher, you'll know I've blogged before about passion. Our passion as drama educators must be evident and genuine in order for our students to succeed in a positive atmosphere.

It may sound arrogant or egotistical, but where I teach, Drama is no 'bludge subject'. That' not a fluke, by the way. That's a culture that took time to create and nurture. There is no doubt teacher knowledge (and skill) is important in any discipline, but if the culture is right, students are not only inspired by their Drama teacher, but by fellow students as well.

I know there's thousands of Drama teachers out there who consider some of their groups of students as 'extended families' from time to time. Why? Because they have created a culture of caring in their classroom. A culture of respect. A culture of artistic discipline and individual responsibility. A culture that breeds positive energy. And all this adds up to a culture that produces excellence ... and accepts nothing less.

TrendErtainment

2008-05-16T12:56:00.000+10:00

Ever wanted to know what the next big trend will be in musicals or rock concerts? Ever wished you could get a sneak peek behind the scenes to get an understanding of how the entertainment really industry works?

Here's a great new blog, TrendErtainment, with regular musings about "the art of understanding how trends influence the development and management of live entertainment production".

Author Michael Cedar is an American company and project manager for live entertainment events. His blog keeps a finger on the pulse of new and emerging trends in the industry, including theatre, dance, musicals, rock concerts and more ... and how issues and changing trends in technology, leadership, audience needs and wants, management, marketing and others are changing what we produce and see in the entertainment world, now and in the future.

Enjoy!

TrendErtainment

2008 Tony Award Nominations

2008-05-13T23:02:00.007+10:00

Hot off the press only minutes after being announced in New York, here are the 2008 Tony Award nominations for the best productions on Broadway. The winners will be announced on 15th June.

I sure hope August: Osage County wins Best Play. It's one of the best damn plays I have ever seen and will most likely go down as a classic in American playwriting, destined to be studied at universities for years to come. I'd like to to thank the Pulitzer Board for recently awarding the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama to this wonderful play by Tracy Letts. You just made my signed play script and poster by the playwright and Broadway cast a bit of a collectors item :)

Best Play

August: Osage County
Author: Tracy Letts
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler, Jerry Frankel, Ostar Productions, Jennifer Manocherian, The Weinstein Company, Debra Black/Daryl Roth, Ronald & Marc Frankel/Barbara Freitag, Rick Steiner/Staton Bell Group, The Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Rock ‘n’ Roll
Author: Tom Stoppard
Producers: Bob Boyett & Sonia Friedman Productions, Ostar Productions, Roger Berlind, Tulchin/Bartner, Douglas G. Smith, Dancap Productions, Jam Theatricals, The Weinstein Company, Lincoln Center Theater, The Royal Court Theatre London

The Seafarer
Author: Conor McPherson
Producers: Ostar Productions, Bob Boyett, Roy Furman, Lawrence Horowitz, Jam Theatricals, Bill Rollnick/Nancy Ellison Rollnick, James D’Orta, Thomas S. Murphy, Ralph Guild/Jon Avnet, Philip Geier/Keough Partners, Eric Falkenstein/Max OnStage, The National Theatre of Great Britain

The 39 Steps
Author: Patrick Barlow
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Bob Boyett, Harriet Newman Leve/Ron Nicynski, Stewart F. Lane/Bonnie Comley, Manocherian Golden Prods., Olympus Theatricals/Douglas Denoff, Marek J. Cantor/Pat Addiss, Huntington Theatre Company/Nicholas Martin/Michael Maso, Edward Snape for Fiery Angel Ltd.

Best Musical

Cry-Baby
Producer: Adam Epstein, Allan S. Gordon, Élan V. McAllister, Brian Grazer, James P. MacGilvray, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Anne Caruso, Adam S. Gordon, Latitude Link, The Pelican Group, Philip Morgaman, Andrew Farber/Richard Mishaan

In The Heights
Producers: Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller, Jill Furman, Sander Jacobs, Goodman/Grossman, Peter Fine, Everett/Skipper

Passing Strange
Producers: The Shubert Organization, Elizabeth Ireland McCann LLC, Bill Kenwright, Chase Mishkin, Barbara & Buddy Freitag, Broadway Across America, Emily Fisher Landau, Peter May, Boyett Ostar, Larry Hirschhorn, Janet Pailet/Steve Klein, Elie Hirschfeld/Jed Bernstein, Spring Sirkin/Ruth Hendel, Vasi Laurence/Pat Flicker Addiss, Wendy Federman/Jackie Barlia Florin, Joey Parnes, The Public Theater, The Berkeley Repertory Theatre

Xanadu
Producers: Robert Ahrens, Dan Vickery, Tara Smith/B. Swibel, Sarah Murchison/Dale Smith

Best Book of a Musical

Cry-Baby
Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan

In The Heights
Quiara Alegría Hudes

Passing Strange
Stew

Xanadu
Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Cry-Baby
Music & Lyrics: David Javerbaum & Adam Schlesinger

In The Heights
Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda

The Little Mermaid
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater

Passing Strange
Music: Stew and Heidi Rodewald
Lyrics: Stew

Best Revival of a Play

Boeing-Boeing
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Bob Boyett, Act Productions, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert G. Bartner, The Weinstein Company, Susan Gallin/Mary Lu Roffe, Broadway Across America, Tulchin/Jenkins/DSM, The Araca Group

The Homecoming
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Jam Theatricals, Ergo Entertainment, Barbara & Buddy Freitag, Michael Gardner, Herbert Goldsmith Productions, Terry E. Schnuck, Harold Thau, Michael Filerman/Lynne Peyser, Ronald Frankel/David Jaroslawicz, Love Bunny Entertainment

Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

Macbeth
Producers: Duncan C. Weldon & Paul Elliott, Jeffrey Archer, Bill Ballard, Terri & Timothy Childs, Rodger Hess, David Mirvish, Adriana Mnuchin, Emanuel Azenberg, BAM, The Chichester Festival Theatre

Best Revival of a Musical

Grease
Producers: Paul Nicholas and David Ian, Nederlander Presentations Inc., Terry Allen Kramer, Robert Stigwood

Gypsy
Producers: Roger Berlind, The Routh-Frankel-Baruch-Viertel Group, Roy Furman, Debra Black, Ted Hartley, Roger Horchow, David Ian, Scott Rudin, Jack Viertel

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, Bob Boyett

Sunday in the Park with George
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Bob Boyett, Debra Black, Jam Theatricals, Stephanie P. McClelland, Stewart F. Lane/Bonnie Comley, Barbara Manocherian/Jennifer Manocherian, Ostar Productions, The Menier Chocolate Factory/David Babani

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Rufus Sewell, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Eve Best, The Homecoming
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County
Kate Fleetwood, Macbeth
S. Epatha Merkerson, Come Back, Little Sheba
Amy Morton, August: Osage County

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park with George
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights
Stew, Passing Strange
Paulo Szot, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kelli O’Hara, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Faith Prince, A Catered Affair
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park with George

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

Bobby Cannavale, Mauritius
Raúl Esparza, The Homecoming
Conleth Hill, The Seafarer
Jim Norton, The Seafarer
David Pittu, Is He Dead?

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Sinead Cusack, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Mary McCormack, Boeing-Boeing
Laurie Metcalf, November
Martha Plimpton, Top Girls
Rondi Reed, August: Osage County

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Danny Burstein, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Robin De Jesús, In The Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

de’Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Andrea Martin, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Olga Merediz, In The Heights
Loretta Ables Sayre, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps
Scott Pask, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County
Anthony Ward, Macbeth

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network, Sunday in the Park with George
Anna Louizos, In The Heights
Robin Wagner, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Michael Yeargan, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Costume Design of a Play

Gregory Gale, Cyrano de Bergerac
Rob Howell, Boeing-Boeing
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps

Best Costume Design of a Musical

David Farley, Sunday in the Park with George
Martin Pakledinaz, Gypsy
Paul Tazewell, In The Heights
Catherine Zuber, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps
Howard Harrison, Macbeth
Donald Holder, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Ann G. Wrightson, August: Osage County

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Ken Billington, Sunday in the Park with George
Howell Binkley, In The Heights
Donald Holder, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Natasha Katz, The Little Mermaid

Best Sound Design of a Play

Simon Baker, Boeing-Boeing
Adam Cork, Macbeth
Ian Dickson, Rock ‘n’ Roll
Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Acme Sound Partners, In The Heights
Sebastian Frost, Sunday in the Park with George
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Dan Moses Schreier, Gypsy

Best Direction of a Play

Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps
Conor McPherson, The Seafarer
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County
Matthew Warchus, Boeing-Boeing

Best Direction of a Musical

Sam Buntrock, Sunday in the Park with George
Thomas Kail, In The Heights
Arthur Laurents, Gypsy
Bartlett Sher, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Best Choreography

Rob Ashford, Cry-Baby
Andy Blankenbuehler, In The Heights
Christopher Gattelli, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Dan Knechtges, Xanadu

Best Orchestrations

Jason Carr, Sunday in the Park with George
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman, In The Heights
Stew & Heidi Rodewald, Passing Strange
Jonathan Tunick, A Catered Affair

Regional Theatre Tony Award

Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Special Tony Award

Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981), in recognition of his historic contribution to American musical theatre in the field of orchestrations, as represented on Broadway this season by Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific.

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Stephen Sondheim

Tony Nominations by Production

In The Heights – 13
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific – 11
Sunday in the Park with George – 9
August: Osage County – 7
Gypsy - 7
Passing Strange – 7
Boeing-Boeing – 6
Macbeth – 6
The 39 Steps - 6
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - 5
Cry-Baby – 4
Rock ‘n’ Roll - 4
The Seafarer – 4
Xanadu – 4
A Catered Affair – 3
The Homecoming – 3
The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein – 3
The Little Mermaid – 2
Come Back, Little Sheba – 1
Cyrano de Bergerac – 1
Grease – 1
Is He Dead? – 1
Mauritius – 1
November – 1
Thurgood – 1
Top Girls – 1

A couple of excellent New York Times articles:

A Season With An Unpredictable Plot

This Year's Tony List Is Filled With Unusual Suspects

(Note: registration may be required with NY Times articles)

Whoopi Goldberg To Host Tony's

2008-05-11T23:57:00.003+10:00

Actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg will present the upcoming Tony Awards ceremony, to be held at New York's Radio City Music Hall on June 15th.

Nominations for the most coveted awards on Broadway will be officially announced Tuesday morning in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at the Lincoln Center.

It remains to be seen just how many nominations hot favourite August: Osage County receives.

Nominations will be posted on TheDramaTeacher.com as soon as they are announced.

Australian Drama

2008-05-06T13:09:00.008+10:00

Here's a shopping list or two that may help anyone teaching Australian Drama in their courses.

Notable Australian Playwrights

Ray Lawler

Jack Davis

Louis Nowra

David Williamson

Nick Enright

Andrew Bovell

Michael Gow

Stephen Sewell

Debra Oswald
Alan Seymour

Joanna Murray-Smith

Hannie Rayson

Jack Hibberd

Michael Gurr

John Romeril

Alex Buzo

Peter Kenna

Katherine Thomson

Patrick White

Dorothy Hewett

Alan Hopgood

Matt Cameron

Notable Australian Plays

Gary's House (Oswald)

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (Lawler)

Chilling and Killing My Annabel Lee (Aidan Fenessey)

Speaking In Tongues - adapted screenplay became the film Lantana - (Bovell)

Stolen (Jane Harrison)

Summer of the Aliens (Nowra)

Away (Gow)
The One Day of the Year (Seymour)

Blackrock (Enright)

The Club (Williamson)

No Sugar (Davis)

Meat Party (Duong Le Quy)

After Dinner (Bovell)

Cloudstreet (Enright/Mojo)

Cosi (Nowra)

Hotel Sorrento (Rayson)

A Stretch of the Imagination (Hibberd)

Ruby Moon (Cameron)

Children of the Black Skirt (Angela Betzien)

Honour (Murray-Smith)

Holy Day (Bovell)

Notable Australian Theatre Companies (past and present)

Melbourne Theatre Company (oldest in Australia)

Sydney Theatre Company (largest number of subscribers)

The Pram Factory (Melbourne)
Nimrod Street Theatre (Sydney)
Australian Performing Group (Melbourne)

La Mama / Carlton Courthouse (Melbourne)

Belvoir St Theatre/Company B (Sydney)

Black Swan Theatre Company (Western Australia)

Queensland Theatre Company

State Theatre Company of South Australia

Arena Theatre Company (Melbourne)

Bell Shakespeare Company (National)

Malthouse Theatre Company (Melbourne)

Notable Australian Theatre Venues

Sydney Opera House

Victorian Arts Centre

Queensland Performing Arts Centre

State Theatre (Sydney)

La Mama (Melbourne)

The Pram Factory (Melbourne)

Adelaide Festival Centre

Princess Theatre (Melbourne)

Regent Theatre (Melbourne)

VCE Drama & Theatre Studies Student Web Forum

2008-05-01T09:47:00.000+10:00

A reminder to VCE Drama and Theatre Studies teachers in Victoria, Australia, that I have set up a web forum (Internet message board) for your Unit 3/4 students to use.

This board has existed in some form or another for a few years now (in its current form for about 18 months) and will prove valuable for your students, in particular when preparing their upcoming Drama Solo Performance Examination and Theatre Studies Monologue Performance Examination.

Because the nature of these exams is a statewide choice of characters from a prescribed list, the message board allows students to create 'threads' under an exam character heading and then discuss it with other students from different schools across the state. Where else could one of your students have a discussion with a student from another school (whom they do not know personally) about their performance exam character?

If 2007 was anything to go by, lots of students from both metropolitan and regional areas used the web forum at this time of the year, helping each other out with creative ideas, ways to tackle the solo and monologue characters, interpreting exam assessment criteria etc.

At the moment, discussion on the board is centreing around character choices, as no one has begun the tasks in class yet, while we do ensembles performances in Drama and play productions in Theatre Studies. But soon the board will heat up!

My own students use the web forum, too, and I'm not fussed where they get their creative ideas from. If you think this may be worthwhile for your own current Unit 3/4 Drama and/or Theatre Studies students, give them the following web address:

http://s7.invisionfree.com/VCE_Drama_Forum (relevant for both DR & TS)

It will take them to a landing page, where they have to create their own board user name and password and input a valid email address. From here, they receive an email approving their application (by myself) with further log on details and they're in! Password-protection and manual approval ensure no spammers.

I personally moderate this web forum to ensure discussion stays on topic and nothing offensive is posted, so its a nice environment for your students to belong to :)

By all means, email me if you have any queries about this student web forum.

Is Knowledge of Content King?

2008-04-29T19:11:00.005+10:00

In many ways, teaching Drama is no different to any other subject on the curriculum, as some principles of teaching remain the same, no matter the discipline.

When I first began teaching some years ago, knowing my content was crucial. I recall being the only Drama teacher in a Catholic coeducational secondary school, equally horrified and excited about the prospect of designing six years of Drama curriculum in my first few weeks of teaching.

I went straight to the Principal and requested more money in my annual budget so I could purchase a couple of dozen 'essential' teacher reference books on theatre. I was fortunate as my wish was granted, so I instantly I armed myself with books and read like crazy, grabbing bits and pieces from a wide array of source material for my new curriculum design.

And so I never thought I would question what I always believed in Drama teaching ... that knowledge of content is king ... until today.

In recent years I have learned that knowledge of your teaching discipline is not paramount, after all. Today I believe the most important element of my teaching is rapport with students and engagement in the classroom.

I'm not denying the importance of knowing your facts, but what I am saying is that as an educator, you can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you fail to engage your students properly when delivering it, all that knowledge goes out the classroom window ... in one ear of your students and straight out the other.

It is very difficult to engage your students if you don't have a good relationship with them, and I don't just mean as a cohort, but individually. In order to achieve a healthy rapport with your students, you need respect ... and respect will never be given to you on a platter by your students ... as many of us know all too well, respect must be earned.

In order to earn our students' respect, one must do away with the grand old notion that we're somehow better than them. I know this may sound a little out of place perhaps, but it is all too true that many teachers feel they are better than their students simply because they are older and more qualified. The day a teacher starts treating his or her students as equals (no matter what age), is the same day that teachers earns each students' respect.

I am blessed that I have reached that point in my Drama teaching career where my students respect me for who I am and no more do I need to put on a mask as I enter the classroom. What they see is what they get. A combination of factors (including working at a great school) have enabled me to reflect on my current situation as a special time in my career.

They listen.
They are engaged.
They learn.

We have fun.
We share stories.
We love drama.

I make mistakes.
They accept my faults.
I'm human.

I don't know everything.
But that's OK, because knowledge is not king anymore.
My relationship with my students is far more important.

Top Class Drama 2008

2008-04-20T17:47:00.003+10:00

Once again the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority's Top Class Drama concerts, showcased as part of their Season of Excellence program on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th April, proved very entertaining and valuable for students and teachers, alike.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know I'm a big fan of Top Class Drama. Like all Drama teachers out there, I take my Drama staff and students along to regular theatre shows throughout the year. But each year I am reminded by both my students and fellow teachers that Top Class Drama is one of the most important events we attend.

Back in the 90s, I never attended Top Class concerts, instead spending my time listening to my Drama teacher friends at other schools rave about the experience. These days I wonder what rock I was hiding under back in the old days and how I survived without Top Class Drama?

Firstly, not everyone is familiar with the processes involved in Top Class Drama selection, so first I'll offer an explanation. In the October solo performance examinations, all students who receive a perfect score (that's 77/77 from each of the three examiners, or 231/231 for the total exam mark) automatically receive a letter from the VCAA offering them the opportunity to audition their solo performance piece in January the following year. This letter usually arrives the same day (or the day after) as results day in December. Not all students take up the offer of auditioning their solo performance for Top Class Drama, but those that do, perform their solo again over the summer holidays at the Victorian College of the Arts before, among others, the Chief Assessor for Drama. This panel chooses 33 solo performances to be showcased at the three Top Class Drama concerts at the National Theatre, St. Kilda, in April. Many of us get Top Class and Top Acts mixed up. Top Acts is the combination of a selection of some of the best performances from all performing arts Top Class concerts (Drama, Theatre Studies, Dance and Music) at Hamer Hall in May (another fabulous experience).

Over the weekend I took along 55 Drama students to all three sessions of Top Class Drama (plus a number of ex-students from last year's class as well). Granted, there has to be a certain amount of money in the kitty to allow that to happen in the first place, but at only $10 a head, Top Class is about the cheapest event you could take your students to and most teachers who do attend, go to one of the three concerts to receive a fair sampling of the performances on offer. Why 55 you may ask? Do I have 55 students in Year 12 Drama this year? No way! I have 11 students in Year 12 Drama, 20 students in Semester 1 Year 11 Drama and a further 24 in Semester 1 Year 10 Drama .... and there's my 55 students! Who said Top Class Drama is just for your current Year 12 class?

I have absolutely no doubt that taking Year 10, 11 and 12 Drama students in recent years to both the Top Class Drama concerts at the National Theatre in April and the Top Acts concert at Hamer Hall in May is a contributing factor to improved grades in performance work in all of these year levels. This is not just confined to classroom performances. My Year 12 solo performance exam marks have improved also. Quite simply, going to Top Class Drama is professional learning for your students. Teachers go to PL throughout the year and Top Class Drama is the best PL your students can get.

If you can afford to take your Year 10 Drama students along to Top Class Drama, getting the atmosphere right is very important, because they are young. I leave that task up to my Year 12s, who are super keen and drip feed the appropriate level of enthusiasm and expected behaviour through to the Year 11s, who in turn drip feed it down to the Year 10s for me. At first, I was concerned about the Year 10s being a bit too immature to appreciate Top Class, but once you've done it successfully, the next year is a breeze because the students do the publicity for you through word of mouth. Before you know it, you've got a 'tradition' on your hands and now my students look forward to Top Class Drama every year. My Year 10s came along for the first time in 2007 when the previous year, the Year 10 Drama class was asking me 'why can't we come along to Top Class Drama, too'?

For my students, Top Class Drama is an academic excursion, while Top Acts a month later at Hamer Hall is like their reward for going to Top Class. With an emphasis also on entertainment value, Top Acts is such a fun evening and quite often my students enjoy the Music and Dance items more than the Drama solo performances I took them along to see! Nothing pleased me more last Friday and Saturday at Top Class Drama to see my students willingly discuss amongst themselves between sessions the various performances, not just in terms of 'favourites', but also in relation to conventions used, props transformed, character transformations etc. They were happily (and successfully) talking the language of drama (often in a sophisticated manner) and to me it was like practice for upcoming classroom SACs.

I have to stress however, the importance of prepping your students before attending Top Class Drama. Many of the solo performances are complex structures and if a student is not informed in the audience, following the performances can sometimes be very difficult, particularly plot references to outside events relating to the main thread of the central character. My students often comment they would be lost without prior knowledge of the exam structures at Top Class. In recent years I have been fortunate to have my own students in Top Class Drama and hence receive a running sheet of all the solo performances in advance in the mail. however, this is not necessary, as you can assume all exam structures will be performed at Top Class Drama (9 of the 10 structures were performed this year), so you simply need to download and print out the previous years' solo exams and go through them in advance with your students attending the concert/s.

This year's Top Class Drama showcases represented a fairly high standard of material. While I have no intention of sounding negative in any way on the wonderful work these Drama students have created (with the help of their wonderful teachers of course!), it is both interesting and important to recognise the differences in quality between performances. Even at this high level, it is valuable for your students attending to discuss the merits of all the performances. While I firmly believe each performance at Top Class Drama every year has many aspects worthy of positive discussion afterwards, it is a fact that some performances are stronger than others on the day.

Separate from a quick review of this year's Top Class Drama will be my own student Stefania Gatt who performed Eliza Doolittle on the Saturday session. I was, as you'd expect, very proud of her to get this far and perform at Top Class Drama. At her own admission, we discussed how she probably performed her solo a little faster that she would have liked, but every tiny bit of content was performed without a hitch and I thought she did a wonderful job. For her now it is back to studying Music at Monash University and being the face of several Hungry Jack's commercials on television - half her luck - it has nothing to do with me - although I was keen on a 20% commission on her payment :)

These were the standout performances at Top Class Drama for me this year. In Concert 1 on Friday morning I was very impressed with Jessie Yates from Melbourne Girls Grammar and her interpretation of Eliza Doolittle. Among other things, when you hear a communal sigh in the audience for a sophisticated technique in the solo, you know you've got a good show. This occurred when Jessie upturned her open-hooped skirt and popped her head through as a baby being born - magic moment. This was a strong performance all round.

I also thoroughly enjoyed both Spirit of Australian Suburbia's in this session from Konstantine Stefanou (Marcellin College) and Will McMahon (Scotch College), as I was encouraged by the 'freedom' this exam structure seemed to offer and the wonderful choices students made with it in performance. Tom Ballard's The Migrant (Brauer College) was also a very strong performance, as was Lucy Honigman's portrayal of Soraya (MLC).

In Concert 2 on Friday afternoon two performance stood out form me. The first of these was Justin Clausen's performance of The Migrant (Mentone Grammar). Justin's performance skills were fabulous and aside from being a real crowd favourite, his interpretation of the structure was intelligent in performance. A thoroughly entertaining solo. Terry Kenos (Strathmore SC) finished off this session with a portrayal of Announcer Two from The War of the Worlds radio play. Terry demonstrated excellent performance skills and a sophisticated plot in performance.

Finally in Concert 3 on Saturday, Patrick McCarthy's Spirit of Australian Suburbia (The Peninsula School) was a great performance, demonstrating thorough research and fine expressive skills. Broden Kelly (Viewbank College) also performed a fantastic solo with his interpretation of Announcer Two. Loved this solo! Outstanding performance skills, excellent choice of language (spoken script) and a thoroughly entertaining solo from start to finish.

All in all, another wonderful year of Top Class Drama concerts displaying a high standard of performances throughout. Seeing there is a history of not choosing multiples of the one character for the Top Acts concert at Hamer Hall, coupled with more than one outstanding interpretation of The Spirit of Australian Suburbia, The Migrant and Announcer Two in particular, I think some difficult decisions will have to be made over the next few days...

Australian Copyright Council Training Sessions

2008-04-18T12:00:00.004+10:00

Every Drama/Theatre teacher needs to know about copyright. For most of us who have been teaching a while, we're wise enough to know why an understanding of copyright is essential to our profession. But if you're new to Drama teaching, then a familiarity of copyright and how it affects you can sometimes be daunting. Either way, copyright laws change, particularly as emerging technologies have new implications for copyright infringements. So, a refresher course about copyright is always valuable professional learning.

If you teach Drama in a Victorian school and have asked yourself any of the following questions:

How do I apply for copyright permission for our school play or musical?
Do I need copyright permission to include published songs in school concerts?
Am I allowed to adapt or alter a published play or musical for performance at my school?
Can I film a copyrighted school play or musical for sale to others?
Will I break copyright by promoting my play to an audience outside the school community?
Are there copyright issues involved with artwork in play or musical stage sets?
What information can I legally place or download from a website for school use?

...then you may wish to attend one or more of the Australian Copyright Council's upcoming training sessions.

The Australian Copyright Council is an independent non-profit organisation that provides information, advice and training about copyright in Australia. They are holding training sessions in Melbourne on a range of topics, many relevant to Drama/Theatre teachers, on the following dates (hurry, as Melbourne training dates are coming up very soon):

Monday 28 April 2008

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* Copyright essentials

* Creators' reputation rights

* Recent developments

Tuesday 29 April 2008 + Friday 1 August 2008

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* Educators: Copyright overview

* Educators: Using AV materials

* Educators: Using text & images

Wednesday 30 April 2008

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* Educators: New education technologies

* Educators: Concerts, plays & musicals

* Websites

Thursday 1 May 2008

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* Governments: using/managing copyright

* Licences for digital resources

* Libraries: conquering copyright

Friday 2 May 2008

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* Photographers/Graphic Designers

* Protecting & exploiting rights

* Permissions & clearances

There is also training available in other Australian states throughout the year. For more information, visit the Australian Copyright Council's training program information page.

2008 Performance Exams

2008-04-13T17:22:00.004+10:00

Well, as many of you may know, this blog originates from Melbourne, Australia's second largest city. In our state (Victoria), there are two prescribed courses of study in Drama and Theatre Studies, that cover the final two years of high school.

Each subject has both a written and performance final exam. The Theatre Studies course has a selection of monologues from published plays, of which students choose one to perform before three external examiners.

However, in the Drama course the performance exam is less conventional. It is known as a solo performance, where a selection of published 'structures' form the exam content, of which students choose one to perform. In this case, the character structures are created by an exam setting panel and once research is undertaken, students write their own script for the performance. Theatre styles and conventions are prescribed for each character, but due to the nature of the task and student-written scripts, there is a more opportunity for wider interpretation of the character choices among students . This solo performance exam lasts a maximum 7 minutes duration.

Whenever I have previously blogged about this solo performance exam, blog visitors from outside Australia have usually found the task fascinating. It is certainly rigorous, that's for sure! So, this year's task has just been published, several months in advance of the actual exam dates. Most students spend July to September developing the task in class with their teacher, preparing for the October exam. Here's the 2008 exam structures for your perusal:

2008 Solo and Monologue Performance Examinations

Spring Awakening

2008-04-12T15:20:00.002+10:00

If you're a regular visitor to The Drama Teacher, you'll be aware on a recent Broadway tour I saw an amazing musical Spring Awakening, a show nominated for 11 Tony Awards in 2007 and winner of 8, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score.

Currently performed on Broadway by a cast mostly aged between 16 and 26, Spring Awakening has been dubbed the new Rent. It is a show based on an 1891 German play of the same name (banned at the time) and has been on Broadway since December 2006.

Spring Awakening follows a group of teenagers' coming of age from adolescence to adulthood and the plot is supported by a fantastic rock score by Duncan Sheik. It covers many teenage themes, a few not so pleasant, but while some consider Spring Awakening controversial, it is certainly honest and raw, and one of the most energetic musicals I've seen in years.

For those readers in the US, you are no doubt already familiar with this show, but this is not the case for many of us back home in Australia. Hopefully, we will see Spring Awakening in Australia soon, but in the meantime, check out the behind-the-scenes video below (dating back to its original Broadway cast) and purchase the awesome CD soundtrack (may require a little searching in Australia).

Theatrica Tour Posts

2008-04-11T14:37:00.000+10:00

Over the next few weeks, in between other posts, I'll throw up additional resources on this blog about various aspects of the recent Theatrica tour by a group of Melbourne Drama/Theatre/Performing Arts students and their teachers to New York and L.A. that I was fortunate to be a part of.

Meanwhile, if you wish to follow the tour retrospectively, use the right margin on this blog and follow the archived posts starting at 24/3/08 and finishing at 5/4/08.

Los Angeles: Wednesday 2nd March

2008-04-05T14:45:00.007+11:00

Well it has come to the final day of this amazing Theatrica tour of New York and Los Angeles!

Today was spent in Los Angeles visiting two film and television production houses. Our first stop was at the premises of Todd AO. It is here that sound is designed and added to major television shows and motion pictures. We received a tour of the building that included a recording studio used for voice-overs, a sound engineer's workspace used for television sound effects and a private cinema. The biggest buzz was watching the work of a sound effects engineer who showed us a 2 minute scene from CSI: New York, discussing how he added all the sound effects to the scene in preparation for its screening on American television.

In the afternoon we visited New Wave Entertainment, a production house that encompasses many aspects of the Hollywood film industry, from creative design, DVD extra features, talent agency, graphic design on screen and in print etc. We saw television producers arrive back from 'pitching' new shows to major US networks and people at work in various sections of the building on a whole range of creative television projects. It was very interesting to see how the industry operates behind the scenes.

Both of these tours were only possible because of the contacts Charles Slucki from Theatrica has made doing these tours over the years. We were very fortunate to have major industry professionals giving so freely of their time for our tour group.

Finally we spent a couple of hours at a large shopping centre before heading off to the airport for the 14 and a half hour flight home to Melbourne that ended up being 16 hours after delays!

Make no doubt about it, the last two weeks has been an incredible journey for us all. We have seen some fantastic theatre including five musicals and five plays, from the major Broadway spectaculars of Wicked and Chicago to the Off Broadway gems from Edward Albee. We saw brilliant acting in August: Osage County and From Up Here and lived the raw energy of a sensational musical Spring Awakening, performed by a cast of mostly teenagers. We have visited all the icons of New York City, from the Rockefeller Center to Radio City Music Hall. We have had industry professionals talk to us about marketing and producing on Broadway and we even met the lead actress from Wicked! Add to this the inspiration of receiving a special tour and talk in the most prestigious performing arts academy in the world, The Juilliard School in New York. And we learnt a great deal behind the scenes in the film and television industry over our two days in Hollywood.

The Theatrica group really have a wonderful product here. They have so many contacts with key people in the industry, making their tours for school groups a cut above the rest. To top it off, the Theatrica tour guides were fantastic, an important factor that made the trip all the more enjoyable. My Drama students from Avila College had an absolute ball on this trip to New York and Los Angeles. Still only teenagers, for some of them this may well be their trip of a lifetime.

I hope you enjoyed my blogging on these pages over the past two weeks. For me it has been both a private and public journal of our trip. I am glad many of you have been able to share in our experiences by reading these posts and checking out the pictures of the people and places we visited along the way.

Images of Venice Beach. We were there a little too early in the day for the crowds.

Firbank teacher Jenny with Avila teacher Sue, at Venice Beach.

Firbank teacher Jerome, looking like Ray Charles on Venice Beach.

Theatrica tour boss Charles Slucki having some fun in the bus. His wife Mich, above, looks on.

Santa Monica

The famous Strasberg Theatre Institute for acting in Hollywood. Lee Strasberg was one of the first to teach Method Acting in America.

The beautiful Pacific Coast Highway

In a sound recording room for voice-over work at Todd AO.

In the foyer of Todd AO. Yep, this company's work is considered high quality in the industry. Those little fellas in the glass case above the reception desk are real. Right before our very eyes were five Oscar statues!

At Todd AO we speak with a sound effects engineer, whose job it was to add sound effects to television shows.

We are shown a 2 minute scene from the TV show CSI: New York. After playing the scene for us as it was delivered from the TV studio - raw with echoes and no sound effects, our engineer plays us back the scene after he has done his amazing work. It took him an entire day to add the sound effects for this 2 minute scene!

The boss of Todd AO talks to the Theatrica group in a specially-fitted showing room for film producers and directors etc. The mixing desks in the photograph are in front of a bunch of comfortable lounge chairs. But between the mixing desks and the cinema screen are several rows of cinema seats, enough for a closed audience of about 120 people for private film screenings.

The bus....

Andrea outside New Wave Entertainment at the start of our tour of the premises. Security procedures were tight, so no photographs were allowed inside the building.

Los Angeles: Tuesday 1st March

2008-04-02T15:32:00.007+11:00

Today the Theatrica tour had their first of two days in Los Angeles before leaving for Melbourne. The performing arts focus of the trip shifted from the theatre of Broadway and Off Broadway in New York to film and television in Los Angeles.

First on the agenda today was a healthy breakfast, followed by a sightseeing tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Then we did the back lot tour of Universal Studios and finally five hours in the theme park to see what was on offer. After dinner Charles arranged two Australians living in Los Angeles to chat to us about the television industry here. Both guest speakers were from Melbourne - one now a TV casting director, the other started the first day of shooting on her own children's TV show today.

The Avila crew at breakfast

The teachers from Firbank and Avila at breakfast

Los Angeles freeway, 9.30am. Very busy!

We escape the freeway to enter a regular street. More of the same!

The exclusive Beverly Hills. Shopping by appointment only.

Rodeo Drive

If I quit teaching, I may be able to afford this little fellow.....

Beverly Hills city offices

Sunset Boulevard

The Roosevelt Hotel where the very first Oscars ceremony was held

Justin with Hollywood sign in the background

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Hundreds of these stars on the sidewalk outside the Kodak Theatre, where the Academy Awards are held each year

The Avila clan outside the entrance to Universal Studios

Images of Universal Studios themes park

Aeroplane fuselage from the Tom Cruise movie The War of the Worlds

Some of the teachers and tour leaders having lunch