beginnings: a class act

My friend Lisa B- and there are a lot of Lisas in my story- asked how I got started with my youth theater troupes. How did I fund them?

So, it's as a good a place as any to begin to answer Lisa's questions, and start to outline the journey I have had with youth theater.

I had joined a 4-H club for home educators. This was a general 4-H club. Each of the project leaders- and I was now one- was to lead a project during the year. I created and directed a skit, based on my skill set.

It was fun, low key, well received.

Another 4-H club was doing an adaptation of Midsummer Night's Dream- could I come and give some advice? So I did.

And I thought: I love Shakespeare! Why haven't I done Shakespeare with my kids?

So I founded a 4-H club, Class Act Drama, to introduce kids ages 5-19 to theater arts. I founded this club in 1992.

The advantages to starting this troupe as a 4-H club were several. Because 4-H is an established youth organization, we started out with some name recognition, and connections to a larger organization and its resources. As a 4-H club, we had access to group insurance for $1 / member, for liability purposes.

Also, the structures and forms of the organization gave us a place to start for internal structures. Later, when I founded the independent group Michigan Youth Theater, I borrowed heavily from the 4-H forms for media release, for medical/insurance info and release, for set up for database info.

For this organization, we charged minimal dues- $5/child*- which covered the insurance costs, and paper, copying and so on. We were able to get free rehearsal spaces, in part thanks to the 4-H label.

When it came to our first production, Taming of the Shrew in spring of 1993, each of the families chipped in for each of their kids' costumes. We found a theater that would let us use their stage- on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday- for $100.

I put up the $100, figuring I might never see it again.

However, I was paid back. This, and every production that has been seen through to performance, ended in the black.

Our funding came from: volunteering and donations from participant families; "well-wisher ads" in the program; admission donations for the performance; donations for the refreshments.

Well-wisher ads are greetings from parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, or friends- one-liners in the program such as "Gloria, you will always be our star!- love, Gramma and Gramps"- for $5. These ads- and later, actual ads from businesses- have always covered the cost of the program, and then some.

Refreshments were donated by the participant families, so any money collected for them was profit for the troupe.

Class Act Drama went on to produce several plays, present workshops, visit television studios and more.

As Class Act grew, I learned more and more about how to run a successful theater troupe. We also developed a core group of young theater artists and their families who were ready to try for the next level of theater excellence.

So we decided to found a new troupe, independent of 4-H, for older youth who wanted a more intense, professional level experience. We created Michigan Youth Theater.

*For Class Act, and for Michigan Youth Theater, I established from the outset that an inability to pay would never be an impediment for participation. Family discounts and scholarships were set up for each organization.

Shakespeare

Many years ago I directed a production of Twelfth Night with actors aged 7 to 17. After the show, an audience member- someone I knew well- asked in all seriousness how long it had taken me to "translate" the script.

He understood everything being said so well that he assumed I had changed the script.

I hadn't changed the script. The actors, Shakespeare and I had all done our jobs well enough that the audience entered into the world we created together and understood the characters, action and dialogue.

The audience enjoyed the show. They forgot it was Shakespeare. They forgot it was youth. They just had fun watching the comedy.

That's how it should be. Shakespeare is a theatrical genius; just do the *show*, and the audience will have a blast.

And wonder later how long it took you to translate the script from Shakespearean to understandable.

paper trails, to you...

My last show with my youth theater troupe closed this weekend. Our Comedy of Errors was set in the Wild West, with cowboy-themed sound track. Roy Rogers was singing "Happy Trails, to you..." at every performance.

Hence the title.

I am retiring from this phase of my life- over 20 years of leading youth in exploring theater. I am going through the files, some to save as a part of my life history, and some to give back to the organization for their archives, and some paper goes to the recycling bin.

There is a lot of paper involved in over 20 years of volunteering with youth. In 1990, I became a trained 4-H leader. In 1992, I founded a 4-H club to explore drama. In 2000, I founded a teen theater troupe.

Back in the day, digital archives were not a possibility. So there are multiple, multiple copies of many, many workshop outlines, promo pieces, schedules, programs...

A lot of paper.

It is an opportunity to reflect and recognize the amazing journey.

If you were there in the early years, you may be receiving some snail mail.

I'll share the hard copies of our shared memories with you.

Paper trails, to you...

giving notes; or, how I exercise my drive to be a standup comedian

I actually enjoy giving director's notes to the cast.

During much of the rehearsal period, as a director, you are breaking the play down into scenes, into moments. I am very vocal during this period, jumping to my feet YES! or ACK! Stop! Do it again- think about where you just were! What do you want?

Later on, however, we have to put it all back together, establish continuity, rhythm, pace, the long arcs of the characters and of the play itself. We can't stop. We run through, all the way through the scene, the act, finally the entire play.

While I, like most directors, take notes.

Sometimes, because the hour is late and actors (and I) have to go home, I type up the notes and email them to the actors after I've returned home. I don't like to do this because A) actors may not understand a specific note, B) actors may not read the notes and C) I like to give notes.

I like to give notes. I do. I make eye contact. I make jokes. I exaggerate, exhort, and expound. I prance and I posture, I prod and I praise.*

From time to time, I may have to shush the actors who are starting side conversations. After all, for many years, the actors with whom I have worked have been teens.

Still, all in all, I have fun giving notes, and the actors have fun receiving the notes.

Here are some of the key ingredients for good note-giving:

• Make eye contact. Make sure the actors are listening.
• EVERY actor should receive a comment. Each actor should know that they are important, and that their work is (literally) noted.
• Use humor. I use a lot of humor at my own expense... I tease and challenge them to be bigger, bolder, more energized than this "old lady"
• Catch them doing something right; be specific about when it happened, and what it was. Comments like "you're great" or "good job" might feel good for a moment, but they don't tell the actor where they are succeeding or how to build on that success. A comment like: "I could really see you focus on the other character on your line 'Not now, darling''" tells the actor what is working and when.
• Be specific about what you want the actor to change. Comments such as "That's no good" or "I didn't like that" again do not give the actor any useful information. A comment like "When you enter in scene two, try rushing straight to the couch- remember what just happened to the character before you entered" gives the actor useful information about what needs work in the scene, and a suggestion for a new approach.
• I try to give both the "director's reason" and the "actor's reason" for a direction. For instance, in the above example, I might remind the actor that the actor's reason- the character's reason- for rushing in is that the character is escaping from an uncomfortable encounter in the other room; while I will admit that my "director's reason" for asking you to rush in and cross to the couch is that the scene needs more energy, and I need you out of the doorway!
• Be a believer. Believe in the play, believe in your actors, believe in theater magic. Keep cheering, keep watching, noting, and sharing what you see. Eventually, it all comes together- how? It's a mystery!

*In fact, over the years many parents have confessed they stayed at rehearsals for the entertainment value of watching me give notes!

beginnings and endings

As the current chapter in my theater life draws to a close, and new chapters are waiting to be written (literally- written!) I reflect back on some of the beginnings.

Although I fell in love with theater earlier, my first on-stage experience didn't happen until I was a freshman in high school when I landed the lead role in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". Incredible casting, since at that point I was not blonde, voluptuous or preferred- but to be fair, my romantic lead was nothing like a gentleman, either.

It was an odd beginning for the woman and theater artist I have become: "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" is a fluffy little comedy about sex appeal being the way to get a man; about a woman's assets being her- well, physical, not spiritual or mental, attributes.

One of the girls in the cast, a senior, tried to teach me how to walk with a wiggle in my non-existent hips.

The theater department found a blond wig for me.

I was costumed in red satin "flapper style" dresses, though I had nothing whatever to flap.

For the woman I am now- a believer in the complexity and depth of all human beings, a devotee of Shakespeare and others who explore the infinite variety and diversity of the human experience- it was, to say the least, an incongruous place to start.


But.

I made them laugh, and I was hooked.

Rain or shine!

When working in the theater in the great outdoors, one needs a plan B. Actually, when working in the theater, one needs a plan B.

Sometimes, in fact, one needs a plan B, C, D...

But when working - all summer long- on a production that only has 4 performances on one weekend, one MUST have a plan in case of rain.

Usually, having a plan in case of rain is enough to keep the rain away.

This year, with a new venue, we had lots of rain through the rehearsal period. And discovered that much of the venue had a tendency to flood.

Not good, especially since we need to string lots of extension cords to power our rented lights and sound equipment.

AND this time, it actually rained. On our last performance day, which included a matinee and an evening performance.

And we used plan D.

Plan B was to move the audience on to the (covered) band shell and reverse the set. Looking at the set, we decided, unless it was Noah's downpour, the work of reversing the set really wasn't worth the time it took.

Plan C was to move the portable awning/gazebo tent that we had erected (to protect the sound equipment from the hot, hot sun) to the center seating area, seat audience there with a few umbrellas to the side. We would move the vulnerable sound equipment on to the stage and trust the audience to ignore the sound crew (a la the Wizard of Oz "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!")

Well, that didn't work because the awning, when center, blocked virtually all sight lines.

So we used plan D: put sound crew on stage, left the awning/gazebo on the side and allowed audience to sit under it, and issued umbrellas to those few audience members without them.

And it worked.

opening night(s)

Last night was our first opening night! It went well!

And tonight, since we have two casts, is our SECOND opening night!

Twice the energy! Twice the fun!