Musical Theatre Class: Post 1960's

Musical theatre class meets three times a week.  It is one of those classes that your entire group participates in together.  Our teacher was the magnificent Teri Ralston, who originated roles in several Broadway shows, and has an impressive performance record backing her up, as well as several teaching and performance degrees.

F1 Musical Theatre Class

Curriculum

There are two main projects covered in first semester musical theatre.

The first is the Post 1960’s Repertoire.  All students must research modern musicals and keep a list of songs from at least twelve different shows that they could conceivably perform now or in the next five years.

The second are the performances of three to four songs that you prepare and perform for the teacher and class.  You have a final performance of each song with a set and costumes, plus performances of one of your previously prepared songs for Midterms and Final Demonstrations.

The main focus in musical theatre is on acting, not on your vocal quality.  Finding “actions” – active verbs – to go with every line of lyrics in each song is one of the most emphasized elements.  For each song, the student prepares a Song Dossier, filled with an in-depth analysis of the character, show, and the objectives and actions of the song.

I performed “I Know Things Now” (Into the Woods), “The Portrait” (A … My Name is Alice – Final Demo Song), and “Nobody Steps on Kafritz” (Henry, Sweet Henry)

Type

Whether you like it or not, in musical theatre class, you will be type-casted.  Don’t try to fight it; don’t get angry and huffy when you realize you will never be able play the five-year-old Matilda, and don’t throw a fit when you realize you probably won’t be allowed to perform “Send in the Clowns” as a 19-year-old college student.

In the real world, you will be type-casted.  You could be thrown out of an audition without even having auditioned simply because you do not look the part.  In any audition, the first test to pass is whether or not you look right.  If you don’t, you go home and try again later.

So, in a super fast program like AMDA’s, you are encouraged to find and embrace your “type” so that when you graduate, you will be able to audition for jobs which you actually have a chance at landing. 

My type is the ingénue.  Usually a soprano, the ingénue is the young, pretty idealist of the show.  Examples of the ingénue include Cosette (Les Mis), Johanna (Sweeney Todd), and every Disney Princess ever.

I don’t mind my type.  Ingénues, though young and naïve, are usually the lead or secondary lead characters in shows.  And they’re just so adorable, you can’t hate them.  They can be annoying, but not dislikeable.

It’s kind of sad that I can’t take on more mature, deeper roles simply because I look very young, but in the future, when I start to look older, I may be able to move on to roles like that.  Fingers crossed. 

Lots of Love,

Little Me