This week promises to be both busy and exciting. As you all know well, we'll be holding auditions Monday evening for the fall drama department production of The Great Gatsby - which I will be directing - as well as Samantha Spade: Ace Detective. I will be posting a callback list for Gatsby on Tuesday morning and callbacks will commence in class that day in all periods. In case you are new to the program, we hold callbacks for drama department productions in class (non-drama students will be briefly excused from their other PA class(es) to attend callbacks) and my classes join with Mr. Adams' classes in the black box. I suspect the callback process will last at least two days - Tuesday and Wednesday - with the potential for a few remaining readings on Thursday. I will then be posting a cast list as soon as possible and rehearsals will begin late in the week, including Saturday afternoon.
Casting shows within the CCCEPA program can be a tremendous challenge due to the wealth of talent we are blessed to have roaming our halls, and Gatsby promises to be no exception. We have 174 students auditioning for approximately 25 cast spots. I'm thrilled to have so many students who are interested in performing in this play, but with numbers like that there are bound to be many very deserving students who do not make it into the show, and making those decisions can prove extraordinarily difficult. There are so many of you whose talent, conduct and work ethic deserve recognition. Truthfully, I wish I could cast each and every one of you, but I don't think a 174 person cast is very practical. As you enter this audition process I encourage you all to keep in mind that while being in shows at school can be a great experience, the most important work we do at PHS occurs day in and day out in our classes, and I suspect we will ALL accomplish a lot this year, whether in this show or not.
Additionally, I will be administering common assessment exams in all classes this week. These exams are intended as a growth measure, meaning that the exam will not count toward your grade, nor do you have any studying to do. I just want you to be aware that we will be taking some time this week to complete those exams.
While callbacks will be consuming much of the middle of this week, here's a brief outline of the other activities you can expect in class:
DRAMA 1
On Monday we will join again with Mr. Adams' intro class to see the remaining beginning-of-the-year monologue performances. We will then spend the remainder of our class time this week beginning our unit on film/TV acting. We'll be discussing the many various jobs you'll find on a professional sound stage, as well as the different styles of film and television we'll be covering in class. You'll be assigned scene partners and allowed time to select and begin rehearsing a scene from an established film or television show.
DRAMA 2
On Monday we will join again with Mr. Adams' intro class to see the remaining beginning-of-the-year monologue performances. We will then begin the "rotating scene partner" exercise I told you about in class. You'll all be assigned the same scene from True West by Sam Shepard, with half the class being assigned one role and half the class playing the other. You'll choose a rehearsal partner with whom you will be begin rehearsing the scene and learning the lines, but keep in mind that you will not be performing the scene with that partner in class. Ultimately, you will perform the scene with a new partner with whom you will have never rehearsed and I suspect we'll learn a lot about honest listening and reacting.
DRAMA 3
On Monday we will join again with Mr. Adams' intro class to see the remaining beginning-of-the-year monologue performances. We will then spend the remainder of our class time this week beginning our unit on film/TV acting. We'll be discussing the many various jobs you'll find on a professional sound stage, as well as the different styles of film and television we'll be covering in class. You'll be assigned scene partners and allowed time to select and begin rehearsing a scene from an established film or television show.
DRAMA 4
On Monday we will complete our college "big board," which I suspect will ultimately be a list of approximately 100 schools of interest to the students in the class. We will then further discuss the research project you will be conducting and the information you'll be seeking. Again, it looks as though this will evolve into a PBL incorporating the other CCCEPA disciplines of dance, vocal and technical theater. When all is said and done, I think we will have created a searchable database that will benefit all of our students in their college search. We will also start looking at your monologue selections for class. You do not need to have anything memorized for class on Monday, but remember that all students are required to bring the text for at least two potential monologue choices that day. Once callbacks are completed, we will spend the remainder of the week splitting time between reviewing monologue selections and examining schools from the board.
Have a great week, everyone!