Students will demonstrate acting fundamentals (character development, objectives, tactics, motivation, blocking) by creating, rehearsing, and performing a musical theatre mash up scene.
Prior Experience:
Prior to this unit, students have done musical theatre duets and a group ensemble number. Students are familiar with and have worked in this class to apply basics of acting, blocking, characterization, but need further opportunities for practice and application.
National Standards:
TH:Pr5.1.I a. Practice various acting techniques to expand skills in a rehearsal or drama/theatre performance.
TH:Re9.1.II c. Verify how a drama/theatre work communicates for a specific purpose and audience.
TH:Pr4.1.I a. Examine how character relationships assist in telling the story of a drama/theatre work.
TH:Pr4.1.I b. Shape character choices using given circumstances in a drama/theatre work.
TH:Pr4.1.II. a. Discover how unique choices shape believable and sustainable drama/theatre work.
TH:Cr1.1.HSI c. Use script analysis to generate ideas about a character that is believable and authentic in a drama/theatre work.
TH:Cr2.1.HSII b. Cooperate as a creative team to make interpretive choices for a drama/theatre work.
TH:Cr3.1.HSI a. Practice and revise a devised or scripted drama/theatre work using theatrical staging conventions.
Essential Questions:
Why do both voice and body matter in character development?
How can physical and vocal characterization help an actor best engage an audience?
How can the tools of physical and vocal expression apply outside of theatre?
What qualities make a scene believable?
How do objectives inform an actors physical and vocal choices within a scene?
How can movement help enhance a story?
How can props and business be utilized to enhance a story/character relationships?
Key Knowledge and Skills:
Students will be able to develop their Stage Presence
Students will demonstrate their ability to collaborate
Lesson Objective: Students will create a new musical theatre scene by researching and selecting a Broadway song to embed in an assigned contemporary scene.
Lesson Objective: Students will create a new musical theatre scene by cutting/adapting their scene and selected song to fit together and beginning memorization.
Lesson Objective: Students will demonstrate their understanding of objectives in acting by identifying their character’s objective, plotting out tactics they use, and performing a short moment for another group.
Lesson Objective: Students will discover character driven movement for their scenes by choosing one prop they will implement into their scenes, creating a basic floor plan of their scene’s set, and writing out blocking for the scene.
Lesson Objective: Students will sharpen their scenes by setting rehearsal goals and focusing their rehearsal on the areas they received notes on during previews.
Supplemental Lesson/Rehearsal Ideas (included in Day 8 plan)
NOTE: Depending on the level of students in the class, more guided rehearsal days may be necessary or desired. Feel free to add those in as you see fit! The Supplemental Lesson/Rehearsal Idea page has a list of activities and exercises that could be used to help guide students in their rehearsal.
Lesson Objective: Students will demonstrate acting fundamentals (character development, objectives, tactics, motivation, blocking) by performing a musical theatre mash up scene and writing a critique of the work of their peers.
Lesson Objective: Students will demonstrate acting fundamentals (character development, objectives, tactics, motivation, blocking) by performing a musical theatre mash up scene, writing a critique on the work of their peers, and doing a self-reflection.
