Student Resources
Student Handbook -- Coming Soon
Performance ResourcesScroll down or use the 'jump to' links below for more resources.
Check back often for more helpful tips! Jump to: Audition Advice, Script Analysis, Musical Theatre Solos, Memorization, Headshots, Theatre Vocab
Audition AdviceGreat tips for the cold read potion of fall play auditions or for those who are asked to read during musical auditions or callbacks!
Image borrowed from Pintrest and belongs to AMP Talent Group.
Script Analysis
Script analysis is a skill that can greatly improve a performance. You probably already do some of it without thinking! For instance, if a director asks you “Why don’t you like this person?” and you already have the answer, then you have done some script/character analysis to get there! The more in depth analysis you do, the stronger your performance becomes!
Take a look at the “Script Analysis Tips” PDF below. This will give you a strong basis of script analysis. Want something a little tougher? Take a look at the “Using Action Verbs” PDF. Action verbs are extremely helpful to making sure your performance stays interesting (like those long monologues or “boring” moments at the beginning of a play) by making your characters’ intentions clear. Both PDFs talk you through how to do it and give you examples to try on your own. You can always contact Amanda for help or to learn more!
Musical Theatre Solos
Notes like "use bigger facial expressions" or "use your hands" for musical theatre soloists are pretty common when it is spring musical time at CHS. While those are the motions your directors want to see from you, the basis behind these notes is asking for you to show more of your character and the emotions they are feeling. Ballads, love songs, and solos or duets/small group numbers with little action are especially important moments in the show, but they can also be difficult moments to act through. Here are some tips on how to analyze what songs mean to your character and why they are important.
MemorizationIt's the phrase that strikes fear in all high school actors' hearts: OFF BOOK (aka the memorization deadline day when scripts are no longer allowed onstage). While each actor has their own way to memorize, it can take some time to figure out what methods work best for you.
Click the button below for an article from Theatre Nerds that gives some great, easy to use methods to help you memorize your lines! In fact, #2-5 are common suggestions in our department! Give them a try and see which hacks for memorizing work best for you.
Or maybe check out this article from the Chicago Tribune by clicking the button below. In these interviews, top actors from the Chicago theatre scene share info on how they tackle the task of memorizing their lines. Are there any tips, tricks, or methods they use that can help you get off book for our next production?
HeadshotsFor anyone looking to audition for college theatre programs or even ever hoping to audition for a professional-level production, you'll need a headshot -- a high quality picture of you with only your head and part of your chest in the image. Also, if you are cast in a musical role that qualifies for the Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards, your application will require a headshot.
The button below will take you to a few tips offered by the IHSMTA on what makes a strong headshot for a performer.
Theatre VocabYep, there's vocabulary to be learned -- even for the theatre. If you're brand new to theatre, this is a great place to start. Otherwise, walking into a room full of upper-class, seasoned performers for auditions or rehearsal can be a bit intimidating.
The image below is from the takelessons blog and is a great place to start as it gives you the ins and outs of terms used in auditions (both straight shows and musicals). Click the buttons below to be taken to more extensive lists of theatre terms to help you learn speak like a theatre pro! (Don't worry -- you'll get the hang of it as soon as you're in rehearsal. No vocab pop quizzes here!) |
Tech ResourcesScroll down or use the 'jump to' links below for more resources.
Check back often for more helpful tips! Jump to: Lighting Board Tips and Tricks, Quick Change (Costumes), Prop Tables, Stage Management, Old Age Make Up
Lighting Board Tips and Tricks
Want to learn more about what our lighting board can do? Click the button below! It will link you to a YouTube playlist of training videos by ETC (the company that makes our lighting board in the auditorium). Some of the videos give basic instruction, so if you're new to learning lighting, that's a good place to start! Other videos will cover more difficult commands like follow, link, and loop, blocks, recording and using palettes, and different kinds of effects! (Note: we do not have any moving lights at this time. However, we do have LEDs and those are often covered in videos that talk about moving lights, so those videos may still be helpful.) Feel free to contact Amanda if you have any questions!
Quick ChangeRecent productions at CHS have often featured quick changes for one or two of our actors (Oklahoma!, Anne of Green Gables, Mary Poppins, and Big Fish, just to name a few). Often times, other actors turn into costume crew to help with these hectic moments or our stage management team assists to make this theatre magic happen.
This backstage choreography can be tricky but is so important to making productions run smoothly. Here's a look at how Mary's quick change in "Jolly Holiday" is accomplished in a professional production of Mary Poppins. Check out the teamwork they use to make this change run smoothly! Borrowed from the American Theatre Wing's YouTube page.
For more tips and tricks on how to make fast costumes changes successful, check out the article from Theatre Nerds by clicking on the button below. Be sure to let your director or costumer know if you feel you need any of these tricks implemented to make your quick change possible! "If it's not your prop, don't touch it!"This is a note and warning every actors in our department hears at least once per show. Props can be a fun part of the process and add a lot to the atmosphere of a show. But they are also tempting to play with when not onstage, and that is how things get broken or misplaced.
The way theatres organize props for show use is on props tables -- tables with boxes taped or drawn onto them and labeled with the name of a prop, giving all props a safe place for storage and easily accessible location during the run of a show. These tables are a HUGE part of our ability to keep backstage as clean and orderly as possible. The button below will take you to an article about how prop tables are created; these guidelines are almost exactly what we do at CHS. The biggest difference is that we usually do not have a props person -- the director and stage management team work together to gather and create props as well as set up our prop tables. Above image and article borrowed from WordPress user George Ledo's
Set Design and Tech page. So You Want To Be A Stage Manager...Coming Soon....
Old Age Make UpInterested in costumes, hair, or make up? Here is a great video on how to do the contouring for old age make up! It takes quite a bit of practice but is a great effect! We used a technique like this for T. T. Trumbull's make up in "The Nit Wits."
Actors, this is a great resource for you, too! It is a huge plus and very helpful when actors can do their own make up, especially when it's something more complex like this. Borrowed from YouTube user Regan Cranmer.
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