Benefits

• Development of performance skills

• Teamwork and collaboration

• Confidence building

• Creative expressions

• Cultural and historical awareness

• Communication skills

• Energy and commitment

• Sense of achievement

• Community engagement

• Promotion of inclusivity

• Memorable educational experience

• Development of life skills such as:

  • Empathy

  • Courage

  • Resilience

  • Focus

Choosing the right musical

• Identify your capabilities (both yours and that of the children)

  • Is there previous experience?

  • Is the school used to singing outside of assembly?

  • Do you do ‘Young Voices’?

  • If your capabilities are low, invite parents with skills to get involved or approach local drama societies for help.

• Cost

  • Is there a budget for the musical?

  • Will it require fund-raising?

  • What you have available to spend will partly dictate which musicals you can put on.

• Space
  It’s important to know what space your musical will be performed in when deciding which musical to do. Your space can influence how many performers can fit on stage and how you will need to stage and set your musical. However, any space can be utilised and you don’t need a full theatre space to put on a musical.

• Is it going to be an end-of-term musical, Christmas/Nativity or Easter musical?

• Choose by looking at sample scripts, and listening to the tracks. Can you do a musical that runs alongside current events or the current curriculum as a way of engaging the whole school?

• Where can you find a musical

  • Primary - Kevin Mayhew, The Little Musicals Company, Out Of The Arc.

  • Secondary - School version of well-known musicals, Theatrical Rights Worldwide, The Really Useful Group etc.

  • Make your own - Use popular songs and get students to make up a story.

Permissions & Licensing

• You must obtain a licence from the copyright holders to perform your musical.

• Always check licence specifications with individual publishers.

• Performance licence - Allows public performance of a copyrighted musical.

• Streaming/recording licence - If you plan to record audio or video, or if you intend to stream a performance, you will likely need to acquire a filming or streaming licence from your chosen Publisher.

• Photocopying the script and music - If you would like to make copies of lyrics and music to give to students and faculty, you may be asked to report it on your SPML (Schools Printed Music Licence) returns.
  If you copy the script, resources, cast list or staging suggestions, you may be asked to report it in your CLA (Copyright Licensing Agency) returns.

*Please note that some musicals may need to be reported via the publisher or require that you purchase an additional photocopying licence.

Marketing your musical

• Market as early as possible.

• Make tickets available on a date that is a week to two weeks after you have informed the parents. Know your capacity and what your maximum audience is. If space is limited, you may want to consider putting on multiple performances.

• Make an engaging poster (this could be part of an art project).

• Use as much online media as possible. School Facebook groups, parent portals etc.

• Include the PTA as much as possible. Ideally get the PTA involved right at the beginning of the project as their support throughout and particularly during show nights will be invaluable.

Casting and rehearsal strategies

How to cast

Get students to sing something all together.

If complete beginners, sing something incredibly easy such as happy birthday. Introduce some basic moves into it. This will show who’s engaged. Those students who are engaged and capable of moving and singing at the same time are the ones who will want to be involved the most.

If more advanced, run solo auditions.

A good option is to teach a verse and chorus from one of the songs from your chosen musical and then get students to audition solo with that song. This can done in a group situation to see who is confident enough to sing in front of each other but don’t rule out auditioning students in a one-on-one situation for quieter students who will need their confidence building and aren’t yet at that point.

Think outside of the lead roles
Think about an opportunity to cast some of the students outside of the lead roles into roles that have slightly more to do than ensemble roles with the aim of boosting confidence as these students may be then able to be the leads in future musicals.

Rehearsing

• Get help!
  You need an assistant or multiple teachers so that one can work with the ensemble while another is working on solo parts.

• Get a plan!
  Structure your rehearsals by having a definite plan of what you are going to achieve during every rehearsal.

• Contingency
  Add an extra one or two rehearsals more than you think you are going to need.

• Start with the finale!
  Teach the end of the show first, and the end of the show will always be great, and parents and students will go home happy.

GET THE JOB DONE!
MINIMAL STRESS DURING SHOW WEEK

Rehearsal Timeline

• How long do you have?
  Work out how many weeks of rehearsals you can do - You cannot have too many weeks. On average you are going to have 12 weeks to rehearse a musical once you have undertaken the casting process.

• Before rehearsals start
  After casting, hand out the script, and download resources and backing tracks as soon as possible.

• WEEK 1
  1st rehearsal - Whole ensemble - Learn the finale as an ensemble. Don’t worry about solo parts.

• WEEKS 2-6
  Teach 1-2 songs. The following week/session recap those songs and start a new song. If time, start to set the first song. Follow this process until all songs are learnt and set. Split the work between two adults working with ensemble and small groups where required.

• WEEKS 7-9
  Start working on scenes (some scenes may have been worked on during the previous process).

• WEEKS 10-12
  Identify sections that need the most work and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.
  
  Sew the scenes together and make sure the students know the structure of the whole musical.
  
  Make sure to also run the bits they are more confident on from time to time to keep them engaged and enthused.
  
  Try and arrange separate rehearsals with the soloists. These can be as little as 10 minutes at lunch time.

• SHOW WEEK
  This should be the latest that you start to run the whole show and this is dependent on getting extra rehearsals organised. Push for as much as you can get away with!

• DRESS REHEARSALS
  Do a maximum of 2 dress rehearsals.
  
  These should include anything technical such as people playing backing tracks, sound effects, segue music and lighting if you haven’t already been using them.
  
  These rehearsals with need to be much longer (up to 3x the length) of the runtime of the musical.
  
  Don’t think that these rehearsals will run straight through. Things will go wrong and need correcting.

Staging the musical

• Space
  Everything you do staging-wise is dependent on space. Make sure you mark out your performance space (especially if you don’t have proper staging)

• Blocking
  Who goes where and when during each scene.

Lighting

• Light the performance area as much as you can achieve, whilst putting the audience space into as much darkness as you can safely get away with. Even leaving the nearest row of ceiling lights to the stage can be effective if no other lighting is available!

• Clear the performance space of anything (gym equipment etc.) as best you can so that nothing is lit in the background that doesn’t belong in the musical.

Choreography

• Keep it as simple as possible and keep it natural.

• All choreography should allow the students to sing to their full ability.

• If you have some students that have more dance skills, highlight their ability but make sure that all choreography is inclusive for all performers.

• The smallest amount of movement can look impressive, don’t go over the top.

• Work on cohesive movement rather than routines.

Sound

• Rehearse with as much equipment as possible from early on. If you don’t have good equipment, perform the musical without amplification and turn the music down. This is better than having a microphone that can’t be heard.

• Take the time to get the balance between music and singing right.

• During rehearsals don’t be afraid to boost the volume of the track higher than you think you need because it will encourage the students to project more with their singing.

• Play music before and after the performance to help create a good atmosphere in the room.

Costumes

• Make them as simple as possible as a baseline.

• Scripts will likely have costume suggestions.

• Think about simple things like hairstyles, coloured t-shirts and things that can made in the art room.

• If asking parents to make costumes, give as much notice as possible (and send reminders!).

Set Design

• Keep it simple!

• Be imaginative!

• Be creative rather than obvious.

• Use students that aren’t in performing but have artistic flare.

• Props are more important than set.

People

• Make sure you have all the human resources you need from the outset. This is someone on sounds, lights, costumes, chaperones, front of house, stage management.

• These don’t all have to be adults, some of these jobs could be done by older responsible students who don’t want to perform.

Student participation

• Don’t discount ideas coming from the students themselves as this can achieve instant engagement.

• Remember from the onset that some students may want to be included in the musical without actually appearing on stage (artwork, scenery, music etc.) and it’s just as important to encourage this involvement.