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I am one of the upperclassmen in my theatre group and it is production week for us. I would like to find some energizing warmup's ways to encourage my fellow actors as we get ready to perform our show. I was wondering if anyone had ideas of what I can do.

I recommend some really high-energy warm-ups like Big Booty and Ride That Pony. You can also try something that's customized for your specific show. For instance, Ice-Rat-Wolf (or whatever your specific group chooses to call it) involves passing energy from one student to another. The student who receives the energy could either choose to transform into a rat or a wolf (the particular show featured in the video took place in an isolated and impoverished Eastern European village, besieged by the forces of nature), and the rest of the cast had to transform into that same animal as well. You could change this to whatever's relevant to your particular play. It helps get actors into the body and out of the head, as well as focusing in on physicalizations that could be used in the course of the performance. Also, this variation of the Counting Game, which requires walking around the room in-character, while trying to count from 1 to 10 with no one saying the same number at the same time. (I'd recommend not doing the advanced version that these students were trying, where they're simultaneously holding in-character conversations while counting, until you've gotten really good at the exercise.) Not only does this exercise focus actors, it also works on developing and getting into character.

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Victoria Chatfield
Executive Director
National Theatre for Student Artists
www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-19-2017 21:46
From: Alena Nelson
Subject: Warm up's and encouragements for production week.

I am one of the upperclassmen in my theatre group and it is production week for us. I would like to find some energizing warmup's ways to encourage my fellow actors as we get ready to perform our show. I was wondering if anyone had ideas of what I can do.

Hi there,

When I was in college, we did a warm up to a song called "Think Of Me, Forget Me Not." It's such a quick song to learn! We made two lines facing each other and danced in place for the verses, and when we got to "I am yours," everyone peeled off down the line in twos. 

This warm up celebrates the togetherness and teamwork of the cast, and it gets everyone excited for performances! We did each verse differently (staccato, forte, piano, etc.), ending with going as loud as we possibly can. Many of my music and theatre ed friends now use this as a pre-performance warmup with their students.

Sheet music is here: http://www.circleofsong.co.uk/sites/default/files/Think%20of%20me,%20forget%20me%20not.pdf

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Rosemary Bucher
Licensing Representative, Educational Theatre
Samuel French
New York NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-20-2017 13:08
From: Victoria Chatfield
Subject: Warm up's and encouragements for production week.

I recommend some really high-energy warm-ups like Big Booty and Ride That Pony. You can also try something that's customized for your specific show. For instance, Ice-Rat-Wolf (or whatever your specific group chooses to call it) involves passing energy from one student to another. The student who receives the energy could either choose to transform into a rat or a wolf (the particular show featured in the video took place in an isolated and impoverished Eastern European village, besieged by the forces of nature), and the rest of the cast had to transform into that same animal as well. You could change this to whatever's relevant to your particular play. It helps get actors into the body and out of the head, as well as focusing in on physicalizations that could be used in the course of the performance. Also, this variation of the Counting Game, which requires walking around the room in-character, while trying to count from 1 to 10 with no one saying the same number at the same time. (I'd recommend not doing the advanced version that these students were trying, where they're simultaneously holding in-character conversations while counting, until you've gotten really good at the exercise.) Not only does this exercise focus actors, it also works on developing and getting into character.

------------------------------
Victoria Chatfield
Executive Director
National Theatre for Student Artists
www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org

Original Message:
Sent: 10-19-2017 21:46
From: Alena Nelson
Subject: Warm up's and encouragements for production week.

I am one of the upperclassmen in my theatre group and it is production week for us. I would like to find some energizing warmup's ways to encourage my fellow actors as we get ready to perform our show. I was wondering if anyone had ideas of what I can do.

Original Message------

I am one of the upperclassmen in my theatre group and it is production week for us. I would like to find some energizing warmup's ways to encourage my fellow actors as we get ready to perform our show. I was wondering if anyone had ideas of what I can do.

These are all such fantastic ideas!  I think I get the gist of the SART warm-up, but if you have more details, I would welcome those as well.

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Karen Malone
Teacher
Commack NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-21-2017 00:54
From: Lisa Dalton
Subject: Warm up's and encouragements for production week.

Here's a warmup I call a SART. Synthesizing the Analysis Run Through.

  Create series of 11 tableaux (or Freeze Frames of the Action) for the show using the entire cast in each of the eleven tableaux. #0 is the Opening moment,#10 is the closing moment, and 1-9 are the nine most critical moments of the story-three in Act 1, three in Act 2, Three in Act 3. The actors that are not in the scene join in by abstractly expressing the atmosphere of the scene. Once these have been created, begin each rehearsal or performance by flowing/morphing from one tableaux to the next, starting backwards from the end to the beginning and then from the beginning to the end.

The ensemble seeks to strike the tableau or "freeze the frame" simultaneously, hold for three seconds and then morph into the next one as a unit. Starting backwards requires lots of concentration and instills a feeling of the whole arc of the show and what the most important moments are. Once the tableaux have been created, this warmup takes just a few minutes, gets everyone working together, feeling like a tight ensemble. The actors who are only in a few scenes feel part of the whole and tend to develop a greater investment in the show. Everyone benefits.

After a few times through, you can layer in the task of morphing/transforming in a way that captures the vibe of the scenes, even encouraging vocal sound effects.

Sometimes I start with a SART before the first read through and launch every rehearsal with it. I make cue sheets with the scene and scene # on them and place them in different areas of the rehearsal space. Then they evolve throughout rehearsals and even during the run.  Just holler if this is of interest and you want more details.

Lisa Loving Dalton

Murder Of Talent: How Pop Culture Is Killing "IT", Amazon # 1 Best Seller

Falling For The Stars: A Stunt Gal's Tattle Tales, Amazon # 1 Best Seller

National Michael Chekhov Association, Pres.

Live Theatre League, Pres.

SAG-AFTRA, DFW Board

www.lisadalton.com

lisa@lisadalton.com

818 761 5404 cel

817 656 4620 land

LisaLDalton skype

Original Message------

I am one of the upperclassmen in my theatre group and it is production week for us. I would like to find some energizing warmup's ways to encourage my fellow actors as we get ready to perform our show. I was wondering if anyone had ideas of what I can do.