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Josh Belk

Director of Theatre,
Palmer Ridge High School

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Director of Theatre,
Palmer Ridge High School
Bronze Member

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1 to 20 of 50+ total

RE: "Oliver"

Posted By Josh Belk 09-07-2023 10:29
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We did Oliver with a steampunk aesthetic in the costumes and set design. My favorite part was an arm piece for Fagin that looked like he needed mechanical assistance to move his arm--our head-cannon was that he no longer had the dexterity to be a pick-pocket and thats why has the urchins. -------- ...

RE: Beauty and the Beast with Steampunk Costumes

Posted By Josh Belk 09-26-2022 09:57
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I have not directed it that way, but years ago I had a student do the Costume Design Individual Event at the Colorado Thespian Conference with that concept. I didn't think it would work when she told me, but it did. It was steampunk apocolyptic. The Beast had his face covered with a WWII style gas mask. ...

female heavy drama

Posted By Josh Belk 08-17-2022 17:34
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Hello all, I'm looking for my spring show. I'd like to do a drama, and like many schools have more women than men. I'd like a small to medium sized cast that favors the women. What have you enjoyed doing that meets these criteria? ------------------------------ Josh Belk Director of Theatre Palmer ...

projections?

Posted By Josh Belk 05-18-2022 10:24
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Hello colleagues! We are planning on The Little Mermaid in the fall, and are planning to use projections to do a lot of the scenic "heavy lifting". It will be our first time using projections on this scale. I'm looking at TheatreAve.com and BroadwayMedia.com, who both have sets of projections designed ...

RE: Steel Magnolias

Posted By Josh Belk 08-13-2021 12:11
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We did a similar effect for The Boys Next Door.  I don't remember how long the water needs to run in Steel Mags but it was very short in Boys. We used a hudson sprayer (like the kind you use for spraying weeds), and we were able to find the adapters to connect it to the plumbing for the sink on stage.  ...

RE: Thespys/I.E.s as class assignment

Posted By Josh Belk 09-10-2020 09:32
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I use the IEs as the final exam for first semester in my Intermediate and Advanced classes. (Colorado Thespians happens in Dec so it times out well). Each category in the rubric is 5 points: Superior is 5/5, working down.  It comes out to a 25 point assignment.  I use the average of all judges for ...

RE: Trucks and Set Builds

Posted By Josh Belk 08-03-2020 11:59
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I have done it before. I used to only have a Ford Focus, and while I could load that thing to the gills, it was not truck. I did sometimes rent the truck from Home Depot-$20 for 75 min if I remember correctly. If you are able to plan ahead efficiently, I've also had Home Depot deliver, but it's like ...

RE: Midsummer Night's Dream versions

Posted By Josh Belk 08-26-2019 10:15
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Hello! Several years ago we produced an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream done by Ken Womble.  We found it very accessible.  Mr. Womble keeps the original language but pares it down, eliminating repeated information and cutting down the length of longer speeches (Oberon keeps some of his longer ...

RE: Plays that deal with the theme of "Legacy"

Posted By Josh Belk 05-22-2019 16:46
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Regarding Quilters, so far all I've found is the musical version. Is there a non-musical version? If someone can point me in that direction, I'd appreciate it. :) ------------------------------ Josh Belk Director of Theatre Palmer Ridge High School Monument, CO ------------------------------

RE: Plays that deal with the theme of "Legacy"

Posted By Josh Belk 05-20-2019 10:36
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Billy, The story sounds lovely. Is there opportunity to expand the cast?  I'd love more opportunities for my performers in the spring. Thanks! ------------------------------ Josh Belk Director of Theatre Palmer Ridge High School Monument, CO ------------------------------

RE: Plays that deal with the theme of "Legacy"

Posted By Josh Belk 05-15-2019 22:23
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Kenneth, Interestingly, Radium Girls was already one of my thoughts :) ------------------------------ Josh Belk Director of Theatre Palmer Ridge High School Monument, CO ------------------------------

Plays that deal with the theme of "Legacy"

Posted By Josh Belk 05-15-2019 18:07
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Hello Hive Mind! I'm looking for our spring play for next year.  Our theme will be "Legacy: What we leave behind".  Our musical is a little smaller, so looking at a potentially mid- to large-sized cast.  Like many of you, our female casting pool is larger than our males. So, what shows do you like ...

one-act suggestions

Posted By Josh Belk 11-25-2018 18:01
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Hello all, I'm looking for one-act suggestions for our one-act this year.  I would like the script to touch on the topic of "more than we appear" as that is our theme for the year.  We also always seem to do medium-largish ensemble shows or vignette shows; I'd like to get away from that.  We generally ...

RE: The Elephant Man

Posted By Josh Belk 10-11-2018 09:30
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We did it in a high school, in a relatively conservative community. We had a dressing screen in Merrick's room, with a duplicate of Mrs Kendall's costume behind. Mrs Kendall went behind the screen, kept talking, hung the duplicate costume over the top of the screen as if she had taken it off, and was ...

RE: Windows

Posted By Josh Belk 08-27-2018 09:52
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I have used those weatherproofing kits you can find at the home improvement stores.  It has a heat-shrink plastic and double-sided tape.  You tape the plastic in the window, then use a hairdryer to shink the plastic until it is taut. ------------------------------ Josh Belk Director of Theatre ...

RE: 'How To Produce Shakespeare' question

Posted By Josh Belk 08-15-2018 09:05
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I second this. I use How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare as the guiding text in my Shakespeare class with great result. It is also fun to read on its own! Josh Belk Director of TheatreBear Necessity Theatre Companyat Palmer Ridge High School(719) 867 8102jbelk@lewispalmer.org Disclaimer The ...

RE: Making a large prop rock

Posted By Josh Belk 02-08-2018 11:28
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Jason Watkins at Niwot High School had several large rocks/steps that went together from when .  It was around 4ish feet tall if I recall.  I don't know if he still has it, but if he doesn't I bet he knows who has it. ------------------------------ Josh Belk Director of Theatre Palmer Ridge High ...

RE: Seeking play suggestions

Posted By Josh Belk 02-05-2018 10:32
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I would echo "Diviners" and "Anatomy of Gray." I love 'The Last Night of Ballyhoo" by Alfred Uhry and "The Boys Next Door" by Tom Griffin. Both are comedies that deal with serious subjects. We are about to start production of "And a Child Shall Lead" by Michael Slade. It deals with the children that ...

RE: Scheduling Conflicts

Posted By Josh Belk 01-26-2018 10:48
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1. What are your typical rehearsal start and end times for high school troupes on mainstage productions?  We typically rehearse Mon-Fri from 3:00 to 5:30.  From 3:00-3:15 is (mandatory) snack time, then rehearsal and tech production happens from 3:15-5:30.  We reserve the right to go later during the ...

RE: Shakespeare Course

Posted By Josh Belk 01-26-2018 10:28
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I use "How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare" by Ken Ludwig.  It is literally the process he used to teach Shakespeare to his own children.  It has an emphasis on memorization of passages with discussion and commentary on the context and importance of each passage. My students memorize 9-12 passages ...