List of Contributions

RE: Musical Success?

Posted By Keith Burns 12-08-2020 12:23
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Hello, We have not yet had the experience, but we plan on producing You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown outdoors with the audience and the production moving to various outdoor locations on our campus, keeping cast and audience masked and moving away from aerosol being produced after every major song/scene. ...

RE: Free stage models for use with SketchUp

Posted By Keith Burns 04-25-2020 15:21
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Very interested! Depending on time. thank you! ------------------------------ Keith Burns Theatre Arts Director Phoenix Country Day School Paradise Valley, AZ ------------------------------

RE: Searching for Musical

Posted By Keith Burns 05-31-2019 13:43
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A musical we did a few years ago, which remains a favorite and which seems to have very little exposure is ZOMBIE PROM. It is campy, smart, playful, (although a teeny bit raunchy). The dialogue may not fit the criteria you set forth, but I am always surprised more high school's don't produce this show. ...

RE: West Side Story

Posted By Keith Burns 05-03-2019 16:44
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The sensitivity with which a show like West Side Story is approached seems to be the key. Any show that calls for racial diversity amongst it's characters demands that the director be aware and sensitive to messages, both intended and unintentional, that their production will convey. Certain productions ...

RE: RADIUM GIRLS Cross-Curricular Ideas

Posted By Keith Burns 12-18-2018 15:15
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Radium Girls is such an excellent play for High School or College production, largely due to its inherent cross-curricular potential! I would weave in your history teachers as well! We did it several years ago and I asked science, history, and English teachers to act in the boardroom scene. It was fun ...

David Ives All in The Timing

Posted By Keith Burns 05-16-2018 14:37
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We are considering doing All in the Timing by David Ives as a main stage Fall Play. Anyone have experience with this at the high school level? Pro's? Con's? Advice? I'd love to hear about your experiences (good or bad) with this piece. Keith Burns Director of Theatre Arts 12th Grade Coordinator ...

RE: Gender in Scene Study

Posted By Keith Burns 12-12-2017 12:23
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I often allow gender flexibility in class and mainstage productions, but never with the intent (or unintended side-effect) of the gender swap itself being cause for humor. Frequently, I allow girls to play male characters, but I have a higher sensibility to the appropriateness of boys playing female ...

RE: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

Posted By Keith Burns 12-12-2017 12:18
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Robin Hood by Larry Blamire. We just produced this last month. Plenty of room for lots of actors and lots of action. Tons of fight scenes - mostly swordplay. Humorous and fast paced. It needs to be directed with attention to the tempo of the play itself. We loved it! ------------------------------ ...

RE: The Little Mermaid Transformation

Posted By Keith Burns 12-05-2017 16:27
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We did this show last year - and we are also in Phoenix! For the transformation, we had a custom built skirt from which the bottom portion "velcro'd" on and off. Flotsum and Jetsam slowly undid the bottom as Ariel spun with the music. We recorded Ariel's voice from the shell. Long stretches of blue fabric ...

RE: Fizzy Lifting Room

Posted By Keith Burns 10-19-2017 13:01
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We had great results by a strong shaft of down light, and hung one or two bubble machines adjacent to the light. This was down center stage. Curtains were drawn in to create the visual of a vertical shaft. Bubbles fell, actors simply "floated" with acting and pantomime skills. The downward movement of ...

RE: Theatre Games or Techniques for Memorization

Posted By Keith Burns 10-05-2017 11:59
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Word Association circle - Students speak a word somehow associated with the previous word spoken by whoever is next to them. This continues around the circle many times. (Example: Leaf > tree > wood > fire > camp > tent > zipper > jeans > pants --- etc. I emphasize that students are hyper aware of the ...

RE: Zombie Prom the Musical

Posted By Keith Burns 09-11-2017 11:17
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I genuinely think this is one of the best productions out there for high school musicals. We had a BLAST doing Zombie Prom a few years ago. I had a large cast of extras. We absolutely loved it. The music is great and the characters and story are perfect for high school. Yea, the sexual innuendo pushes ...

Fight coordinator in Phoenix area?

Posted By Keith Burns 06-27-2017 16:57
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We will be producing Robin Hood by Larry Blamire (due to a suggestion from this forum, BTW!) and I am looking for a fight coordinator with experience in instructing and choreographing students in swordplay scenes. This play has A LOT of sword (and other) fights. I'll need help. Please send suggestions ...

RE: Improv Show

Posted By Keith Burns 05-01-2017 18:35
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If your troupe doesn't feel ready for long-form yet, don't worry about it. Plenty of good games and scene structures can provide a good variety filled "short form" show. We have had great success with things like Shift Left, Panel of Experts, Expand & Collapse, New Choice, Last Line/First Line, My Movie, ...

Technical Director job available

Posted By Keith Burns 04-21-2017 13:20
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Phoenix Country Day School 3901 E. Stanford Dr. Paradise Valley, AZ 85253 602.955.8200 x 2312 www.pcds.org

RE: good mystery/thriller

Posted By Keith Burns 05-26-2016 12:15
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We had a blast with a little known suspense thriller called Hangman's Noose By George Batson. ------------------------------ Keith Burns Theatre Arts Director Paradise Valley AZ

Keith Burns

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