List of Contributions

RE: How many of you bring up professional theatre in your programs?

Posted By Josh Ruben 03-16-2024 09:47
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Hi George, As a professional teaching artist, I was already a working actor long before I became a full-time classroom teacher. Therefore, I spend a great deal of time teaching my kids about professional career options. When possible, I even have my agent, manager, and other friends in the business ...

RE: Emergency Sub Plans

Posted By Josh Ruben 03-13-2024 08:18
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Hi Analiese, I offer a couple of options for my classes based on the class' focus. For Drama I (Intro) I usually show a movie along with a short vocab worksheet focusing on technical theatre elements they can identify and/or story elements. I also use short news articles and op-ed pieces about show ...

RE: Best Costumer

Posted By Josh Ruben 03-13-2024 07:57
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Hi Melinda, We don't always have the budget to rent, but here are two of the best companies with whom I've worked: The Costumer out of New York: Great selection and customer service. They are QUALITY items of clothing that are well-made for the various time periods we've needed. For our productions ...

RE: Musicians Pay

Posted By Josh Ruben 03-13-2024 07:30
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Hi James, When I have the budget, I try to use a live band. I use a mix of adult professional and semi-professionals along with a couple of our better student musicians from our school's band program. I can't pay the kids, but we do give them free tickets for their families and free merch from the ...

RE: how do you pay your music directors and choreographers

Posted By Josh Ruben 08-12-2023 09:53
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Hi Nick, I receive a small supplement to produce "drama activities." I do one full-length musical in the spring as one of those "activities." I try to make that show as practical as possible by structuring my lesson planning around it (script analysis lessons, tech theatre, and even business/marketing). ...

RE: Shakespeare

Posted By Josh Ruben 07-28-2023 11:36
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Hey Sarah, I've done several Shakespeares - both for classwork and for competitions. Midsummer is a great choice and I echo the suggestions about costuming and staging that others have mentioned. Another way to ease kids into Shakespeare is with Romeo & Juliet. I actually used a 50-minute adaptation ...

RE: Chicago ensemble

Posted By Josh Ruben 07-28-2023 11:22
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We LOOOOVED! Doing the high school version. We had a large ensemble (over 40) and they WORKED in the production numbers. Some of the leads even joked that the ensemble had more stage time than they did! Be sure to take time working on the ensemble's music. In our experience, the ensemble was dedicated ...

RE: 12 Angry Jurors

Posted By Josh Ruben 06-17-2023 06:54
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Dramatic publishing holds the rights to both 12 Angry Men and 12 Angry Women. They allow both versions to be produced as 12 Angry Jurors since all of the characters are gender neutral. Below is the link to the website for 12 Angry Women. At the very bottom of that page is the notation about making ...

RE: Technical Theatre Class

Posted By Josh Ruben 04-26-2023 09:49
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Depending on the standards in the state and school district in which you teach, you can do both in one class or make each class specific to either performance or production. Most districts will work with you to develop at least one class that can function as a "survey" class in which you can do a variety ...

RE: Membership Roll for Induction

Posted By Josh Ruben 04-05-2023 07:53
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THANK GOODNESS!!! I've needed additional rolls for years. Please send me the order form as well. Thank you so much. ------------------------------ Josh Ruben, M. Ed. Fine Arts Head Northwest Whitfield HS (dba, The Northwest Theatre Co.) Tunnel Hill, GA ------------------------------

RE: Students creating their own musical theatre scenes

Posted By Josh Ruben 03-07-2023 05:18
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LOVE THIS!!!! We do this exact thing as part of my Intro and Intermediate Classes' Final Projects. I started it in the early 2000s, then the show "Glee" came out and allowed me to demonstrate the process much more elegantly. We started calling this our "Glee Project." Even though the show has been off ...

RE: Favorite Shows with Stage Combat?

Posted By Josh Ruben 11-30-2022 12:03
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Both versions of "She Kills Monsters" are strong candidates. While I would love to do the "adult" version again, the parents and other members of my audience wouldn't handle it. I also do combat (swords and hand-to-hand) with most Shakespeare dramas: R&J, Richard III, and Henry V have all worked out ...

RE: Independent Study Plan

Posted By Josh Ruben 11-16-2022 10:19
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I'm in the same boat. I have Drama III and IV working on the same projects and several of my Theatre Arts Students (acting/performance) work on Tech Theatre projects. To give the more advanced students more challenging and standards-based activities, here are some projects they do as Independent Study ...

RE: Fundraiser camp

Posted By Josh Ruben 09-05-2022 09:03
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Hi Ellen, We do several things with our local elementary and middle schools: 1) Every holiday season, we write and produce a one hour musical sketch comedy show for those kids to come and see as a school field trip. We charge $1 per student (or ask for parents to sponsor an entire class for $50, or grade ...

RE: Costume companies

Posted By Josh Ruben 09-05-2022 08:41
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Norcostco - Great selection and their service is amazing. They are expensive, but they will work with you to help stick to your budget. I use them for very specific period and style outfits. The Costumer is another company that provides great customer service. Both can work with large or small casts ...

RE: Costume Source for Dark Road (concentration camp, guards)?

Posted By Josh Ruben 08-17-2022 08:07
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Hi Tracey, We've done several plays about WWII and the Holocaust (never Anne Frank, though ... mmm). I use a source very close to you whenever I need specific, period, and/or very well-made costumes. Norcostco has an office in Atlanta and the folks there are sooooo wonderful. They usually have costumes ...

RE: Collaborative Leadership in Musical Theatre

Posted By Josh Ruben 07-16-2022 16:21
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Hi Jo Beth, Here are my two cents: What is the depth and breadth of your musical theatre adult leadership team? I function as the Director, Executive Producer, Production Designer, and Technical Director. - Music: Our Choral Arts Teacher is our Music Director. We also have an English Teacher on staff ...

RE: small cast plays with fight scenes

Posted By Josh Ruben 07-09-2022 05:42
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I Love that your doing Combat!! The actors love it and it really engages the audience. I wholeheartedly agree about Shakespeare. Every time we've done it, either full length or a cutting, I've included a sword fight or other combat. We've done: R&J, Midsummer, Henry V, Richard III, and I'm trying to ...

RE: Theatre Resumes

Posted By Josh Ruben 05-12-2022 08:18
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Two options: 1) don't even worry about it. List the shows as on any other résumé entry. 2) Put an asterisk explaining that Covid canceled the actual performance. The problem with option two is that kids all over the country had their shows ended in various stages of production. So questions may be raised ...

RE: Reading selection sought

Posted By Josh Ruben 05-09-2022 08:36
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Funny and uplifting can be a challenge (so much for high school is dark and "meaningful"). But here are some suggestions that have been successful for me: 1) The libretto for any musical comedy (I'm hoping to use "Come From Away" next year). I often use the libretto of "42nd Street" and the kids have ...

Josh Ruben

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