I run a Theatre Department in a Middle School, and like you, my students come back when they realize that their high schools have no Theatre programs, or programs that are inferior to our program. I have quite a bit of autonomy with my program, so I have have at times invited past students to participate in both performing and technical roles. It can be very beneficial and rewarding for both the high school and middle school students.
During the 2015-2016 school year, I had high school performers play lead roles in both main stage productions. The play
Freak the Mighty required a student who was visibly large enough and physically strong enough to carry another on his shoulders for a significant portion of the show. I didn't have a student in my program who could do that, and the student whom I originally cast for the role backed out. I asked a former student who was visiting to fill in for that rehearsal, and immediately saw the whole production rise. He also had an emotional depth and understanding that the previous student could not achieve that clearly comes from maturity.
For the musical, we did
Peter Pan: a Musical Adventure. I knew going in that I needed an older actor to play Captain Hook. It was beyond the reach of any of my boys. The only options were to play Captain Hook, or get an older student to play Hook. I asked a Senior if he was interested and he enthusiastically said yea. He said he missed working with me and hadn't done a challenging role since he left Middle School.
This year I had a high school student as my stage manager for Seussical which freed me up to conduct, which was very necessary for this show.
I think I might blog on this soon, so look out for that.
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Hugh Fletcher
Performing Arts Coordinator
IS 229 Dr. Roland Patterson Middle School
Roosevelt NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-21-2017 14:27
From: Laurel Reiley
Subject: High school students in a middle school program?
I lead an after school drama program at our middle school, it's something I took an as an "extra" job, so I'm not the most experienced, but we have a lot of fun and the kids seem to really enjoy it. So much, in fact, that they are disappointed to move on to the high school where there is not a drama program. No one at the high school seems interested in running one and I don't think I can manage two separate programs. Our schools aren't far away and it would be easy for the students to get here by bus. Has anyone tried allowing high school students to participate in their middle school program? I know I'll need to get this approved by the administration, but what else do I need to think about to make it work?
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Laurel Reiley
IN
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