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  • 1.  Museum, Tina Howe

    Posted 07-21-2018 10:32
    How many of you have produced this on the HS level? Your experience? Pros and cons?
    Thanks in advance and to those who replied to my earlier post about your "fav ensemble plays."Best, <g class="gr_ gr_117 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="117" data-gr-id="117">cb</g>

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    Chris Briante
    Theater Faculty
    The Masters School
    Dobbs Ferry, NY
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  • 2.  RE: Museum, Tina Howe

    Posted 07-22-2018 07:43
    Did it in 2008- loved it, can't wait to do it again someday. Took the cast & crew to MoMA for research- every cast member found their character within an hour- and the crew based our 'museum' off details we found @ an exhibit. Get the art teachers to help create some of the art. Have fun with it!

    Tom Lupfer
    Pascack Valley HS Theatre
    www.pvhstheatre.org



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  • 3.  RE: Museum, Tina Howe

    Posted 07-22-2018 10:59
    I directed the show at a high school about 15 years ago. It was a fairly progressive school, and I didn't make any edits to the language (which I took a little heat for). The cast LOVED the show. The audience reaction was a little more mixed. Which is kind of what I expected. I'd do it again in a heartbeat (but I'd probably get permission to edit out some of the language; I was younger then.)

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    David Nields
    Theater Director
    Bradenton FL
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Museum, Tina Howe

    Posted 07-22-2018 11:29
    I have directed this play twice at the high school level - both times with great success. In both ensembles it gave everyone a chance to stretch their skills, and the variety of characters is amazing. We had great fun the first time using real people (our techies) as the clothesline dummies and in the second we had fun making that artwork using mannequins. We created an art show on stage in each production where the audience came on stage to read about each piece. The boys who played the security guards loved the interaction. Definitely worth trying!

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    Nancy Moran
    Drama Instructor
    Los Altos High School
    San Jose CA
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Museum, Tina Howe

    Posted 07-22-2018 15:12
    I did this several years ago...it allows you to use a large cast (always my preference) or double up roles for a small group. I had some students create the art pieces and performed it in the round, putting the audience inside the museum. We hung some frames between the actors and the audiences, so they could view each other as art. Lots of fun.

    Billy Houck
    Theatre Teacher
    Recently Retired



    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Museum, Tina Howe

    Posted 07-23-2018 09:47
    Have you looked at Exhibit This by Louise Januzzi from Samuel French? He will often come to your show & do a talk back with your cast or come to a rehearsal and do a workshop for your kids and he is in NJ, your neighbor.

    Maria Stadtmueller

    Sent from my iPhone
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  • 7.  RE: Museum, Tina Howe

    Posted 07-23-2018 12:51
      |   view attached
    I have directed it 3 times in 2 schools.  Loved it each time.

    I did get permission to remove, not change, the language that would have prevented us producing the show.

    In the spring of 2017, Tina Howe gave us permission to update the dates and monetary amounts.  The show has gotten so dated that the money numbers weren't funny anymore, and the birth dates of the artists didn't make any sense.  Getting that permission was an ordeal because Dramatists evidently didn't forward my letter to Ms. Howe.  After multiple emails and calls, they sent the letter, and Ms. Howe immediately responded that she was "thrilled" that we wanted to update it.

    This show is great for a class, because there are parts for all skill levels, and there is a ton of dramaturgical research that needs to be done.  Students performing the show did the art pieces twice, and a Technical Theatre class did them once.

    There are 41 characters, and I've cast around 25 actors.  I'm attaching a character map I made in Excel that was really helpful when casting and when actors were absent due to illness.


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    C. J. Breland
    Asheville High School
    Asheville NC
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    Attachment(s)

    xls
    Character Map.xls   268 KB 1 version
    Original Message


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