Open Forum

Traditions cannot be manufactured, of that I'm certainly aware. But they start somewhere. 
Going into my fourth year of directing a theatre program, I still find myself regularly saying "well that's how we did it in the theatre I grew up in" with both fondness and stubbornness. 
And now it hast me wondering, what your favorite theatre tradition where you teach or perform?

Right now mine are probably:
- Doing a musical chairs reveal for the musical (which will only be our second year of doing so.. but I intend to make it a tradition)
- Having a watch party as a reunion later in the school year


------------------------------
Hannah Agee
Emmanuel Christian Academy
------------------------------

Hi Hannah,

Can you tell us more about your musical chairs reveal tradition? Sounds fun!

Some of our traditions (this was my first year so they were definitely manufactured as there were none when I got there!):
-Secret Encourager program for each productions (like secret santa, starts a couple of weeks from tech)
-Pins for each show, given to the kiddos during a casual lunch between shows on Sunday.
-A page printed on cardstock withe show logo and the participants name that everyone in the cast signs/writes a message on, also given at the show lunch.
-I give show participants a framed production picture with everyone (taken at opening) at the closing show. I use my Cricut and customize the frames per show + the date.

------------------------------
Amy Cole-Farrell
Kehillah Jewish High School
CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-25-2022 12:48
From: Hannah Agee
Subject: Favorite Theatre Tradition?

Traditions cannot be manufactured, of that I'm certainly aware. But they start somewhere. 
Going into my fourth year of directing a theatre program, I still find myself regularly saying "well that's how we did it in the theatre I grew up in" with both fondness and stubbornness. 
And now it hast me wondering, what your favorite theatre tradition where you teach or perform?

Right now mine are probably:
- Doing a musical chairs reveal for the musical (which will only be our second year of doing so.. but I intend to make it a tradition)
- Having a watch party as a reunion later in the school year


------------------------------
Hannah Agee
Emmanuel Christian Academy
------------------------------

At the last production of each year, we have our graduating students take the final bow on the stage for the year. We typically present them with a small gift which includes a show poster signed by the entire cast, sometimes we give an additional little gift like balloons or flowers, and this year I included handwritten goodbye notes to each of them.

They look forward to their last bow as a goodbye to performing with us in our space.

------------------------------
Amy MacCord
Musical Theatre Teacher
Westwood Middle School
FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-26-2022 11:42
From: Amy Cole-Farrell
Subject: Favorite Theatre Tradition?

Hi Hannah,

Can you tell us more about your musical chairs reveal tradition? Sounds fun!

Some of our traditions (this was my first year so they were definitely manufactured as there were none when I got there!):
-Secret Encourager program for each productions (like secret santa, starts a couple of weeks from tech)
-Pins for each show, given to the kiddos during a casual lunch between shows on Sunday.
-A page printed on cardstock withe show logo and the participants name that everyone in the cast signs/writes a message on, also given at the show lunch.
-I give show participants a framed production picture with everyone (taken at opening) at the closing show. I use my Cricut and customize the frames per show + the date.

------------------------------
Amy Cole-Farrell
Kehillah Jewish High School
CA

Original Message:
Sent: 06-25-2022 12:48
From: Hannah Agee
Subject: Favorite Theatre Tradition?

Traditions cannot be manufactured, of that I'm certainly aware. But they start somewhere. 
Going into my fourth year of directing a theatre program, I still find myself regularly saying "well that's how we did it in the theatre I grew up in" with both fondness and stubbornness. 
And now it hast me wondering, what your favorite theatre tradition where you teach or perform?

Right now mine are probably:
- Doing a musical chairs reveal for the musical (which will only be our second year of doing so.. but I intend to make it a tradition)
- Having a watch party as a reunion later in the school year


------------------------------
Hannah Agee
Emmanuel Christian Academy
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 6/27/2022 8:51:00 AM
From: Amy MacCord
Subject: RE: Favorite Theatre Tradition?

At the last production of each year, we have our graduating students take the final bow on the stage for the year. We typically present them with a small gift which includes a show poster signed by the entire cast, sometimes we give an additional little gift like balloons or flowers, and this year I included handwritten goodbye notes to each of them.

They look forward to their last bow as a goodbye to performing with us in our space.

------------------------------
Amy MacCord
Musical Theatre Teacher
Westwood Middle School
FL
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-26-2022 11:42
From: Amy Cole-Farrell
Subject: Favorite Theatre Tradition?

Hi Hannah,

Can you tell us more about your musical chairs reveal tradition? Sounds fun!

Some of our traditions (this was my first year so they were definitely manufactured as there were none when I got there!):
-Secret Encourager program for each productions (like secret santa, starts a couple of weeks from tech)
-Pins for each show, given to the kiddos during a casual lunch between shows on Sunday.
-A page printed on cardstock withe show logo and the participants name that everyone in the cast signs/writes a message on, also given at the show lunch.
-I give show participants a framed production picture with everyone (taken at opening) at the closing show. I use my Cricut and customize the frames per show + the date.

------------------------------
Amy Cole-Farrell
Kehillah Jewish High School
CA

Original Message:
Sent: 06-25-2022 12:48
From: Hannah Agee
Subject: Favorite Theatre Tradition?

Traditions cannot be manufactured, of that I'm certainly aware. But they start somewhere. 
Going into my fourth year of directing a theatre program, I still find myself regularly saying "well that's how we did it in the theatre I grew up in" with both fondness and stubbornness. 
And now it hast me wondering, what your favorite theatre tradition where you teach or perform?

Right now mine are probably:
- Doing a musical chairs reveal for the musical (which will only be our second year of doing so.. but I intend to make it a tradition)
- Having a watch party as a reunion later in the school year


------------------------------
Hannah Agee
Emmanuel Christian Academy
------------------------------

Ooo, I love the keepsakes. Such a good way to build identity and belonging.

Our musicals chairs reveal takes place on the first day of our summer theatre camp. We use camp for skill building and to gain momentum for our performing season. On the first day of camp, we have chairs set up for a game of musical chairs with a musical logo taped to each chair. As we pull out a chair each round, the musical on said chair is not the show choice for this season. The students have a great time lamenting or rejoicing at the musicals removed but still remain eager because they know they'll know the show in the next few minutes. When we get down to the final three or four chairs, I remove the logos and display them for everyone to see. The students then compete to see who gets to read out the announcement for the show. 

Would highly recommend. I felt like all the students remained engaged the whole reveal.

------------------------------
Hannah Agee
Emmanuel Christian Academy
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-26-2022 11:42
From: Amy Cole-Farrell
Subject: Favorite Theatre Tradition?

Hi Hannah,

Can you tell us more about your musical chairs reveal tradition? Sounds fun!

Some of our traditions (this was my first year so they were definitely manufactured as there were none when I got there!):
-Secret Encourager program for each productions (like secret santa, starts a couple of weeks from tech)
-Pins for each show, given to the kiddos during a casual lunch between shows on Sunday.
-A page printed on cardstock withe show logo and the participants name that everyone in the cast signs/writes a message on, also given at the show lunch.
-I give show participants a framed production picture with everyone (taken at opening) at the closing show. I use my Cricut and customize the frames per show + the date.

------------------------------
Amy Cole-Farrell
Kehillah Jewish High School
CA

Original Message:
Sent: 06-25-2022 12:48
From: Hannah Agee
Subject: Favorite Theatre Tradition?

Traditions cannot be manufactured, of that I'm certainly aware. But they start somewhere. 
Going into my fourth year of directing a theatre program, I still find myself regularly saying "well that's how we did it in the theatre I grew up in" with both fondness and stubbornness. 
And now it hast me wondering, what your favorite theatre tradition where you teach or perform?

Right now mine are probably:
- Doing a musical chairs reveal for the musical (which will only be our second year of doing so.. but I intend to make it a tradition)
- Having a watch party as a reunion later in the school year


------------------------------
Hannah Agee
Emmanuel Christian Academy
------------------------------

Here are a few of my favorites from over the years:

Gypsy Robe - modeled after the Broadway tradition.  It is a robe.  The current student who possess the robe, passes it on to another actor that they felt exemplified the spirit of the production through hard-work, dedication and spirit.  The actor sews on something to the robe that represents the production and at the next production passes it on.  I chose the first recipient, but had no say-so after that.  The only rule was that it couldn't go to a senior if it was their last production, so it could keep going.

Techie Cape - So I noticed that the Gypsy Robe wasn't ever being passed to techs, so I created a Techie Cape.  It looks like a superhero cape because I think they are truly the superheroes of any production.  Same tradition as above, but it goes from Techie to Techie. 

Journals - Each year at the awards banquet I would give a personalized journal to my graduating Seniors.  I wanted to remind them that graduation was not the end of their story, but the beginning of a new journey, so I wanted to give them a blank journal for them to fill with stories of new adventures.  I would personalize each journal with a quote and a short note for that specific person.

Mentors - After the start of a new school year, at the 2nd or 3rd drama club meeting, Seniors would be paired with Freshmen through a random drawing.  The Seniors would then be the mentor for their Freshman throughout the year.  



------------------------------
Jeana Whitaker
Retired Theatre Teacher
EdTA Alumni
www.jeanawhitaker.com
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-25-2022 12:48
From: Hannah Agee
Subject: Favorite Theatre Tradition?

Traditions cannot be manufactured, of that I'm certainly aware. But they start somewhere. 
Going into my fourth year of directing a theatre program, I still find myself regularly saying "well that's how we did it in the theatre I grew up in" with both fondness and stubbornness. 
And now it hast me wondering, what your favorite theatre tradition where you teach or perform?

Right now mine are probably:
- Doing a musical chairs reveal for the musical (which will only be our second year of doing so.. but I intend to make it a tradition)
- Having a watch party as a reunion later in the school year


------------------------------
Hannah Agee
Emmanuel Christian Academy
------------------------------