Theater is an amazing art that carries over into real life. Children (and adults) develop and increase in skills such as reading, team work, confidence, creativity, speech, cooperation and more. It enhances a child's (and adult's) learning capacity. Theater skills are used in the big people world: job interviews, team work and cooperation to solve a problem, presenting ideas to a group, giving speeches. So here's an activity to do with your child. If you don't have one then find one so you can practice without embarrassment because it's good for adults too.
Theater Activity #1: Projection
Projection is speaking loud enough to be heard in the back of the room by someone who is hard of hearing, even if a fan comes on. But it's not screaming. You're not speaking just to the quiet person in the front. Stand across the living room from your child. The child says, "Hi, my name is _____. My favorite color is ____________." If the child is not easy to hear, say, "Project" and the child tries again, being louder this time. Try this again as you step further from the child (such as into the hallway). Use different sentences: My favorite food is... My favorite animal is... etc.
Now take it outdoors and try again. More projection is needed outdoors where there are no walls to hold in the sound. Projection can be practiced with things such as spelling words, math facts, or historical events.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
FAQ #3 Are you really a princess?
Usually asked when we're performing Princess on a Pea, the answer is (non-technically speaking) YES!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The Show Must Go On...two thoughts
Aa! A year or so ago we performed a murder mystery in an art gallery. During the show, I bumped against a glass display shelf and it started to go down. Mind you, this is in an art gallery and there's ART on this display shelf. I caught the shelf but not the clay creation on top which fell onto the clay creation on the floor. We bought those clay creations. Last night we did the same show in a living room. This time it was my husband and acting partner who performed the boo-boo: he brushed against someone's wine glass. Red wine on a white carpet. Dang it. We profusely apologized AFTER the shows (and offered to pay for damages), because the shows had to go on & did.
"The Show Must Go On" is not necessarily true in business. This was a discussion at a business class I was helping to teach and the subject was the ideal customer. There are those people who are the opposite of your ideal customer. What they want makes you look bad. For us it was a singing telegram for a 2-year-old. In trying to accommodate the customer, we came off stinking...and we happen to be good at what we do. Another customer hired us to perform on the bottom deck of a boat. The walled staircase came right through the center of the area--we could only perform to 1/2 the audience at a time...again, we looked BAD! If you're in business, remember that the customer may "always be right" but not right for you and your business; the show shouldn't go on for a bad match.
Tip: Apparently, if you pour white wine onto the spilled red wine and top it with salt, the red wine doesn't cause a stain. Or you can use club soda and baking soda. We don't drink but I wonder if that would work for something like cranberry juice.
"The Show Must Go On" is not necessarily true in business. This was a discussion at a business class I was helping to teach and the subject was the ideal customer. There are those people who are the opposite of your ideal customer. What they want makes you look bad. For us it was a singing telegram for a 2-year-old. In trying to accommodate the customer, we came off stinking...and we happen to be good at what we do. Another customer hired us to perform on the bottom deck of a boat. The walled staircase came right through the center of the area--we could only perform to 1/2 the audience at a time...again, we looked BAD! If you're in business, remember that the customer may "always be right" but not right for you and your business; the show shouldn't go on for a bad match.
Tip: Apparently, if you pour white wine onto the spilled red wine and top it with salt, the red wine doesn't cause a stain. Or you can use club soda and baking soda. We don't drink but I wonder if that would work for something like cranberry juice.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
FAQ #2 Can you do the box?
And how! I can do it fast, slow, and medium speed. I can make it tump over. I can make it surround me or surround an audience. I can shrink it, escape from it, or remain trapped forever. I can have a box with a top or open at the top. I can make a gift box and pull something 
neat out of it and I can build one the size of a small house. I can teach it to 20 people and have them create a box that surrounds just them. Boxes, real or mimed, are just food for the imagination.
neat out of it and I can build one the size of a small house. I can teach it to 20 people and have them create a box that surrounds just them. Boxes, real or mimed, are just food for the imagination.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
FAQ #1: Do you get nervous before a performance?
Always. Right before and right after, but never during (as long as I've rehearsed enough).
Performer's Tip for the Day: Keep your brain engaged after a performance
After a performance, I tend to be exhausted and relieved. Sometimes my brain goes out-of-gear. Don't do it. Don't fall into that trap. Recently, I finished a singing telegram (one wouldn't think that a 5-min singing tele would be an exhausting thing but it is)--last one for the day--and I jumped in my car to head home. I must have disengaged my brain because I started going the wrong way on a one way street, and I ran a red light turning left. Kudos to the drivers of McMinnville for avoiding my brainless self. It must have been my evil twin, taking over my body.
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