Accommodation
The context is a small catholic school in a middle-class suburban area. The K-8 school has a total of approximately 100 students, with only 6 in some grades. With such a setting a dramatic educator must face a myriad of decisions with regard to accommodation.
Choice of RepertoireLooking at past years (listed in the program: Annie, Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz), the choices have always been child-oriented, yet one can not avoid that most dramatic productions are centered around adult issues. Therefore young actors far removed from adult understandings are called to examine, explore and represent adult concepts. In Peter Pan children play both children and adults. Roles like Mr. & Mrs. Darling call for the student's development as a citizen. Mrs. Darling and Wendy require the student to examine what it means to be a mother. It also calls to question, how as children we value our mothers. Mr. Darling - really a two-dimensional character - call the student to see how sometimes adults act like children. Consequentially, a student may consider what causes an adult to act like children. Additionally the exploration of the over-arching theme of "never growing up" compels actor and audience alike to weigh the joys and the fragile vulnerability of childhood. As a director/educator one must not only consider how to convey the message to the audience, but also how to teach the actor to convey it to the audience.
Repertoire alterations When viewing "Junior" productions as an audience member, I expect more concert style production. But it seems that the alterations that were made were more directly related to talent available (not as many extended dance scenes) and music/text needed to move the story. This particular production presented Peter Pan close to its original form. Musical numbers such as "Wendy" and "Ugg-A-Wugg" were cut down by a verse or two, but iconic numbers such as "I Won't Grow Up" and "You Can Fly" were kept in their entirety and honored with full cast participation where applicable. When considering the choice of work for a targeted audience, one must consider whether it is possible to present the work, with needed alterations while maintaining the integrity of the show.
DiversityAs with any school, this director had a very diverse pool from which to draw talent and resources. Of course, being biased to my own actor I felt that particular choice sound, but as I watched the show I found myself considering the rationale.
Casting
In Peter Pan there are a many combinations in strengths to choose from. When interacting with theater folks, I always hear the term "Triple Threat." As in, they can sing, they can dance, they can act. That has never been so real to me than it was while watching this show. The title role must be able to sing, dance and act. On stage for approximately 50% of the time, Peter Pan has to be able to handle her (his) own in almost every way. Tiger Lily is a dancing character. Her first appearance in "Indians" is a demonstration in dancing agility. When she opens her mouth to sing we don't hear much musically, but really we don't need musicality for the show to be successful. Wendy is an acting character. She has to sing sometimes, but most of the time the role calls for her to be jealous, nurturing or generally naïve. Captain Hook has to be a comedic character with singing and acting skills. This particular production's Hook lacked much in the way of singing and acting. Gaps in the story were present because of his unclear diction and poor intonation. Generally though, seeing the effect of these students in their respective roles helped me to understand how the composition of a cast can be broken down.
A role & a job for everyone In an inclusive setting there may be at the least, an implicit pressure to find a way to engage all students in this production. Seeing a diverse age population on stage, I felt admiration for the director. Without knowing the kinds of resources he had access to when putting sets and technical aspects together, I felt that he brought a reasonably professional eye to the production. By reasonably professional, I mean that the students wore mics and lighting design was evident. The sets were well developed. I could imagine that he was able to incorporate student work to produce the sets. In an ideal world, any production should have a place for all students regardless of talent or performing desire.
Logistics and Planning/Community Engagement
Parent VolunteersRelated to inclusive educational environment, how the parent community is engaged and utilized is of paramount importance. No musical theater production can go off successfully without parent help. They can be your best friend or worst enemy. In either case, they are typically arranging for refreshments to be sold for fundraising, costumes, back stage chaperoning, printing programs, folding programs, printing tickets, selling tickets or a multitude of other odd jobs. Cultivation of positive relationships and expeditious diffusion the inevitable conflict becomes a skill often overlooked by some of the best educational directors. Without this strong community, directors will be burned out quickly and with it, the potential for a healthy and flourishing program promises. Beyond that, the threat of cutting music or theater from the schools offerings becomes weak.
Concluding Thoughts
Of course, the Peter Pan I came to see was amazing and stole the show. But I was grateful to him and his family for allowing me this unanticipated opportunity to consider the production of musical theater in a school environment.
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