Welcome to PLAYBILLDER Spotlight, where Playbill highlights shows from educational institutions or regional theatres and special events around the country (who have used Playbill's program-building service). By welcoming these PLAYBILLDERs center stage, we hope to give our readers a more in-depth look at theatre programs that are fostering the love of the performing arts in the next generation and the way theatre lovers are bringing Playbill along for life's big moments.
How to Broadway-size Your Next Party or Event with PLAYBILLDER
This week's Spotlight is Martin Meylin Middle School of Lampeter, Pennsylvania, and their production of Rock of Ages: Youth Edition. Set in 1987 on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip, Rock of Ages follows young rock star hopefuls Drew and Sherrie. As plans for a strip mall threaten the legendary "temple of rock 'n' roll," the Dupree Room, legendary musician Stacee Jaxx comes to L.A. to try and save the day. Drew and Sherrie are forced to make difficult choices about fame, love, and longevity in seeking stardom.
Language Arts teacher Memory D'Agostino shared with Playbill why studying the performing arts is integral to developing critical thinking skills, how she collaborates with her students as they develop their characters, and what are the most difficult aspects of working with a cast size of 60 students.
Tell us a little about yourself. How many years have you been teaching?
Memory D'Agostino: I have been teaching full time since fall of 2007, but had served as a substitute teacher (both day-to-day and long-term) in the five years preceding. I was asked to serve as music director for our middle school production of Annie, JR in the spring of 2008. Two more shows, Snoopy and Mulan, JR, followed over the next two years. I was named director the next year, following the retirement of the previous director, and have directed 14 shows.
Can you share a little bit about the value you see in having a performing arts program in schools?
Performing arts programs in schools, particularly at the middle school level, have tremendous value to students in that they are able impart the four C's of 21st century learning: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Students learn communication skills as they work on their lines, interact with each other and the adults working with them, and practice projecting and emoting to be sure they are heard and felt. Collaboration in the world of middle school theatre is obvious. Student cast members work together to create something so much larger than themselves. While it may not be as obvious, critical thinking is found within the performing arts.
As the director of our productions, I have a vision for the shows, but I love seeing what our student actors bring to the stage. They make acting choices to bring their characters to life through thought, practice, and reflection, taking into account the ideas of the directing staff as well as their own. As with collaboration, creativity is another obvious aspect of the performing arts. I love when students bring their own ideas to developing their characters! From choices on how to deliver their lines to creating ideas for costumes, students have so much to contribute. Theatre certainly gives students the opportunity to be creative.
What are the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of teaching the performing arts to today’s students?
Teaching the performing arts to today’s students has its challenges, but I find it extremely rewarding. One challenge is that practicing (lines, music, choreography) outside of rehearsal time does not always seem to be a priority for many, though certainly not all, students. This can make for some stressful rehearsals as we get closer to our performances. Finding ways to keep casts of over 60 students engaged, while needing to work on scenes with only a few characters, can also be a challenge, but it’s a good problem to have since we have so many students who want to be part of our shows.
While we have a few challenges, I can honestly say that working with today’s students is so very rewarding. Watching our cast members grow from the first rehearsal to our closing night performance is the very best part of the experience. Seeing them bring characters to life through thought, practice, and reflection elicits such joy. Another positive aspect is witnessing each cast become a family in every sense of the word. They may have shared differences of opinion with each other, but they have also supported each other and helped each other to grow. In addition, being able to watch former students go on to perform on our high school stage, in community theatre, and even as professional actors is a proud moment.
Tell us a little bit about the production. What made you pick the show? And how do you choose shows for your students?
Since we have cast sizes of more than 60, I look for musicals that have the opportunity for a large number of speaking roles and multiple ensemble groups. This ensures that all students will have many chances to be on stage and get as much out of the experience as possible.
Last year, we performed Anastasia: Youth Edition. With that content being a bit more serious, it was time to do something lighter. I was in high school and college in the '80s and absolutely love that music. I checked out Rock of Ages: Youth Edition and realized this would be a great show for our students. It had a large number of roles, the opportunity for many ensemble groups, and had fun music. Another aspect of this show that I loved was that students would be able to easily find costume pieces in local thrift stores, so it wouldn’t be expensive to get their costumes together. Not having a costume designer, since we are a middle school with a very limited budget, means we need to choose shows that are easier to costume.
What are the kids loving about the show?
Students enjoyed learning about the '80s through both the music, dance, and fashion. Homework for them involved listening to the original versions of the songs in the show since many of them had not heard the majority of the music prior to being cast. Finding '80s dance moves to incorporate into their characters was a lot of fun, as was showing some of the fashion of the time period to them as they thought about costume pieces. One thing that was actually really funny to me and my assistant director was watching our students act with a corded, wall-mounted telephone. They had never seen one and began using it with the receiver held about six inches away from their ears!
What message do you have for your students as they take the stage?
I am so proud of you and all you have accomplished. Give the audience the show we’ve practiced. Have fun! Leave everything on that stage! If you aren’t exhausted when the show is over, you probably have held something back. When I ask students how they feel after the performance, they always say they are so tired and exhilarated.
How has PLAYBILLDER impacted your performing arts program as a resource?
PLAYBILLDER has allowed our program to go from being a double-sided sheet of printer paper folded in half to include scenes and songs, full cast, crew, and creative staff listings, director notes, acknowledgements, and lots of pictures. It saves me so much time and energy. I don’t have to worry about formatting. I have been able to have our show scenes and songs populated for me since our shows were in the PLAYBILLDER library. I love creating our PLAYBILLDER each of our shows.
To design Broadway-quality programs for your next show, head to PLAYBILLDER.com. Who knows, you might just be featured in our next PLAYBILLDER Spotlight! And if you are looking for a beautiful way to display your Playbills, click here to purchase Playbill frames.
