Entry 23: "Be Prepared!" (from the Lion King)

This year is flying by, and as the day of the performance approaches I become more and more nervous about it all. I think that two of my classes are in good shape, but I am not sure they are ready to perform quite yet. Two of my classes already have all their lines memorized, and they are SO cute, but it's hard to hold their attention for a long period of time...and the concept of "staying in character" is a foreign concept to them. I explain to them how when on stage, they are an animal the whole time, and cannot change in the middle of the performance. I review the concept with them, and they understand it, but it is still difficult for them to put it into practice. However, this is a battle with young (or old) actors everyhwere. For some reason it is so difficult to process! Sometimes my classes forget about the acting portion and jump to set design, costumes, and start talking about having a curtain, and each day I have to remind them that in order to build a house, you have to have a floor (foundation) first! I think that really helped them understand what we have to focus on, but it's stil hard putting it into practice. A conflict has risen up in my scheduling though for my Friday class. Last Friday I missed my Friday class (which happens to be the biggest, and least prepared) because of a school program and this week I am most likely going to miss my lesson because of basket-ball. I am going to email Mrs. Putnam and ask her if I can change the lesson to the morning, but I do not know if I will be able to. The alternative is scheduling extra practices on Wednesday...but we will see what the Lord has in store!
I met with Mr. Tinkler this week and he is on board with everything I m doing, and even has extra cardboard I can use for sets, and I'm very excited about starting the sets! We will see what will happen in the future...and I hope that all will work out in the end!