Why Do You Tell the Story?

Being part of a pilot production of Mary Poppins, JR. meant figuring things out without the benefit of watching YouTube videos to see how other directors had solved the problem. The two biggest in this show were how to create Mary's "magical" bag and making her fly. My production director, Randi, cut a hole in the bottom of a travel bag, and my husband helped build a "trick dresser" with an open back and a hole on top with a little door that opened and closed from below. When Mary placed her bag on the dresser, a cast member sitting underneath the dresser opened the trap door and passed the items through the hole and up through the bag - magic! In terms of making her fly, we kept it simple and utilized the raked stairs in the house and had her simply walk up the stairs while we added some dramatic lighting.    The most useful wisdom I live by as a director is, “Keep organized.” I live by my to do lists, and that keeps each production on track. I also try to remain open to ideas - whether they are contributed by the team or by the cast. There are so many times when my cast members suggest things I hadn't thought of - and that collaboration keeps things interesting, fresh, and fun.  

I fell in love with theatre at a young age when my dad took me to see "Lend Me A Tenor" at the Papermill Playhouse. I never had so much fun in my life. I love how musicals bring all artistic pursuits together into one final collaborative product the kids will remember forever. Advice that has helped me as a director is “take everything one step at a time. And everywhere you are is where you are supposed to be.”

I don’t have a specific MTI title to recommend for a new director as every junior title I have directed has been a hit. (Fame JR., Legally Blonde JR., Xanadu JR.) I love that the backing tracks are high quality and the student scripts are durable enough to last through all the rehearsals. The show-kit really is a musical in a box. I feel like a little kid on Christmas when the box arrives! I flipped the cafetorium to accommodate the Xanadu "roller disco" feel so a majority of the play was acted in the house. The audience was in the round set up in quadrants and the bulk of the performance took place in the center of the house while the skaters traveled around the audience. Only 3 scenes utilized the proscenium; the Andrews sisters half of "Dancin’", Danny's office, and Mt. Olympus. My students learned how to act in the round and I was able to accommodate a large company of 76 students. Plus we sold finger lights as a fundraiser to the crowd so the audience was in the show!

I've always been on the fringes of theater, performing on stage as a kid, then again as a young adult, but always getting pulled away. The previous art teacher at our school, Melia Scranton, was a huge inspiration. I worked on plays as her AD for several years, and she provided me with the training and confidence to direct one myself.  The most useful tool or wisdom that helps me as a director/producer is knowing that yes, the kids will do it and come through. It gives me the confidence to know it will come out looking great. A piece of advice I would give a new director is “just because you think the kids might know the story doesn't mean it will be easier!”

One way we made staging The Lion King JR. was coming up with a solution of using generic tunics and then only slightly dressing them up to give the essence of the animals, rather ,then spend time working to make the costumes very elaborate

I began theater when I was four years old. I was an Oyster and the Jack of Clubs in Alice in Wonderland (my one line was "We're playing hearts!" with a card friend!) I have continued passing on my love for theater to others since! I wrote and produced original musicals between 2002 and 2008. Poison Apple featured our first licensed MTI musical in 2008 - Jungle Book KIDS. 

I find the most useful tool or wisdom that helps me as a director/producer is writing everything down (choreography, blocking, props needed etc) in rehearsal reports, and building proper communication with cast and crew. Also, having a "getting the rooms attention" tool (if you hear my voice clap once, quiet coyote etc." works really well.  I would recommend A Year With Frog and Toad KIDS as a good first MTI musical for a new director. There is great music, simple set and costumes, and a GREAT message of friendship! A piece of advice - figure out your connection to the piece you are working on, and be sure you share that positive love with your cast. Being inspired together breeds positive creative juices that are sure to get everyone working together towards the common goal of performance!

I have loved the theater my whole life. I was involved in musicals growing up and attend a lot of local productions of music theater. I fell into the job of directing my first musical. I was hired at this school that had already set the tradition of presenting musicals. The wisdom I rely on most with my production is “be creative with your presentation.” Don't be limited by what you see from other organizations that put on the same show. Craft the musical to fit you and your students. Some of my favorite productions that we've done have been The Little Mermaid JR. and The Lion King JR. I would advise anyone doing these to start earlier than you think you need to in order to get those costumes done!

My name is Katie Murray. I'm the director of the Little Tigers Theatre organization.

Our production of Schoolhouse Rock Live! JR. is being directed and musically directed by two elementary teachers. It's honestly been our own little Cinderella story of sorts. I brought this idea to our school leadership team, and our staff gave us their full support. Our students actually raised the funds to produce this show! We are excited to show the students of West Chapmanville Grade what their hard earned money went to. Our students, cast members or not, will hopefully feel pride in what our school came together to create. We are grateful to MTI for offering show kits that make it possible for organizations with small budgets to produce high quality shows.

 I have been around theatre for about ten years. Surprisingly, I've never taken the stage myself. My older sister and I were always attached at the hip. She fell in love with theatre, and I followed along. The stage was never my home, like it was hers. I found a home backstage. In support of her theatrical endeavors, I became the best quick change assistant, props mistress, stage manager, set crew member, etc. You name it in the technical world of theatre-I've done it. So, I guess you could say that I eventually fell in love with theatre, but I think I fell in love with how much my sister enjoyed doing it first.

I actually have two reasons for deciding to direct this show. My sister, as I mentioned in the first question, was my best friend and extremely passionate about theatre. She passed away close to two years ago. Being involved in local theatre productions has helped me to feel close to her, and I know that if she had this opportunity, she would've definitely thought of this idea first. I also wanted to introduce theatre to our young students. The majority of our cast members have never done anything like this. I can honestly say that a lot of them have found their home on the stage. They have fallen in love with theatre and are proud to see their hard work coming to life. It's taught our cast members, ages 3-10, that theatre requires discipline and commitment. Theatre inspires people. That's what we wanted to do with this production.

During this process, I've reached out to so many people that I've worked for in the past as a stage crew member. I've always looked up to the directors, musical directors, technical directors, and props masters that I've worked for. I've learned anything that I know from them. This show has definitely been a team effort. I'm forever grateful to those that have given me advice or support.

I grew up acting in small plays and musicals in church and participating in monologue competitions and then performed in a couple of productions in high school. Then in college I began to enjoy the experience of working back stage on the set, I’ll never forget how good it felt to build my first small flight of stairs!  After college I moved to Murfreesboro and was hired to build the sets for the local theatre program, after one production I was already stepping into the producer role and began directing and producing small shows. After about a year my predecessor retired and I took over what is now Perform Murfreesboro!  After rebranding and beginning to focus on bigger shows from companies like MTI, we started to sell out shows in our 300+ seat theatre for the first time since it was built! Even better than building that flight of stairs was the feeling of telling the cast of Annie JR. that they had sold out the theatre for all three performances for the first time in the history of our theatre program.  We are now entering our 29th season and I can’t want to see what we do next with the leadership of my new Assistant Coordinator, Susan Hicks. Susan is restructuring parts of our program to include a ton more classes and theatre education initiatives and is taking us to a new level of engagement in our community!  I would say that the most useful tool that helps me as a director/producer is to make expectations clear from the beginning to the production team. I always start my first production meeting saying that when a problem arises I need the team to make me their partner to fix the issue, not their adversary to fight about the issue.  When a production team is truly that- a team- so much more can get done. I also think it’s wise to lay out the chain of command really well in the beginning so it’s clear who needs to answer which questions and no one accidently makes choices that aren’t their responsibility.  My biggest piece of advice for first time directors is to not put off fixing problems until the end. As a producer, I’ve seen so many directors say “oh we’ll fix that later” and then by the time they try to come back to it the problem has become a habit for the actors, especially youth actors. Even though it’s hard to divert from what you are doing- take a few minutes to fix the blocking or the acting choice that isn’t fitting and you will thank yourself later!

Detour Company Theatre provides authentic theatre experiences for adults with developmental and other disabilities such as down syndrome, cerebral palsy, deafness, blindness, autism, and other physical challenges etc. In doing this, we provide opportunities to take the message of possibility, accessibility and inclusion to the audiences who come to see our shows, as well as to schools, to festivals and senior communities. 

Seussical, Jr. spoke so eloquently to who we are as a theatre company and all we strive to stand for that we actually produced it twice, once in our home theatre  January, 2009,    and then again in a short outreach tour the following summer.  We even named the van that transports our actors, “Horton.”  Horton’s belief that “ a person’s a person, no matter . . . “ truly describes our whole approach to theatre.  “A person IS a person  - no matter!”  We love this philosophy so much that we actually asked our audience to sing along each time we repeated this refrain.   

Costuming this show was the most fun.  We had grand tails and/or feathers for the whole jungle of Nool.  Everyone had great socks and our bird girls were gorgeous.  This show fit our tradition of working with a set full of blocks (another reason why this show was so wonderful to pack up and take to audiences who could not get to our performance space but who thoroughly enjoy the wonder of a stage full of familiar story book characters. 

“I was so happy to be a part of this show,” said actor Andrea May.  “The first time we did the story I was a bird girl – the second time I was Maize.  I loved singing and leaving Horton with my egg.  I had lots of fun.”   

Seussical Jr. is one of those sure fire shows.  The characters, the music, the story all contain so much joy that the happiness is infectious cheers can’t be stopped..   

When I was a sophomore in high school, I performed in my first show and fell in love with theatre. I couldn’t believe that it had taken me so long to overcome my fear of being onstage, and I thought about how I would’ve been a different person, really, had I been given the opportunity to participate in theatre at a younger age. The following school year, with my mom’s help, we started a drama club at my old elementary school, St. Francis Xavier School in the Bronx, NY. This was the first time in nearly a decade that they had a theatre program. In May 2014, we put on our first show, Annie Jr., where I served as Assistant Director. For our 2015 production, Seussical Jr., I got to officially take on the role as director, and it allowed me to find a vision for our production, and work more closely to the kids. It was my opportunity to help kids struggling to come out of their shells, to actually understand their characters rather than just reading what’s in the script, and I think I found success and got a lot of kids to view theatre as more than just an afterschool activity. They became invested in their work and connected with their peers and found out new things about themselves during the process. The show was a huge success, and I found myself more proud of each of the kids’ accomplishments than my own, which is all I could ever hope for.

Even the kids who were initially indifferent to the show choice or fearful of being onstage found themselves when they when that curtain opened, and that’s one of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever gotten to see. I hope that every audience member can see the excitement, the pride, and the joy in each child’s face onstage when they come to see one of our shows because it’s not just about entertaining the audience or acting onstage - it’s about building a connected between everyone in the gym when the music begins playing.

Now, I am a sophomore in college and I’m majoring in theatre. I’ve founded and run my own theatre company, and I still direct for the Xavier Players. Never would I have guessed that wanting to bring a new experience to 3rd-8th graders would create a strong new niche in the school community and impact so many futures, mine included. If it wasn’t for Broadway Junior, I never would have started striving towards my goals and pushing new generations to reach for theirs.

I documented my experiences directing Seussical Jr., so that everyone can see how much growth occurs throughout the year and inspire others to bring the same experience to other kids.

Pantochino Productions is Connecticut’s ‘Ridiculously Entertaining” theatre company for family audiences, now in our sixth season! Our amazing Teen Theatre company, thirty young actors 12 to 17 years old, learned this show, Into The Woods JR., in just seven immersive days! We were thrilled with their commitment, desire to learn and spot-on performances. We are very proud of this production!

The Woodland Opera House strives to encourage students in their love for theatre and provide them with opportunities to grow as a performer. Working on Seussical JR was a magical experience as the characters are so vibrant and full of energy. From the oldest most experienced cast members, to the youngest who were performing for the first time, I could really see each character come to life.  Most importantly, it was clear that the students were proud of their production and ecstatic to share it with the audience. As a director, that is one of the greatest joys.

Bennett Morgan and Savannah Reese perform in Annie JR at the Whole Backstage Children’s Theatre.