Thursday, July 12, 2012

Holy tired, Batman!


(Dr. Lori Major Carlin is the Theatre Arts teacher at Northwood High School. She has been teaching in Chatham County for 15 years. With the assistance of professional development grants from the Chatham Education Foundation and the Northwood Arts Education Foundation, Lori is attending the Broadway Teacher’s Workshop in NYC.)


Broadway Teacher’s Workshop got off to a bang this morning! We are in several of the rehearsal rooms of the Foxwood’s Theatre, home to Spiderman: Turn off the Dark. Rehearsal rooms with folding chairs, amazing sound (and floors), and TODAY (in July, in NYC, with over 100 people in the room) without air conditioning. Needless to say……we got to know each other pretty well. There are people here from Pakistan, Spain, Bermuda, and a very nice lady from up the street in Hillsborough, NC. Also, randomly, my doppelganger teaches high school theatre in South Korea. Freaky, I tell you.

The co-directors of the program introduced themselves today and it turns out they met and became friends in high school. Both remained in the industry and after achieving some success, decided to give back to those who provided them with their early success and education. Ahem.

We began the workshop portions by dividing into grade level groups to discuss show recommendations (I have some good ones, pigeons!), production challenges & potential solutions, casting issues, software & applications for stagecraft and rehearsal. I was surprised by the lack of discussion regarding curriculum but that came later. Our first presenters were David Loud (Musical Director for Porgy and Bess, and a million other things), Heidi Blickenstaff (Duke grad, amazing performer), and James Clow (Broadway & tv credits). The session was Kander & Ebb – Extreme Song Interpretation. Just phenomenal!

After lunch, we had a session with Broadway legend Charles Strouse. He told stories – some of which I may be able to share with students, others not so much. He discussed his writing and his approach and the series of theatre miracles that led to his tremendous success with shows like Bye, Bye, Birdie and Annie. The man is 84 years old and still writing new material every day.

My final session was Advanced Directing with Sheryl Kaller. She was recently nominated for a Tony Award for Next Fall (one of only 20 women nominated for directing - ever – wow). She was incredibly dynamic and I can say that the workshop that I thought would change my directing will have a much greater impact on the work done in my classroom. This session made me feel both completely humbled and tremendously proud of the work that we are able to accomplish in our little corner of the world.

This evening, we will be going uptown to the Lincoln Center to see War Horse. Though I have studiously avoided seeing the show until now – I anticipate that my eyes will be swollen shut by the time I return to my hotel. For now, I am exhausted and have blisters on my blisters but I am so blessed in my work and in this life! See you tomorrow!