(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!
