View "Mrs. Dunn's Lovely Garden" below complete with the video before that talks about life in the tenements. Enjoy.
NEW!!! PHOTOS from play
Why the Plays?
***G.T. kids are continually extending their academic skills in the classroom; this will pick up even more in high school in Advanced Placement classes. Today's world requires oral communication skills. Regardless of the profession students enter, they will be speaking in front of others. The fear of public speaking remains the number one fear in our country. The very best way to insure our children do NOT have this fear is through public performances such as plays. Children develop confidence in their ability to speak before an audience when they are well prepared and feel that what they are involved in has real merit. Kids know the difference. This confidence is something they internalize and take with them throughout school and on into their professional careers. Besides, involvement in a theater experience is fun, involves parents, and creates long lasting memories!
Mrs. Dunn Parent Committee Heads - Click below
| dunn_committees.docx |
IMPORTANT!!! 2ND & 3RD WILL BE SINGING for "THE STORY OF ANNIE MOORE" --they will need to be there in their immigrant costumes. Kids who are NOT immigrants (veggies, chickens) can join in, but need to have some type of immigrant costume to do so.
PLAY DATES: ***The G.T. Kids will be doing 3 plays, all related to immigration and Ellis Island in the late 1800's & early 1900's. The plays are too long to do on the same night. Dates for Mrs. Dunn actors:
Clean up Day on Stage: March 6th (9:00 AM). We need to clear everything off, work on dressing rooms, get everything stripped down. THIS IS A JOB, BUT GOES FASTER THE MORE PEOPLE THERE ARE!
Set up Stage: April 28th --big stage things like furniture need to be there before so kids can practice with them
Dress Rehearsal: May 1st (a Thursday) after lunch until we are finished (will probably run after school)
Performances: May 4th (Sunday matinee) at 2:00
May 5th at 1:30 for elementary school
May 5th at 6:30 pm (public performance)
PLEASE STAY AND HELP ME STRIP THE STAGE AND DRESSING ROOM IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE PLAY! WITH SUCH A TIGHT SCHEDULE WE WILL BE SETTING UP FOR THE NEXT PLAY THE NEXT DAY! WE REALLY NEED HELP FOR THIS!!!!
MAY 16TH - FINAL CLEAN UP OF STAGE PRIOR TO CAST PARTY
NEED ANOTHER SCRIPT? CLICK HERE.
NEED PARENTS FOR FOLLOWING:
A. In charge of getting props --(need them just before spring break)
1. small wooden box full of pennies (not too many!)
2. some of those super big, plastic Easter eggs you see at Walmart that people put around their shrubs. (Any color --need about 6)
3. old pink shirt and old blue shirt
4. a few hand held gardening tools (nothing too sharp) and 2 watering cans
5. Lamp shade that will sit on child's head easily without falling off
6. One of the flat dollies on wheels in bus shop with a rope hooked to end (so a child can sit on it and be pulled by another child)
7. Ziploc with some white feathers in it
B. 1. Stage Decoration (set for the apartment should look similar to the rooms in the video for Mrs. Dunn's Lovely, Lovely Farm under "Elementary" and then "Coming to America"). Use stuff, no need to paint a backdrop or anything like that. Get your ideas from those photographs that show the inside of the tenements. It needs to look lived in. Can store things in unused saferoom until time to set up. (We have to have clothesline of clothes...)
2. Fire Escape on stairs going up to stage (stairs on the RIGHT as you look at the stage). Needs look of fire escape, but also serves to keep veggies from falling off.
BACK OF STAGE --a series of clothesline (3) with random clothes hanging on them, going from high, medium, and low on curtain
TICKET SALES --we want to try selling tickets ahead of time so that people have the option of paying a cheaper price for all 3 plays (The Story of Annie Moore, Mrs. Dunn's Lovely, Lovely Farm, and The Hundred Dresses). For instance, the price for one play is $5 OR they can purchase a pass for all three plays for $10. I need a parent to help organize this!
HOW CAN I BEST HELP MY CHILD LEARN HIS/HER PART?
BY THE WAY... MEMORIZATION IS SOMETHING KIDS DON'T DO A LOT OF IN SCHOOL ANYMORE. IN THE OLDEN DAYS (when I was in school), there was a lot of that. Memorization is like most things, kids get quicker and retain what they memorize longer as they practice. You will find that working on memorizing lines will transfer to your child's ability to study and remember information for a test! A GREAT PERK FOR DOING A PLAY!!!
1. Start small. Work in small chunks. Once they have their first down, begin work on the second line. Then go back and work on line one and two BEFORE you move on to line three. Continue to go back so they don't lose what they have already learned.
2. Say the line just in front of their's each time so they know WHEN to say their line.
3. Help them think of funny ways to remember words that trip them up.
4. Encourage your child to speak in phrases instead of sentences. Most kids talk to fast and are hard to understand. I have them break their sentences up (after they learn them) --immediately they are easier to understand.
COSTUMES
Mrs. Dunn
Mr. Dunn --needs beard to make him look older (no trunk). Hit Abilities Unlimited! Needs hat
Judith & Rachel - black tights, and lace up boots of some type. Lots of layer that are mismatched.
Benjamin
Mrs. Kandel
Mr. DeMarco & Mr. Warfield (need hat) --need moustache
Mrs. Callahan - long dress, rolling pin, white hair, round glasses, lots of layers
Mrs. Grotowski - lots of beads, head scarf tied backward, long skirt, wide belt, vest, lots of layers
Amelia Hen, Agatha Hen, and Dumpling - use feather stitch in place on leotard (my daughter made this outfit when Sloane was two. It is super cute. The red comb is stuffed felt. She found the white knit hat with the tie at hanna andersson. Yellow tights and feet.
Dumpling needs to be in YELLOW feather since she is a chick. She needs orange legs and feet. She should wear an over-sized baby bonnet with the big ruffle around her face and yellow feather peeking out. No comb, of course.
Dumpling needs to be in YELLOW feather since she is a chick. She needs orange legs and feet. She should wear an over-sized baby bonnet with the big ruffle around her face and yellow feather peeking out. No comb, of course.
Green Onion: white long sleeve leotard and tights. Put green wide strip on sleeves. Top of leotard should be green, gradually turning to white (Rodney S. air brushed one of Montana's costumes --he might do the onion). Have fun with the hat --the wilder the better. Lots of green things coming out. You'll need to figure a way to make it stay on good.
Eggplant --don't freak out! Not this fancy at all! Some type of dress, or moo moo, or something that ends up looking pear shapes. Try to stay away from something that literally looks like an eggplant costume. Make it more artsy. She'll need a hat that looks like the top of an eggplant with the green leaves and stem --not nearly as wild a hat as green onion. You guys are CREATIVE. Have fun with it!
The Tomato needs to be hooked to a vine that is connected to the ceiling!
Tomato - found this on Pinterest. Any chance we can get him in green tights and green long sleeved tight top? --only thing red should be tomato and the hat part with green leaves on top (hook the vine to top of hat--tricky!... you'll figure it out).
T-SHIRT
SONG WORDS
GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR
Give me your tired, you poor.
Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these the homeless
Tempest tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR
Give me your tired, you poor.
Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these the homeless
Tempest tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
AMERICA (Neil Diamond)
Far
We've been traveling far
Without a home
But not without a star
Free
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream
On the boats and on the planes
They're comiing to America
Never looking back again
They're coming to America
Home, don't it seem so far away
Oh, we're traveling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm
Home, to a new and a shiny place
Make our bed, and we'll say our grace
Freedom's light burning warm
Freedom's light burning warm
Everywhere around the world
They're coming to America
Every time that flag's unfurled
They're coming to America
Got a dream to take them there
They're coming to America
Got a dream they've come to share
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
Today, today, today, today, today
My country tis of thee
Today
Sweet land of liberty
Today
Of thee I sing
Today
Of thee I sing
Today
Far
We've been traveling far
Without a home
But not without a star
Free
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream
On the boats and on the planes
They're comiing to America
Never looking back again
They're coming to America
Home, don't it seem so far away
Oh, we're traveling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm
Home, to a new and a shiny place
Make our bed, and we'll say our grace
Freedom's light burning warm
Freedom's light burning warm
Everywhere around the world
They're coming to America
Every time that flag's unfurled
They're coming to America
Got a dream to take them there
They're coming to America
Got a dream they've come to share
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
Today, today, today, today, today
My country tis of thee
Today
Sweet land of liberty
Today
Of thee I sing
Today
Of thee I sing
Today
