This is Maggie Perrino’s first year as the theatre teacher and director for Notre Dame Academy in Park Hills, Kentucky. She is a graduate of Miami University and will complete her Master of Arts in Teaching at Thomas More College in May 2013. Prior to accepting her current position, Maggie spent almost three years in the Educational Events department at the EdTA home office. She has more than twenty-five years of experience in dance and theatre and spends much of her free time choreographing or dancing in musicals for local Cincinnati theatres.
Spring musical
It’s springtime! And that means high schools all across the country are pulling out their dance shoes, memorizing lyrics, and taking the stage to perform big, shiny musicals! We here at Notre Dame are no different. Our spring musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, kicked off rehearsals last week and I couldn’t be more excited about it!
As a dancer/choreographer turned theatre teacher, the musical is naturally my favorite show of the year. This is my bread and butter and I know this particular show so well that I could do it in my sleep. I have now worked on Joseph six times in my career. I have performed in it three times and choreographed it twice. This is my first time directing it. This kind of intimacy with the material has benefits and drawbacks. While I want to create a fresh new production, I find myself falling back on previously used steps and stage pictures. I can’t decide if I am being lazy by recycling concepts or if this is just the way (to my mind) the show is meant to be done. I mean, maybe the version of “One More Angel” I put together three years ago is the best version of that song I could possibly stage and I should keep doing it. It still looks pretty good. But there is always a nagging in the back of my head that says I am supposed to be creating from scratch, transcending to some new level of technicolor amazingness.
Not sure if this thought is driving me to artistic genius or sheer madness to be honest, but not needing to reinvent the wheel has a lot of benefits—even if itis not the highest level of art one could possibly achieve. Do I go with something that I know works and saves on time and effort? Or do I keep pushing to make new, better theatre at the cost of my energy and personal life? Or should I save all my artistic airs for at least the second or third year of teaching when I am not trying to hold everything together with two hands and some gaffer’s tape?
I’ll probably dither back and forth on these questions for many years to come. And frankly, I’m not sure there is a right answer. Luckily, when my inner monologue is really going crazy, the rationalist inside me stops and thinks, “As long as the people in the seats are entertained, I’ve done my job!”
All Comments
My suggestion: If you are not pressed, time-wise, and have the talent, try something new! If it does not work, you can switch to what does. If you are pressed for time, stick with what works and concentrate on other numbers.
You certainly have an advantage over many of us who are not musically inclined. Last year's show was the first musical I have ever been apart of. I am not much of a singer and I cannot walk in step (as my drill sergeants will attest).
Set the standard for production high and you will garner a larger following and your kids will benefit all the more. Also, the larger following will make for easier recruiting later on.
— Grant Sinclair on March 21, 2013 at 11:03am
— Maggie Perrino on March 22, 2013 at 10:21am
I enjoyed your blog. I think it's fun to revisit a shows on which you have previously worked. As artist/educators, we grow with the changing times. If one musical number is the same as last time, maybe try to somehow change the others. Is there a driving concept for this production that is different from the others? If nothing else, the cast is different, so that alone provides new challenges for you.
I've been teaching/directing high school students (full-time) for 14 years and I stay motivated by choosing some new works as well as occasionally revisiting old standards to try and improve upon what I've done in the past. I agree that higher standards definitely inspire students to rise to the occasion!
Best wishes,
Rob Duval
'Iolani School
Honolulu, Hawaii
— Rob Duval on March 26, 2013 at 8:51pm
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