New year, new show?

by Aimee Alger, Drama Representative

With the madness of Christmas concert season behind us, many drama teachers will be looking to what’s next. For some of us, that means spring productions! Maybe you’re gearing up for festival and competition season, or maybe just your home show. Or maybe your production season is over. Whatever the case, January can be an exciting time for drama teachers. Here is my own to‑do checklist for starting a new production:

1. Interest meeting: For me, this is right when we get back from Christmas break—usually the second day back. There is no rest for the drama teacher. My regulars I know are coming back, but I’m always surprised at the new faces that show up for the second show of the year in my school. It’s great to get an idea of numbers, and I have them sign up for auditions and take a monologue to practice. Go over rehearsal schedules now so they know what they are signing up for!

   
   

2. Scheduling: Drama can be a huge commitment, and scheduling around basketball practice, dance recitals, and all the other extracurriculars your students are bound to be involved in is an art. I’m very fortunate to have a long lunch—one hour—so I’m able to schedule my rehearsals during the day. To all you after‑school‑only drama teachers, I salute you. I make sure my students know the show date options before we cast, and if there are major conflicts, I have a couple of weeks to choose from.

   
   

3. Auditions: This is right after the interest meeting so we don’t lose momentum. This can be challenging for younger students, but it’s an excellent way to see who will rise under pressure. I try to get casting done over a weekend so I have some time to think, but I always go into it with the mentality that some student will drop out. I keep designated understudies and choose shows where doubling is possible!

   
   

4. Cast announcement and read‑through: I don’t post my cast list; I announce it all together when I hand out scripts so it becomes a celebration for the whole cast to be a part of. I used to do a read‑through of the show before auditions, but I found my actors were getting attached to parts before they were cast, which led to disappointment. Now the first time they see the show is as their parts, and they like this much better too!

   
   

5. Starting rehearsal and choosing off‑book deadlines: Students are busy. But every director knows that being off book is going to improve blocking and characterization. I personally give my students a month and a half, but my veterans can usually get off book in a month or less. Then the real work can begin.

   
   

6. Blocking and refining: Blocking is what makes the show feel alive, and once we have that down, we get to refining. The three things I am constantly reminding my actors about are pacing, enunciation, and volume. I put so much emphasis on this, and it creates such a strong foundation for students to build off when they push their characters bigger. Choose the things you want to focus on and reinforce them on repeat. It can get tiring emphasizing the same thing, but it pays off come show time when the audience can understand the story!

I have recently had to take over the backstage aspect of my show as well, which has been a big addition to my workload. To offset this, I have been putting a lot more emphasis and responsibility on my wonderful backstage students! I started using a Google spreadsheet that I shared with my backstage crew to keep them on track. Everything is arranged by scenes, and each sound, prop, costume, set change, and lighting cue is listed so I can see if it’s in progress, completed, or hasn’t been started. Backstage has so many moving parts, but this way I can keep track of all the pieces and nothing should fall through the cracks. The students are also in charge of updating it, so it’s not adding work to my plate. I’ve linked it here if you would like to try it out for yourself.