Theatre Production 1

TECH THEATRE & THEATRE DESIGN

• PA600.Pr5.1.II.b – Apply technical elements and research to create a design that communicates the concept of a drama/theatre production.

READING & ANALYZING SCRIPTS

• ​PA600.Re9.1.I.a – Examine a drama/theatre work using supporting evidence and criteria, while considering art forms, history, culture and other disciplines.

CRITIQUES

• ​TH.Re8.1.II.a – Develop detailed supporting evidence and criteria to reinforce artistic choices, when participating in or observing a drama/theatre work.​​​​
  • Additional Credit FORM for Seeing a Play/Musical (25 points - no limit)​
    • Additional credit is for seeing a LIVE theatrical production (plays and musicals only).
    • All reviews of a live theatrical performance are due within one week of the date students attended the show. No reviews will be accepted after the final day of class for the semester.
  • ​In-Class Play or Musical Review
    • ​Critiques within one week of the date you attended the show. 

CAREERS

• PA600.Cr2.III.b – Collaborate as a creative team to discover artistic solutions and make interpretive choices in a devised or scripted drama/theatre work.

THEATRE HISTORY

• PA600.Cr2.1.I.a – Explore the function of history and culture in the development of a dramatic concept through a critical analysis of original ideas in a drama/theatre work.

THEATRE FOUNDATIONS/BASICS - IMPROVISATION & VOCABULARY​

• PA600.Cr1.1.III.a – Synthesize knowledge from a variety of dramatic forms, theatrical conventions, and technologies to create the visual composition of a drama/theatre work.

QUIZ #1

• THEATRE.     The art of creating acting, tech, design, writing, directing, or producing plays or musicals on stage.
• THEATER.     A building used for the presentation of plays.
• PROSCENIUM THEATRE.     The type of theatre with an opening in the wall which stands between stage and auditorium. It is like a picture frame through which the audience sees the play.
• BLACK BOX THEATER.     A simple indoor performance space with plain black walls and a level floor, typically designed to provide flexibility in the configuration of the stage and the audience seating.
• THRUST THEATER.     A stage that extends into the house where the audience sit on on three sides of the playing area, and the stage is connected to the backstage area by its upstage area
• ARENA STAGE.     A stage without a proscenium arch and seats on three or four sides, allowing close association between actors and spectators.
• HOUSE.    Any area which is not considered playing space or backstage area. It is where the audience sits for the play, but also includes the lobby, coat check, ticketing counters, and restrooms.
• FOURTH WALL.     The imaginary wall through which the audience watches the action of the play. 
• WINGS.     Area backstage to the right and left of the playing area.
• SET.     The complete scenery for a play or musical.

 
QUIZ #2

• APRON.     In proscenium theatres, the part of the stage in front of the proscenium arch, above the orchestra pit.
• BOOTH.    The small room at the back of the house where some of the technicians sit during a rehearsal or show to run lights, projections, or sound. 
• BOX OFFICE.    Part of the front of house or lobby area in a theatre where audience members can buy tickets.
• CATWALK.    An access walkway to equipment, where lighting instruments may be hung, and sometimes follow spots are located. 
• COSTUME SHOP.    This is the room backstage where the costumes are created, sewn, fitted and stored.
• COUNTERWEIGHT SYSTEM.    Method of raising and lowering scenery which uses ropes, pulleys, and weights to counterbalance the weight of pipes, lights, curtains, drops, and other items that need to be flown.
• DRESSING ROOM.    A rooms containing clothes racks and mirrors (often surrounded with lights) in which actors change into their costumes and apply make-up. 
• GREEN ROOM.    A room close to the stage for the actors to meet and relax before or after going on stage. 
• ORCHESTRA PIT.    The part of a theater where the musicians play for a musical that is typically in front of the stage and on a lower level than the audience.
• SCENE SHOP.    A room backstage where the sets are built, painted and stored.

QUIZ #3

• STAGE DIRECTIONS.     Instructions in the text of a play, or given by a director, to indicate the movement, position, or tone of an actor, or the sound effects and lighting.
• ACTING AREA.     The part of the performance space within which the actor may move in full view of the audience. 
• ONSTAGE.     Any acting area that is visible to the audience.
• OFFSTAGE.     Any area that is not visible to the audience.
• CENTER STAGE.     The position in the center of the stage space.
• UPSTAGE.     The part of the stage furthest from the audience.
• DOWNSTAGE.     The part of the stage nearest to the audience.
• STAGE LEFT.     The left side of the stage when standing on stage and looking into the house.
• STAGE RIGHT.     The right side of the stage when standing on stage and looking into the house.
• BACKSTAGE.     The service areas of the theatre, behind, beside or underneath the stage that could include the wings, shops, and dressing rooms.

 
​QUIZ #4

• ALAN MENKEN.     An American musical theater and film composer who has won eight Academy Awards, a Tony Ward and has been awarded as a Disney Legend. His musicals include Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast.
• ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER.     An English composer of musical theatre who has won six Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, and an Academy Award. His musicals include Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Jesus Christ Superstar.
• LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA.    An American composer, lyricist, playwright, and actor widely known for creating and starring in the Broadway musicals In The Heights and Hamilton. His awards include a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, and an Emmy Award.
• PASEK & PAUL.     An American songwriting duo and composing team for musical theatre, films, and television. They have received and Academy Award and a Tony Award for their writing. Their shows include Dear Evan Hansen, Smith, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman.
• RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN.     A composer and lyricist of Broadway musicals that wrote Oklahoma, Sound of Music, South Pacific, Carousel, King and I, and Cinderella.
• STEPHEN SCHWARTZ.     An American musical theatre lyricist and composer who has won Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, and a Tony Award. His shows include Wicked, Pocahaontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Enchanted.
• STEPHEN SONDHEIM.     One of the greatest American composers and lyricists who has one an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. His major musicals include Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Sunday in the Park with George. He also wrote the lyrics to West Side Story and Gypsy.
• THESPIS.     According to the Ancient Greeks, he was the first person ever to appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play.
• WALT DISNEY.     An American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards for an individual having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. 
• WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.      An English playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He wrote Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and at least 34 other plays that were printed in the First Folio.

QUIZ #5

• FOUNDATION.     A tinted base makeup that is used to even out skin tones.
• ROUGE.     A cosmetic for coloring the cheeks or lips.
• EYELINER.     A cosmetic applied as a line around the eyes to make them appear larger or more noticeable.
• MASCARA.     A cosmetic for darkening and thickening the eyelashes.
• SPIRIT GUM.     A quick-drying solution of used by actors to attach false hair to their faces.
• CHIAROSCURO.     The use of makeup to highlight and shadow the face.
• PROSTHETICS.     An artificial feature or piece of flexible material applied to a person's face or body to change their appearance temporarily.
• LIQUID LATEX.     Used for special effect make-up projects like scars and gashes. 
• POWER.     Applied to the face to set a foundation after application.
• STIPPLE SPONGE.     A textured sponge used to add texture and mask prosthetics or to make the appearance of whiskers

 
QUIZ #6

• DEAR EVEN HANSEN.     A musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The musical is about a teenager who invents an important role for himself in a tragedy that he did not earn.
• HAMILTON.     A musical with music, lyrics, and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda inspired by a 2004 biography about the 1st US Secretary of the Treasury. It incorporates hip hop, R&B, pop, soul and traditional-style shows tunes, and color-conscious casting of non-white actors as the Founding Fathers and other historical figures.
• INTO THE WOODS.     A musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers From and Charles Perrault fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests.
• THE LION KING.     A musical composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice about a young lion who hasto revenge his father's murder by his uncle. Based on the same plot as Hamlet.
• WICKED.     A musical with song and lyrics by StephenSchwartz. The musical is a parallel story to The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the witches.
• HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD.     A British play written by Jack Thorne based on a story by Thorne, J. K. Rowling and John Tiffany. The play takes place 19 years after Deathly Hollows ends.
• HAMLET.     A tragedy written by William Shakespeare that depicts a prince and his revenge against his uncle who has murdered the prince's father and married his mother in order to seize his throne.
• OEDIPUS REX.     A play by Sophocles about a king's search for the murderer of the previous king in order to end a plague ravaging his town. The king is unaware that the he has unwittingly fulfilled a prophecy that he would kill his own father (the previous king) and marry his mother.
• OUR TOWN.     A play by American playwright Thorton Wilder that tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners in the early 1900's through the everyday lives of its citizens.
• THE CRUCIBLE.     ​A play by American playwright Arthur Miller about the Salem witch trials, and as an allegory for McCarthyism.