An Interview with Manhattan Children’s Theatre’s Bruce Merrill

Bruce Merrill is a veteran director of both childrens theatre and youth theatre, so he has an insiders understanding of working with children as actors and as an audience.  Bruce toured with Missoula Children’s Theatre for two seasons as a Tour Actor/Director. In those two seasons, he directed over 3,500 kids in over 70 different productions. Bruce holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Theatre Arts from Santa Clara University and a Master’s of Arts from University of Montana, where he wrote his thesis, An Investigation of the Missoula Children’s Theatre Process and How It Promotes the Aesthetic Development of Children, directly on his experiences working with children. I met Bruce in the ‘90s when he gave me my first job music directing a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella in Mountainview, CA. He was a great collaborator with a lot of patience as I learned the ropes and found my sea legs.  He moved to New York, where he became director of Children’s Theatre at Vital Theatre Company before founding Manhattan Children’s Theatre, where he is currently the Artistic Director. They’ve been producing theatre for kids and families since 2002.

Music Directing The School Musical: You’ve been doing theater with children for a long time. What drew you to that field, and how did you start directing kids in shows?

Bruce Merrill: I started directing kids in shows back in college.  I wanted to focus on directing…but as an undergrad, the only two emphasises were acting or technical theatre.  So I took as many directing related classes as they offered and looked for work outside of the school to gain some experience, which led to work at a few of the local elementary schools starting drama programs and directing their annual productions.

MDTSM: What are you looking for when you choose material for a family audience?

MERRILL: I look for material that appeals to both the parents (or teachers) and the kids.  It shouldn’t talk down to them…and hopefully challenges them to think/view things in new ways.  As an example, many of the shows are comedies…some of the humor appeals to the adults (situational, word play, etc)…some to the kids (slapstick, etc)…and some to both.  Also, obviously as a small, non-profit theatre, meeting the budget is important, so we look for shows that are current, popular…and again, something both the parents and kids would want to see.

MDTSM: Tell me about your directorial process. Do you use an exploratory process, or do you have your final product in mind from the first rehearsal? Does improvisation figure into your rehearsals? How much time do you have with your actors before the show is on its feet?

MERRILL: Directing style is definitely exploratory.  I have some ideas what I ultimately want to see…but within that vision, many possible routes to take depending on what the other team members (actors, designers, etc) contribute.  I like working on different types/genres of shows, so not every show uses improvisation…but, as an example, our final show of last season, The Complete Tales of Brothers Grimm, Abridged, used extensive improvisation in not only creating the show, but within the show itself once it was running.  Typically, a show has about 4 weeks of rehearsal before opening.

MDTSM: How did Manhattan Children’s Theatre come to be? What is their focus as an organization?

MERRILL: MCT sort of came to be through a right time/right place situation.  When I first moved to New York, I was looking for any kind of directing experience I could get.  While I landed a few adult gigs, one of the first companies to respond was Vital Theatre, which noticed the extensive children’s theatre experience I had on my resume.  They had just started a children’s theatre production (that ran concurrently with the mainstage production) and wanted help running/managing it.  Eager for any New York work, I took the gig…which led to directing the next children’s theatre show…which led to managing the program and directing most all of the shows.  However, even though there was a large interest by the company in what the program brought in (money and review-wise), we were still the ugly stepchild in many ways, especially budgetary.  So, one of co-founders of that company (who had been working exclusively with the children’s shows during her last year there) and I decided that a theatre just focusing on children’s theatre could do well in New York…and so we broke off and founded MCT, which has been going relatively strong since.

MDTSM: Why should I bring kids to see theatre?

MERRILL: Theater is a wonderful experience for kids that not only introduces them to live, immediate art, but also further expands their imaginations while teaching them to “actively” listen, which is important in every kind of learning experience.  Plus it’s just plain fun seeing a unique performance, since every show is different by simply being “live.”

MDTSM: what advice do you have for young people who are interested in directing as a career?

MERRILL: See as much theatre as you can.  Read as many plays as you can.  Get as much hands-on experience as you can!  Assist other directors.  Intern with companies you have respect for.  An MFA program is a good way to obviously learn technique, philosophy and the skills needed to succeed, but a good program will also provide you with opportunites, whether through internships/apprenticeships and/or connections in the working world of theatre that can get your foot in the door.  Finally, I may be biased because I live here, but New York is the place to be for early career directors.  There are so many “stepping-stone” theatres looking for young directors to take on small projects…and if all else fails, I know many actors/directors who banded together to put on a production on their own.

MDTSM: How can people find out more about MCT or purchase tickets?

MERRILL: Our website contains most of this info… www.mctny.org.  People can also get tickets by either going to Theatermania.com and looking up Manhattan Children’s Theatre or calling 212-352-3101 if they know which show they want to see.

Thanks, Bruce!

In Case You Missed It: Dramatics Magazine’s 2009-2010 play survey

I know this is old, but it’s still interesting:

The top ten musicals are, I think, a little more current than the top ten plays. The oldest show (Wizard of Oz) is from 1939, the second oldest from 1957 (Music Man), and the third oldest from 1959 (Once Upon A Mattress) You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown is from 1967, Grease from 1971. The rest of the shows were all written after 1980, with two shows from the ’90s, and two from the ’00s. By contrast, only one of the plays dates from later than 1990, two are from the ’80s, and the rest were either written before 1955 or are adaptations of books written before 1900. I suspect the reason for this conservatism in the plays and a slightly more adventurous outlook in the musicals probably stems from the people making the decisions; many school plays are directed by faculty who learned the plays in college and are interested in teaching them as literature, where musicals are often directed by faculty who caught the theater bug at some point. Having written that hypothesis down, though, it looks suspect, so I hope some of you readers will put me straight. Why are the plays so much older than the musicals?

Another article on the ETA website (which is awesome, by the way) provides more background info, including the fact that the survey is usually based on 800 or so responding schools, and that there are thousands of titles, which means that it doesn’t take many productions for a show to hit the top ten.

Grease will probably always be on the musical top ten list, but we can see that Bye Bye Birdie and High School Musical didn’t make the cut. Only one Shakespeare play made the top ten. Does anybody else see any patterns here?

Top 10 Musicals:

1. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, by Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, Tim Rice, and Linda Woolverton (MTI)

2. Seussical, by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (MTI)

3. (tie) Grease, by Jim Jacobs and Warrren Casey (Samuel French)

3. (tie) Into the Woods,¹ by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine (MTI)

5. Footloose, by Dean Pitchford, Walter Bobbie, and Tom Snow (Rodgers and Hammerstein)

6. (tie) The Wizard of Oz (multiple adaptations), by L. Frank Baum, Harold Arlen, and E.Y. Harburg (Tams-Witmark)

6. (tie) You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, by Clark Gesner (Tams-Witmark)

8. The Music Man,¹ by Meredith Willson (MTI)

9. Once Upon a Mattress, by Mary Rodgers, Marshall Barer, Jay Thompson, and Dean Fuller (Rodgers and Hammerstein)

10. Thoroughly Modern Millie, by Jeanine Tesori, Dick Scanlon, and Richard Morris (MTI)

1. Includes productions of the publisher’s “junior” versions.

Top 10 Full Length Plays

1. Almost, Maine, by John Cariani (Dramatists Play Service)

2. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare (public domain)

3. You Can’t Take It With You, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (Dramatists Play Service)

4. Noises Off, by Michael Frayn (Samuel French)

5. Twelve Angry Men² by Reginald Rose (Dramatic Publishing Co.)

6. (tie) Alice in Wonderland (various adaptations of the book by Lewis Carroll)

6. (tie) The Crucible, by Arthur Miller (Dramatists Play Service)

6. (tie) Our Town, by Thornton Wilder (Samuel French)

9. (tie) Fools, by Neil Simon (Samuel French)

9. (tie) A Christmas Carol (various adaptations of the book by Charles Dickens)

2. Includes productions under the title Twelve Angry Jurors and Twelve Angry Women

 

Passing on a great set of posts on the basic tools of acting

This one will take you a while to get through, but it’s well worth it!

In Part I, Bruce Miller talks about script analysis, synthesis, feeling versus doing, playing an action, and the craft of acting

In Part II, he talks further about conflict as the engine of drama, and matching physical action with the character you’re playing.

In Part III, he discusses the importance of listening and gives the classic Meisner approach to practicing listening.

These articles are a tremendous resource for you and your actors as you breathe life into your material.

 

An Interview with Matthew Cloran of the Philadelphia Cappies Chapter

For those of you who aren’t aware of the Cappies, it’s a fantastic program where kids see musicals from other schools, review them, and nominate them for awards. Some reviews wind up in the local papers. The program combines Critical Thinking, English, History, and Theatre in an amazing way, and it really raises the bar for participating schools when actors see productions from other districts and schools. I can’t really say enough good things about the program. When I music direct at participating schools, I love the night when the Cappies kids come to see the show. I wanted to get the inside scoop, so I asked some questions of Matthew Cloran, who is the program director for the Greater Philadelphia Cappies.

Who is Mr. Cloran? Let’s get you up to speed:

This is Matthew Cloran’s third year as Program Director of the Greater Philadelphia Cappies.  Matt gives major thanks to Harry Dietzler for starting the program in Philadelphia seven years ago and to Kathy Moscotti for being the best Program Manager that ever was.  He is also proud to be the Drama Chair at The Haverford School.

Got it? Good. Let’s get to the questions:

Music Directing the School Musical: Many of my readers may not be familiar with the Cappies and what they’re about. Can you briefly describe them?

Matthew Cloran: The Cappies is a nationally recognized program that celebrates theatre excellence in high schools.  There are over two dozen chapters throughout the country.  Philadelphia is the second largest behind Washington, D.C. where it all began.   What drives the program are the students involved called “critics” who attend the productions of those high schools involved and write reviews.  They also vote on the awards given out at the end of the year.  There are no “bests” in the program.  We celebrate all of our achievements!  RESPECT for everyone involved is the foundation of the program!

MDTSM: Where and when did the Cappies start?

MC: The Cappies started in Washington D.C by a great man by the name of Bill Strauss who has sadly passed on. Bill loved high school theatre and all of the kids involved in front of and behind the curtain.  He wanted to create a program that let the world know about the amazing work that was happening in high school theatres everywhere.

MDTSM: How many students and how many shows are involved annually in the program?

MC: In our chapter, there are 34 schools involved and 33 shows to see, celebrate and review (one of our schools is a partial member)!

MDTSM: Give me a pitch for my readers to join in what you’re doing.

MC: If you love theatre and want to get your school, your community and beyond to know about the great work you’re doing – join the CAPPIES!  You will see, dicuss, and write about awesome theatre….and best of all: meet new friends!

MDTSM: As school budgets are being slashed, and programs cut, some school musical programs find themselves in jeopardy. Why is it important for schools to support musical theatre for kids, and what benefits do musicals provide for their participants and communities?

MC: This one’s the easiest to answer.  It is a proven fact that young people involved in theatre find themselves accepted in ways they couldn’t find anyplace else (I’m one of those kids!).  It’s also proven that being involved in theatre increases confidence, self-esteem and builds community.  AND it brings entertainment and joy to those who see it.

Thanks, Matthew!

Here’s a link to a New York Times article about the founding of the Cappies:

To find out more about Cappies, or to see if there’s a chapter in your area, go to their website at: www.cappies.com

To contact Matthew Cloran: matthew.cloran@cappies.com.

This is a photo of the 2011 Cappie Winner for musical, Cats at East Regional High Schools, Camden (photo courtesy Harry Dietzler)

Playbill article about formative school musical experiences:

Many of you have already seen this page, but it’s a great article about the experiences of current Broadway greats in their high school years. It’s encouraging to know that these artists developed their love for theatre in programs like the ones we work so hard in!

 

An Interview with Tim McDonald

Timothy A. McDonald, a respected educator, playwright and director (Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley, Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter) founded iTheatrics to create innovative programs that allow students to experience the transformative power of the arts.

Before founding iTheatrics, Tim created Music Theatre International’s Education Division, working side-by-side with theatrical greats including Cameron Mackintosh, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Schwartz and Sheldon Harnick to create age-appropriate versions of classic musicals.

In partnership with Stephen Gabriel at Work Light Productions, Tim directed and developed four new touring shows: Broadway Junior on Tour, Disney’s Discover Theater!, Frankly Ben, and The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley. In partnership with the John F. Kennedy Center, Tim co-wrote the book for Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka and directed The Phantom Tollbooth.

Working with Nick Manos of Theater of the Stars Tim created the Junior Theater Festival, which has become the Comic-Con for Broadway musicals, bringing together 3,000 kids, educators and the Broadway community each Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend in Atlanta, GA.

Tim continues to be an advocate for educators, working to design materials and create professional development seminars that give teachers everywhere the tools necessary to put on a show in their community.

I met Tim McDonald when I was just a kid. I played Rapunzel’s Prince to his Cinderella’s Prince in a production of Into The Woods at Chico City Light Opera, a company he helped found. It was the first production I had been in that wasn’t a school production, and I drove my ford ranger about an hour each way to be in the show. It was a great production, and Tim was already quite a force to be reckoned with even then. (1993?) Since then, Tim has had an amazing career. He’s the closest thing to a rock star there is in the world of theatre for performance by young people. It’s not an exaggeration to say that he completely changed the industry, and the list of people he’s worked with reads like a who’s who of modern musical theatre writing.  I caught up with him this week, and asked him some questions about his work with MTI and his continuing work with his new company, iTheatrics.

Music Directing The School Musical:  MTI as a licensing organization seems to be really concerned with putting out a quality, user-friendly product. What was it like to work there?

Tim McDonald:I loved working at MTI—it’s a great group of people who are really passionate about musical theatre.  And Freddie Gershon (Chairman and CEO) is a true visionary and has been a wonderful mentor to me.  Freddie knows how to identify talent, nurture it and then, in my case encourage me to “make it on my own.”  Why am I hearing the theme for the Mary Tyler Moore show?  Never mind.  I was fortunate enough to be at MTI when it was at the beginning of a major transformation and for someone like me that’s exactly where I want to be.

MDTSM: You were around for the creation of MTI’s Education division. What were your goals for that process?

TM: When I was recruited by Freddie to lead this project with the title “Musicals Made Easy” I had a clear vision of what it could be…and that became Broadway Junior.  (With a lot of guidance, support and input from many, many people.)  Once Broadway Junior was launched and starting to take off and transform musical theater licensing I realized that none of the major licensing firms had an Education division.  Why not expand into all areas of education?  From grade K through grade 12?  Why not provide high-quality, cutting-edge education products to professionals producing theater for young audiences?  Why not create musical theater curriculum for music text books? Why not provide teachers with professional development opportunities centered in musical theatre?  Why not create the “little league world series” for musicals?  Those were our objectives…and exactly what we achieved with MTI’s Education Division.  And had a total BLAST doing it.

MDTSM: What are some of the things that need to change as you retool a show to be done specifically by young people?

TM: Our adaptation process is a trade secret.  It’s literally thousands of changes some obvious, some tiny.   These changes range from the key of the music (there is a very specific formula we’ve developed over the years) to the arc of the storytelling, to the font of the music, to the tempi of the tracks.  Lots of people think they can edit a show to a shorter running length.  Our goal is to do it in such a way that the audience doesn’t feel like they’ve missed a thing.  There’s a reason our edits have been applied to shows running on Broadway and London’s West End.  There’s a real art and science to being good editors and adaptors.  My team is the absolute best in the business.  It’s what we do all day, every day.

MDTSM: Are writers generally easygoing about the changes you hope to implement, or do you have to sell them on the alterations to their work?

TM: It depends on the writers—but “easygoing” is not a word I’d associate with the process.  We always submit to the writer’s vision and intentions as our touchstone.  Each show has a unique history and there’s usually a reason for every single beat.  It’s sort of like remodeling a significant home.  The architect (writer) had a specific vision, so how do you remove a porch or add a window while staying true to that vision?  The best adaptations are a result of working with an author who is completely collaborative—someone like Stephen Schwartz, or Ahrens and Flaherty, or Dick Scanlin and Jeanine Tessori, or Douglas Carter Beane, or Sheldon Harnick, or the late (and wonderful) Arthur Laurents.  Musical theater writers of this caliber understand musical theater and respect what we do and that’s why I get up every morning chomping at the bit to get to work.

MDTSM: You’ve worked with some big names. Do you have any favorite stories about working with great writers?

TM: Too many!  My favorite is this: Early on we got a lot of pressure to create West Side Story Junior, which didn’t seem like a good idea to me, but I wasn’t seasoned enough to know why.  So I embraced the project and created a one-hour adaptation for middle school kids to perform.  Then I got a message on my phone from Arthur Laurents who was none to pleased that I was doing anything with West Side Story and told me so in quite colorful and stinging language.  However he had not reviewed my script.  The very next phone message was also from Mr. Laurents who had just finished reading my adaptation and praised it with great effusion!  In four and a half minutes I felt completely inadequate as a human being and then completely elated.  I had a series of sessions with Arthur and we continued to tweak the show and he paid me the ultimate compliment—Arthur asked if he could use some of my edits for the upcoming West End revival of the show he was getting ready to direct.  You may note that there isn’t a West Side Story Junior available.  That’s because the show played horribly with kids as actors.  Instead of a poignant musical, West Side Story JR. played like a side-splitting comedy.  There’s something hysterically funny about tiny boys dancing with towering girls (‘cause the girls are much taller than the boys for this age group) belting out about “getting their way tonight.”

MDTSM: You started your own company, iTheatrics, to create versions of existing shows for kids to perform. What does your new company deliver that sets you apart from your competitors?

TM: Well…we don’t really have competitors.  Who else would be mad enough to build a company focused exclusively on making sure the world is safe for kids performing musicals everywhere? That’s not a business model…it’s a lifestyle. What iTheatrics brings to the table is years of expertise and passion.  We’re dedicated to our mission, dedicated to our clients and we have an amazing list of clients—MTI, Disney Theatrics Productions, Tams-Witmark Musical Library, New York City’s Department of Education, The Shubert Foundation where share our passion.

MDTSM: How is working with kids different from working with adult actors?

TM: I can cuss when working with adults.

MDTSM: My blog is directed at the school based music director. Do you have any advice for M.D.s working with kids in schools?

TM:

1. Never talk down to kids.

2.  When you’re wrong (and you will be) admit it immediately.

3.  Never make a threat you’re not prepared to fulfill.

4. Start rehearsals on time and be prepared.

5.  Never give up on a kid for any reason.

MDTSM: Make me a pitch for using an itheatrics show!

TM: It’s simple—compare an iTheatrics show to any other show and decide for yourself which one is the better adaptation, has the better support materials, and is intuitive. I chose the name iTheatrics because I wanted to bring the innovation Steve Jobs created for Apple to musical theater education.  Wait until you get your hands on The Wizard of Oz Young Performer’s Edition (Tams-Witmark Musical Library) or the new ShowKits being released by Music Theatre International (The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley is the first to be released). AMAZING!

MDTSM:  What can we look forward to from your organization in the future?

TM: We’ve just passed our five year mark.  (Hooray!) And I have just outlined four new initiatives which will be launched in 2012. I can’t give them away here…but stay tuned–we’re really going to have a major impact.

MDTSM: You have spoken inspiringly about changing the world through theatre. Care to do that here?

TM: Musical Theatre is one of only two art forms that bring together all of the arts disciplines in pure collaboration (opera is the other).  Music, poetry (lyrics), dance, visual arts (sets and costumes), technical arts (digital sound and lighting) and language arts (storytelling) all work together at the service of telling a story in a musical. By being a part of a musical, young people experience working together for the greater good, they learn what it is to build a community, and they learn acceptance, patience and time management.  And the feedback they receive isn’t passive, it’s their peers and parents standing on their feet, wildly applauding their accomplishments.

For up-to-date information check out www.TimothyAMcDonald.com or
www.iTheatrics.com.

An Interview with Rob Shapiro of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization

As the Manager of Materials and Foreign Licensing at R&H Theatricals, Rob prepares scripts for new acquisitions and restorations; liaises between R&H’s international agents and the New York office; and works on various projects such as the G2K series and trivia cards.  Prior to R&H, Rob received his MFA from NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, and he is currently collaborating on a number of projects as a composer/lyricist.

Rob is directly involved with the R&H Organization’s G2K series, so I wanted him to tell us about the details of that program, as well as some more general questions pertinent to people involved in school shows.

Music Directing The School Musical: Tell me about the G2K series the R&H organization offers. How many titles are there now, and what are the advantages of doing a show from this series?

Rob Shapiro: The G2K or “Getting To Know” Series are uniquely adapted musicals specifically designed for young performers that run between 50 and 70 minutes.  They are designed to be for actors in kindergarten through 9th grade.

There are now 5 titles: G2K… CINDERELLA, The KING AND I, ONCE UPON A MATRESS, OKLAHOMA!, and our newest release, STATE FAIR.

The advantages of performing a show from the series include the many resources that we provide: each show kit comes with a director’s guide and study guides; there is an orchestral accompaniment CD; and a DVD guide to musical staging.  Also, the keys have been transposed into youth-friendly keys so that performers feel comfortable singing their favorite songs.

MDTSM: What kinds of things do you change when you’re retooling a show for younger performers?

RS: We try and change as little as possible while retaining the most essential elements that tell the story in a succinct, efficient and entertaining way.  We are conscious of what has made these musicals so beloved throughout the years, so we have to balance both the expectations of the audiences while trimming the plot and songs to be appropriate for the young performers.  Mainly, G2K adaptations are created by scaling down the dialogue and making the story leaner.

MDTSM: Is it difficult getting the authors and/or estates of authors to go along with changes from their original material?

RS: Our authors and estates have been very supportive of the series and creating materials for young performers.

MDTSM: What can we expect in the future from R&H for young performers?

RS: Further titles are being planned for the series, though none are confirmed at this time. Please visit our website at www.rnh.com or “Like” us on Facebook at rodgersandhammerstein, where news of the next title in the series will be announced.

MDTSM: People involved in producing theatre with kids often ask about changing things in shows to make the material easier or more suitable to their particular needs. What is R&H’s position about that?

RS: We receive lots of emails requesting changes to suit individual needs, from changing “hell” to “heck” (etc. etc. etc.) to cutting entire songs.  We try to accommodate theaters where we can, but in addition to serving our customers, we are also representatives to our authors and their original visions.  Each request is reviewed on a case by case basis.

MDTSM: How did you get involved with this end of the business?

RS: As a composer/lyricist, I’ve always loved Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals.  While at the NYU Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program, I sent an email to the R&H website (www.rnh.com) asking if any summer internships were available – fortunately for me, there was!  As an intern I learned all about licensing and the business behind show business.  After graduation, I was offered a full-time position, and I’ve been with R&H since 2007.  I feel very lucky to be representing so many writers (dead and living) who inspire me.

MDTSM: In this era of downsizing arts departments at schools, why is theatre such an important thing for young people?

RS: I think theatre can teach almost anything depending on the show, but mostly, it teaches people to collaborate.  That is an important lesson not only for young people but for everyone. As Oscar Hammerstein II wrote, “’Collaboration’ is the biggest word in the theater.”

For information about R&H Theatricals visit www.rnh.com.  To learn more about Rob, visit www.rsmusicals.com.