The technological magic of Eastern Drama Club's production of 'SchoolHouse Rock Live!'
By Dermott Foley
By Dermott Foley
Is right right, or is right left?
In the middle of rehearsal one afternoon for Eastern Middle School’s production of “SchoolHouse Rock Live!” a cast member has posed this very important question. She points out that sometimes Zoom mirrors people so that when some of the cast members think they are going right they are actually going left or when they think they are going left they are going right.
Everyone pauses for a second to think about the issue, while some students check their settings, and then the show goes on.
Welcome to the world of Drama Club during a pandemic.
Putting on a musical in ”normal” times is extremely difficult — requiring precision like coordination in casting, choreography, music, set design, lighting, and thousands of other details. Doing it over Zoom requires a whole other level of creativity, and patience.
The question of how to synchronize the dancing for a musical that is being done completely virtually is just one of hundreds of questions facing the 17 cast and 11 crew members each time they meet up. The cast and crew often meet in separate break out rooms while the student Production Manager Ashley Taylor, Directors Mrs. Tanya Rowe and Mrs. Brittany Shatuck, and Choreographer Ms. Kathryn Shannon go back and forth between different groups of students.
Jamie Lewis, the student Stage Manager, described how it takes a bit of magic to put together the final production: “Our plan for recording/editing the musical is that we will have each cast member record their parts individually, outside of rehearsal. Then, we will have the editing team piece them all together and the sound team make sure all songs are synced and sound levels equal.”
SchoolHouse Rock Live was inspired by a collection of educational short videos from more than 40 years ago that taught children the basics of grammar, math, science and many other things. The segments featured catchy tunes with catchy titles such as “Conjunction Junction,” “Just a Bill,” and “Unpack Your Adjectives.”
From 1973 to 1984, these videos were shown regularly on the ABC network as commercial breaks during Saturday morning children’s cartoons. In 1993, the shows were made into a musical theatre adaptation called “School House Rock Live!.”
In addition to the mirroring issue, cast and crew members described a number of other challenges they have had to overcome.
“With [a] virtual [musical] you’re just by yourself recording and trying to figure out how to act so that it seems like you’re in a group,” 7th grade Phoebe Prouty, who is a member of the ensemble and is helping with choreography, said.
But despite the technical challenges, each member production said they were excited to find that there were also advantages to doing the production online.
Naomi Andelman, an 8th grader who is the assistant production manager and the set manager, said the online format has allowed for some creative ideas -- such as being able to play snippets of videos on the screen as part of the show -- to shine through.
“It allows us to do things that you really wouldn’t have been able to do before in terms of production,” she said.
Lily Shaw, a 7th grader who is part of the ensemble as well as the costume manager, commented that “It’s a lot less nerve wracking to sing in front of a computer.”
Ms. Shannon, an Eastern Middle School math teacher who is the choreographer for the production, said this type of online collaboration would not have been possible a year ago and that it’s been an incredible experience to be part of it.
“That’s been a really cool thing to see how these students, some of which have never done a musical before, take to this new style of learning choreography and songs and putting it all together while also dealing with school work and the fact that we’re in a pandemic,” she said.
Eastern’s production of “SchoolHouse Rock Live” will premiere on April 9. Tickets will be free but donations are appreciated.
Go behind-the-scenes with the Drama Club for an exclusive preview of Eastern’s production of “SchoolHouse Rock Live.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHyOuYhicak
In the middle of rehearsal one afternoon for Eastern Middle School’s production of “SchoolHouse Rock Live!” a cast member has posed this very important question. She points out that sometimes Zoom mirrors people so that when some of the cast members think they are going right they are actually going left or when they think they are going left they are going right.
Everyone pauses for a second to think about the issue, while some students check their settings, and then the show goes on.
Welcome to the world of Drama Club during a pandemic.
Putting on a musical in ”normal” times is extremely difficult — requiring precision like coordination in casting, choreography, music, set design, lighting, and thousands of other details. Doing it over Zoom requires a whole other level of creativity, and patience.
The question of how to synchronize the dancing for a musical that is being done completely virtually is just one of hundreds of questions facing the 17 cast and 11 crew members each time they meet up. The cast and crew often meet in separate break out rooms while the student Production Manager Ashley Taylor, Directors Mrs. Tanya Rowe and Mrs. Brittany Shatuck, and Choreographer Ms. Kathryn Shannon go back and forth between different groups of students.
Jamie Lewis, the student Stage Manager, described how it takes a bit of magic to put together the final production: “Our plan for recording/editing the musical is that we will have each cast member record their parts individually, outside of rehearsal. Then, we will have the editing team piece them all together and the sound team make sure all songs are synced and sound levels equal.”
SchoolHouse Rock Live was inspired by a collection of educational short videos from more than 40 years ago that taught children the basics of grammar, math, science and many other things. The segments featured catchy tunes with catchy titles such as “Conjunction Junction,” “Just a Bill,” and “Unpack Your Adjectives.”
From 1973 to 1984, these videos were shown regularly on the ABC network as commercial breaks during Saturday morning children’s cartoons. In 1993, the shows were made into a musical theatre adaptation called “School House Rock Live!.”
In addition to the mirroring issue, cast and crew members described a number of other challenges they have had to overcome.
“With [a] virtual [musical] you’re just by yourself recording and trying to figure out how to act so that it seems like you’re in a group,” 7th grade Phoebe Prouty, who is a member of the ensemble and is helping with choreography, said.
But despite the technical challenges, each member production said they were excited to find that there were also advantages to doing the production online.
Naomi Andelman, an 8th grader who is the assistant production manager and the set manager, said the online format has allowed for some creative ideas -- such as being able to play snippets of videos on the screen as part of the show -- to shine through.
“It allows us to do things that you really wouldn’t have been able to do before in terms of production,” she said.
Lily Shaw, a 7th grader who is part of the ensemble as well as the costume manager, commented that “It’s a lot less nerve wracking to sing in front of a computer.”
Ms. Shannon, an Eastern Middle School math teacher who is the choreographer for the production, said this type of online collaboration would not have been possible a year ago and that it’s been an incredible experience to be part of it.
“That’s been a really cool thing to see how these students, some of which have never done a musical before, take to this new style of learning choreography and songs and putting it all together while also dealing with school work and the fact that we’re in a pandemic,” she said.
Eastern’s production of “SchoolHouse Rock Live” will premiere on April 9. Tickets will be free but donations are appreciated.
Go behind-the-scenes with the Drama Club for an exclusive preview of Eastern’s production of “SchoolHouse Rock Live.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHyOuYhicak