Every year at Heart Learning Centre our students put on a Children’s Musical Production! Our students build their self confidence, learn more about the art of acting and stage presence and just have such a great time sharing memories with their friends. Previous performances include The Wizard of Oz, Annie, Animal Farm and more! Net proceeds are always donated to a Children’s Charity to teach our student more about the power of giving back! This year our student have been working hard with our Director Deborah Trotchine! Our performance date is set for May 11th in honour of Mothers Day and we can’t wait! Please find our updates here as this year we are looking to have a wonderful performance full of surprises and great door prizes!
Parent Updates for Shrek:
Hello!
I am Deb, or officially Deborah Trotchine, the director of this year’s musical production-Shrek the Musical.
As you may now, your children have had the opportunity to begin working on this production during the last few weeks. We just assigned roles last week, and have begun our structured scene/song rehearsals. The kids are super excited, and very committed. So far, there have been no problems. The kids were sent home with a CD of all songs last week. I encourage all of you to play this song at home/in the car whenever there’s time. It’s a fun way to learn song melodies/lines!
I will begin updating this Shrek the Musical blog every week. Here you can find information regarding show times, scheduling, and costumes.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! Keep checking this blog for further information, and feel free to email me (dtrotchine@gmail.com) if you have any question, comments, or concerns!
Have a wonderful day,
Deb
P.S. Like the previous productions, we need some parents to help with hair/makeup backstage. Email me if you would like to volunteer! Thank you!
CAST! (and COSTUME requirements):
Fin-Magic Mirror/Humpty Dumpty (blue pants; I will make the Mirror face, and the Humpty face)
Neal-Baby Shrek/White Rabbit (white pants and a white shirt; brown pants)
Cree-Donkey (grey pants and a grey shirt; we have a Donkey costume)
Summer-Wicked Witch (a Halloween witch’s costume; I can find one if you do not have one)
Lenny-Peter Pan (green or brown pants; old shirt we can cut up)
Maria-Little Pig #1 (pink tights, tutu, and pink shirt; I can provide the tutu if necessary)
Ashley-Mama Bear (overalls, and a pink shirt; I have ears, paws, and tail)
Leah-Elf (green pants, tutu, and green shirt; I can provide a tutu if necessary; I also have a hat)
Leila-Fiona (long green dress)
Ibrahim-Guard (old pants and shirt we can spray-paint silver-to look like armour)
Moosa-Gingy (brown pants and brown shirt; I will sew/glue fake gumdrops onto the shirt)
Riely-Pinocchio (overalls and a white shirt; I have the nose)
Uchenna-Shrek (brown pants and white shirt; I will provide makeup/mask)
Justin-Lord Farquaad/Ugly Duckling (black pants and a white shirt; I will glue/sew an insignia onto the shirt; yellow pants and yellow shirt for Duckling)
Greg-Priest/Wolf (long black coat/cape for Priest; old housecoat for Wolf; I have the ears and tail)
Melody-Gnome (brown pants, tutu, brown shirt; I will provide the tutu if necessary; I also have a hat)
Silana-Little Pig #2 (pink tights, tutu, and pink shirt; I can provide the tutu if necessary)
Edward-Papa Bear (overalls, and a white shirt; I have the ears, paws, and tail)
Parent Update for March 1st, 2013:
This week’s rehearsal for Shrek the Musical was absolutely wonderful! We made some great progress in the first three scenes, and even began to look at some music from later scenes.
It’s important that the kids get as much repetition during the week as possible. Otherwise, every week will be a revision of the last, and we won’t get very far. So far, this hasn’t been a problem. The kids (and you, the parents!) have been super dedicated to learning lines and songs. Just remember to keep playing the CD whenever there’s time, and going over lines.
Even for teenage and adult actors, the script is often used as a “barrier,” or an “excuse.” Actors will justify their lack of energy by saying things like: “Oh, I’ll be better when I don’t have to hold my script.” We want to eliminate this excuse as early as possible, especially for child actors. That’s why I’m going to assign weekly “homework” for the kids, in terms of line memorization. I realize they have lots of outside work to do, so I will make these requirements as reasonable/manageable as possible. If you feel your child is overwhelmed, please feel free to contact me.
This “homework” will be found here weekly. Remember to keep checking for any updates!
Next week we will start choreographing some dance sequences!
Best,
Deb
Weekly Homework:
(due for Friday, March 8th, 2013)
Shrek-Memorize “Big, Bright, Beautiful World” and Scene 3+4+6+7 (Scene 4 and Scene 7 should have been memorized last week; if this is too much, just memorize AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE of Scene 6+3!)
Fiona-Memorize Scene 7, along with “I Think I Got You Beat, and Scene 10
Donkey-Memorize Scene 4, along with “Don’t Let Me Go,” and Scene 6+10
Farquaad-Memorize Scene 5+6 (If this is too much, memorize Scene 6, and AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE of Scene 5)
Magic Mirror-Memorize Scene 5
Gingy-Memorize Scene 5
Guard-Memorize Scene 4+5
ALL FAIRYTALE CREATURES!: Memorize Scene 2, along with “Story of My Life,” and Scene 3
Parent Update for March 15th, 2013:
Hello Parents!
Rehearsal for Shrek went super well last Friday. We made some progress on the dancing frontier, and I was particularly impressed with the characterizations the kids were beginning to solidify.
Students were getting into character and making bold movement and vocal decisions. They were becoming more comfortable with the play, and the group, and succeeded in stepping outside their “comfort zone.” We heard some pretty cool character voices this Friday!
Remember to keep practicing at home with the students. I will be producing some recorded videos of the dances. That way, students can rehearse their routines at home. These videos will be posted on Youtube (via a private link) and may be accessed through their URL: something which I will send in future emails and post on the blog. They should be completed by the end of this week.
Have a great rest of the week. Can’t wait to see all the kids again on Friday!
-Deb
Weekly Homework:
(due for Friday, March 15th, 2013)
ALL FAIRYTALE CREATURES: Have Scene 3, and Scene 2 (including “Story of My Life”) completely memorized; practice what you can of the “Story of My Life” dance
SHREK: Have Scene 1, including “Big, Bright, Beautiful World” memorized; memorize Scene 3
FIONA: Keep memorizing/practicing all songs and scenes
DONKEY: Keep memorizing/practicing all songs and scenes
Parent Update for the Week of April 5th:
Hello Parents,
Heart Learning Centre & CampZone 