Fall Variety Show

The creativity is flowing! It is a force that you can feel when you walk in the room and it never ceases to amaze me. Sure, they need prodding, reminding, challenging, and pushing. They need to be stretched, stressed, reigned in, and encouraged. But that is all part of the process.

Heard in the music room: "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts" sung exuberantly by Mrs. Nichols, "That's MY box of chocolates", "We are Family- chipmunk style!", "How exactly are we going to make ourselves look like penguins?", "Do you happen to have a green pipe cleaner???", "When are we painting the set?", "Where is Angeline???", "I need help with Garage Band!"

Oh folks, it's fun. It's also crazy...........(insert singing here: I've got a lovely bunch of music nuts......) :)

Great Talent Coming Up!

Wow- I'm always blown away by how much progress the 7/8 grade vocalists make from August to March, but this was an especially great year. Last Thursday, the members of our class sang, danced, and acted their way into the record books with smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts! Wow. This is a very creative group, and I can't wait to see their faces in my High School Vocal room ready to work on the next Variety Show!
Maybe I should explain a little about the process we go through to present our spring concert to you. In January we begin the process by choosing our musical and getting ourselves signed up for committees. This year, Kourtnie Stephenson had written some dialogue that we were able to use, and the rest of the dialogue committee came up with some alternate songs that they thought would fit. The choreography committee took their job very seriously and got to work pounding out the dance steps for the tunes that needed them. The Set, Program, and Costume committees began listing ideas for future projects. Auditions were held, parts were assigned, and deadlines posted. March 24 seemed like a long time in the future, but it wasn't!
I'm so proud of this group of musicians. They began the year as shy singers who were afraid of each other and they ended up last week as a team who, together, put on a great show. Of course that took lots of work at home memorizing dialogue, extra after-school practices, and much courage to step out of their comfort zones. Fantastic job, students! Way to Go!
Thanks to the parents who made extra trips for practices and sent goodies for hungry tummies.
Your kids are great.

Musicians and Friends visit Orpheum!

Wow! Mary Poppins was wonderful! From the beautiful setting of the Orpheum to the spectacular sets, amazing special effects, stunning singing, and non-stop action IT WAS WONDERFUL! Ask anyone who went and you will get even more superlatives. This was the first time we have taken along some elementary students, and it was so much fun to see it through their eyes. Thanks, everyone, for a wonderful evening. (And thanks, Kay Stork, for the pictures!)

Some cool sites to look at for Christmas

Today in class (our last before Christmas vacation), we watched some You-Tube videos and responded to them in a Moodle forum. Yep- pretty technological. I was very pleased with most of the comments that my intelligent students made. You can actually go to Moodle and look at them if you want! But before you do, watch these videos for yourself and enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHPHnlYi3V0&feature=fvw
(Jackie Evancho singing O Holy Night)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2NeW7CF_AA
(It Came Upon a Midnight Clear)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9XNfWNooz4&feature=related
(i-Band)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFCeJTEzNU
(Silent Monks)

and my favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0REJ-lCGiKU

Have a wonderful Christmas!
Mrs. Nichols

Reflections on Charlie Brown

The shows are now memories, but what memories!! Here are some student comments that hit the nail on the head and echo my own sentiments:

Jenna: It was hard balancing this and all my other commitments, but it all worked out and was worth it in the end.

Charles: I enjoyed the fact that the audience was entertained.

Daniel S: I learned that if you want to get anything done you have to do it yourself.

Michaela: I learned that everyone needs to do their part in helping to make the musical the best it can be.

Caitlin: I learned to use big facial expressions and to go all out and give it my best.

Emily: The thing that surprised me were how some of the people who got principle parts sort of became those characters.

Trenda: We got it to the point that it was real life not just a comic strip.

Amber: I didn't think there were going to be so many students come to the musical but there was so that surprised me.

And my personal favorite:

I’ve learned that Mrs. Nichols knows best! (Thanks, Makaye!)

Thanks for the memories!!!

We have started the 2 week marathon! For the next 14 days, we will eat, sleep, play, live, practice, memorize, love and hate "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown!" at different points during the process of making this a show we can be proud of. It will be wonderful! The kids will entertain! They will sparkle! They will surprise you and make you laugh! But right now we have 2 weeks of hard work to do before we get to that point. The marathon begins..............

Ready for the Race!

I was really ready for school to start this year- what a wonderful summer. It wasn't too short, it didn't go by too fast, it wasn't too busy or any of the other things that you hear people say. The reason is because I chose to rest. I sat on my porch and read my books and worked in my flowers and had a lot of fun cutting thistles in the pastures (yep- you heard that right). I walked, I talked, I lunched with friends. I held my grand daughter and traveled with my family. I'm so thankful because I needed that, I mean I REALLY needed that.

So now I'm ready for school and excited about the new year in ways that I haven't been in a long time. You have probably already heard that "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" is our musical for this year. Auditions will be this week and the field is wide open. I hope the students are really preparing their auditions, because it is really hard to choose a cast based on how well you think they MIGHT act or sing! And these characters will need good actors to pull them off. The students are researching "Peanuts" characters for their first Moodle assignment, and the entries I've seen so far have been excellent. Choosing the right people for the parts is one of the things that significantly determines the show's success. It is not an easy job, so I thought you might like to know some of the things we take into consideration when casting a show.

1. Acting and singing ability (of course)
2. Reliability (rehearsal attendance)
3. Responsibility (memorization and preparation)
4. Past academic performance (ineligible students cannot perform on stage for the musical)
5. Potential (you can do more than you think you can)
6. Something we DON'T consider too much if at all: age. We cast the students based on what will make the best show. In other words: Don't plan on a part just because you are a senior. AND: Don't be upset if someone younger than you gets a good part. We cast the students based on what will make the best show.

And we will have a great show- I'm sure of that.
So... we're off!