Jefferson Middle School Drama Program

Hello everyone! Thank you for joining us this fall as Drama Club worked to bring you a series of podcasts documenting their preparation for Cabaret Night. Cabaret Night was a great success with over three-hundred people in attendance and excellent performances by our choir, jazz band, and drama students. When Drama Club begins meeting again after Winter Break in January, we are going to take our podcasting abilities to the next level. By hosting a series of workshops about podcasting, I am hoping to involve and train a large number of Drama students in this new technology. My hope is to have Drama Club document their work and preparation for the Spring Musical—Alice in Wonderland. Auditions will be held at the end of February and performances will be in May. I would like to thank all the students who took part in this initial podcasting project by sharing their ideas and their voices with me and all our listeners. I would also like to say thank you to Mr. Freymuth for all of his help and advice throughout this project. And thanks to all of you who joined us this fall—we look forward to visiting with you again in 2008. All the best, Ms. Williams

On Friday, November 30th, the JMS Drama Club gathered in the Drama Room for one last talk before the show. Students simultaneously wore looks of excitement and fear with their show just moments away. After a cast huddle and a 1-2-3–”Don’t Wanna,” students were ready to face the 300+ member audience. In this podcast, Elise talks with several Drama Club members about their excitement, nervousness, and general feelings moments before the show begins.

In order to put on a play, you need a script, actors, an audience–and time to rehearse! On Saturday, November 17th the cast met at JMS for another three hour rehearsal. The goal of this rehearsal was to take our play from the Drama room stage where we had been practicing to the BIG STAGE in the gym where we will be performing on the 30th. Changing the space a play is performed in can be challenging. While the blocking stays the same, the spacing on the stage is different. Plus, we have a backstage to work with now–students have to learn their way around the stage, backstage, and what to do while they are waiting for their scenes. This is truly an opportunity for the older, more experienced students to teach the new students about theatre and how it works. In this podcast, Amber interviews students and Ms. Williams about rehearsals for Cabaret Night. How do rehearsals work? What do you do when you’re waiting for your scene? How do you get students to listen? For these answers and more, please click the play button below!

On Saturday, November 3, the cast of 15 Reasons Not to Be in a Play met at JMS for a three hour rehearsal. The goal of this rehearsal was to learn the blocking for the play. Blocking is when the director tells the cast where to stand and how to move on the stage. Blocking combined with a script will eventually equal a play. In this podcast, Niya and Ryan interview members of the cast about having to be at rehearsal on a Saturday morning.

Jefferson Middle School is in the beginning stages of planning the second annual Cabaret Night to be held on Friday, November 30, 2007. In this night of performances, the Fine Arts department comes together to celebrate and showcase student work. Drama club, choir, and jazz band are scheduled to perform. In this podcast, Jenny and Meridian, two seventh graders, explain what Cabaret Night is and how Drama Club begins the process of preparing for their play.

The Drama club will be podcasting a series of shows relating to their production.  Stay tuned for new shows…….