First Public Performance

Thanks so much for attending today. The performance went well.  I have attached critiques. Please share these with your children.  I will also have hard copies in the school office tomorrow.

Schedule for this week

·        Tuesday – public performance at 7.  Kids will come over by 5 just as we have done each Tuesday.

·        Wednesday – rehearsal 3:45-5

·        Friday – rehearsal 3:45 -5

·        Sunday, November 1  –IMPORTANT REHEARSAL – on stage in costume by 2.  We will work until 5 unless some have to leave for church.

·        Tuesday – November 3 -IMPORTANT REHEARSAL- on stage in costume by 5.  Stay until 7:30.  

The students want to have a mall night.

·        Wednesday, November 4 - IMPORTANT REHEARSAL – 3:45-5.

*** Some years it has been impossible to have a mall night because of conflicts or home games.  We take the kids to the mall at around 5:00 and leave the mall at 8:30 to return home.  The kids eat on their own. They travel in pairs or larger groups.  Friday, November 6 would be ideal.  Another reason to have this event is that Nate Davis will be moving to Welling ton on November 8.  He has been a wonderful addition to our group. We will need vehicles to take the kids to the mall on that Friday if everyone wants to go. 

·        Contest day -Saturday, November 7, I need students here in my room by 9AM.  I will send more information home on Sunday, November 1 about contest.  The shows start at noon and will be back to back.  We are third, so it would be safe to be at the auditorium by 1 if you do not plan to see all the shows.  We are third, but the doors close when a play begins. Our show is short this year, and the others may as well.  They will run the plays back to back.  All students have to stay for the critique after all the shows perform.  This should be around 5-6pM.   

 

Kristin Munson has arranged for the kids to have burritos the day of contest.  Jennifer Adair and Christi Lain will bring dessert.  Please contact either of these people if you want to help with food. 

 

News Coverage

If you did not see the newscast, here is the link.

http://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/kamc-news/shallowater-students-learn-about-holocaust-disabilities-through-theater

Lots of information

Parents,

We have a busy few weeks ahead of us.  If possible, I need to have all the kids at all rehearsals on time.  Sundays and Tuesdays, they need to be on stage in costume by 2PM and 5PM.  On Sunday,  rehearsal will end at 5.  If students need to attend a church function before 5, just let me know. Next Tuesday, October 13, we will stay until 7:30.  I brought sandwich stuff for them today and will have sandwiches for them next week. . 

 

On Tuesday, October 14, 8^th graders will have lunch with the 7^th graders. The students will leave school at 12:40, arrive at the State School at 1:00 and leave there at 2:15 to return to school by 3:00. 

 

On October 16,  we will have a clinic here.  We had to change our original time because NHS will have the 8^th graders at the Food Bank.  We will begin at 12:30.  If students have not eaten, I will have something here for them.  Parents are welcome to watch the performance as well as listen to the critique. 

 

October 17 is the Harvest Festival.  I need parents as well as students to work the booth.  I have attached a schedule.  Please let me know what time you can work. 

 

October 21 is the clinic at Post.  We will leave Shallowater at 7:45.  Students will need to pay for their own lunches. We will be eating at McDonald’s.

 

The public performances will be on Sunday, October 25 at 2 and October 27 at 7.  We will charge $7 for adults and $5 for students.  We will have immediate family passes for one of those days.  I’ll send the passes home with the kids on the 20^th at rehearsal. I’ve also attached a pass.

 

The girls have to change several times.  They need to wear some type of undergarments – white camisoles or white tank top and white spanx or white tight shorts under their costumes.  The gowns are not see through, but the way the girls move, they need undergarments. 

 

We have had discipline problems with our boys.  This has never happened before in my 34 years of teaching.  Usually it is the girls who bicker.  There has been name calling and bullying behind stage and during the school day.  I have spoken to the boys three times.  I am handing the problem over to Dr. Strickland tomorrow. 

 

Thank you for your support.   I know this is a lot to give you at one time. If you have questions, please contact me.

 

Cindy

806-470-9940

Rehearsals

Rehearsal schedule:

• First rehearsal is tomorrow, Tuesday, September 1 from 5-7.  Students need to bring scripts and pencils.
• Each Sunday from 2-4 (at times later & we will not have rehearsal this Sunday because of Labor Day weekend.
• Each Tuesday from 5-7 (may be later the closer we get to contest.
• Wednesdays from 3:45 -5 AFTER CROSS COUNTRY COMPETES
• Each Friday of home games -3:45-5.

Clinics

• Friday, October 16 at Shallowater
• Wednesday, October 21 at Post

Contest

• Official rehearsal is at Shallowater on Friday, November 6.
• Contest is at Shallowater on Saturday, November 7

I will post more details as I receive them.  We have our district meeting on Wednesday, September 3, so I should have more information then.

Shallowater Middle School One Act Play Audition Results

Middle School One Act Play Parts are not set in stone!

 

 

 

 

 

Character	Description	Actor	Under Study
Viktor – a member of the Hitler Youth	He changes the most.  He is 17. He is a follower then begins to think for himself.  He is the lead actor.	Reese Cunningham	Eli Kollman
Alina – Viktor’s handicapped twin sister	This actress MUST be able to portray a handicapped person.  She cannot hold back. She also needs to sing loudly. She is 17 but seems much younger	Kate Munson	Scotlynn Winn
Josef – Viktor’s friend and a Hitler Youth	Josef changes.  He is 17.  He is a follower of Karl’s, then begins to question the Nazi party. He goes from admiring the bully, Karl to befriending Viktor.	Carter Berryhill
Karl – Another Hitler Youth	He is a bully.  His idol is Hitler.  He wants what he doesn’t have – a father who was an officer and can guarantee him officer status when he is older.	Rusty Emery
The Officer/ The Leader/blind man	A Nazi – he opens the show. He must have a strong voice and a commanding presence.  He must be different as the leader.	Eli Kollman	Clayton Medley
The Inspector/ patient	This person can be male or female.  He/she must be strong and cruel.	Kristen Alexander
The Teacher/patient	He/she is a servant of the Nazis and believes in their doctrine.	Kate Adair
The Doctor/Youth 2	He is a follower and believes in the Nazi party.   He looks at the handicapped as being animals. He is the voice we hear at the end and must have a strong voice as well as a commanding presence.	Nate Davis
Nurse 1	She is sympathetic towards the handicapped.  She does not believe in the good of the Nazis.	Sarah Harbison	Brooklin Albracht
Nurse 2	She is strong, and is the voice we hear at the end.  She must have a commanding presence. We must see her demeanor and hear her voice change as she begins to question the Nazi law.  She sympathizes with the gassed inmates at the end.	Katylyn Bunting	Ruth Mathews
Nurse 3/ patient	She helps the doctor and inspector.  She must be able to be cruel in helping the inspector and doctor.	Hannah Carreon
The Administrator/ youth	The administrator is a pencil pusher but must have a strong voice.	Riley Emery
Person 1/Youth 1/ /patient	The person 1 and Person 2 must WANT to be reunited with their loved ones.  They MUST be able to show this vocally and physically.	Colin Lain	Alberto Leyva
patient		Sarah Turner
Person 2/ patient	The person 1 and Person 2 must WANT to be reunited with their loved ones.  They MUST be able to show this vocally and physically.	Preslee Maxfield
Lights	Taylor Everitt
Sound or stage lights	Matthew Haney
Crew	Emanuel Lucero
Stage Manager	Morgan Bierbaum
Also Stage crew	Brooklin Albracht Scotylynn Winn Ruth Matthews

 

 

 

 

 

Summary of Sending Down the Sparrows

The play, a work of historical fiction, bears witness to the systematic persecution and extermination of the handicapped by Nazi Germany through the character of Viktor, a young man who is a reluctant member of the Hitler Youth.  Viktor has a secret: a mentally handicapped sister who is the ward of a state institution.  Viktor soon finds himself caught between the Nazi ideologies of racial and genetic purity and the love of a sister for whom he feels shame. As the play unfolds, he must choose whether to continue protecting this secret and himself or to come to the defense of his sister.

 

Laura Lundgren Smith, a native of Texas, lives in Fort Worth.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Theatre and English and a Master of Arts in Theatre from Texas A & M University at Commerce.  Ms. Lundgren Smith has an extensive background in theatre and has directed, designed and performed in numerous productions.

 

I am excited to work with Ms. Lundgren Smith because she will give my students such insights into the play and the perspective from which she created it.  It is not often that a theatre class can communicate with the playwright.