Musical Theatre: Letter to Parents

Dear Musical Theatre Parent,

First, let us thank you for your support to the Junior School Musical Theatre Programme. We couldn’t be happier to have your child in the program and we sincerely look forward to working with the group over the next few months.

Staging any production can be a lot of very hard work – for everyone involved; but we find that when the students stand on stage, with the lights in their eyes and the crowd around them, it all becomes so worth it. We will do everything we can to support and prepare your child for the big performance – there are some things you can also do to help. You can:

• Be supportive of your child’s role in the production. It is important that the participants in this program learn that all roles are equally important and that everyone will have their chance to shine on stage. The saying is true: in theatre, “there are no small parts…”.
• Encourage your child to immerse themself in the show and the story. There are many songs and scenes available on YouTube and we will provide the music to listen to and videos to practice with. Performers should be reading the lyrics and/or script at least once a week so that they fully understand the material and story. Performers should also be rehearsing – out loud – at home. It can be fun to read the scenes together as a family!
• Download, listen to and rehearse with the music – the vocal training tracks and practice karaoke tracks can all be found on the show’s resource page, which will be given to the participants in rehearsal and emailed to you at the start of the term.
• Encourage your child to take good care of their script. They may want to decorate the cover with stickers to make it their own – we encourage this! Most important is that performers read and highlight their lines as soon as possible and that they bring her script with her to every rehearsal.

• Post the rehearsal schedule somewhere central in your home and check in with your child weekly to make sure they know that rehearsal is approaching and that they are prepared.
• It is imperative that your child be present for all rehearsals. We make a plan for each rehearsal based on all cast members being in attendance. If you know your child will have to miss any part of a rehearsal – we would appreciate if you could let us know so we can plan accordingly. You can email Liz directly any time.
• Finally, keep us in the loop. It doesn’t need to take a lot of your time, but checking in with us periodically to follow up on your child’s progress, troubles and triumphs can make all the difference. We invite you to talk to us about the program when you pick up your child week to week.