This season we weren't able to put on a full production, so we decided to put together a musical revue for a small group of up to eight students. I do like creating revues as it gives us the opportunity to select songs that best suit the performers that we have instead of trying to fit them into a one specific show. Especially since they are between the ages of 11 and 16 and their voices are changing and growing. I also like being able to go against type, which can be hard in a musical depending on how specific the descriptions of the characters are.
Using a combination of in-person and zoom classes we are going to focus on musical theatre songs about family, friends, and frenemies. We are only going to have solos or duets as we want to keep the number of students on stage to a minimum so that we can be socially distant. Finding solos songs does appear to be easier as many duets in musical theatre are about romantic love, which is not a favoured topic among this age group.
I am really looking forward to working in-person again as I find zoom classes to be quiet. I feel that it's harder to get the students to talk to me and to answer questions when I am not in the same room as they are.
