Theatre Arts
Introduction to Theatre Arts
“Musical Theatre”
Directed & Taught by
Iliza Abbe
Our musical theatre class is designed to allow your child to experience all the excitement of performing, singing, and pretending in a tremendously supportive and age appropriate environment. This class is designed to benefit both the child who just can’t get enough singing, dancing and make believe, as well as the child who feels shy and has a hard time opening up in new situations. Every class emphasizes acting as a way to use yourself, your body, face and voice to tell the audience a story.
We play the “scene” game in which the children use their imagination and improvisation to show that we are in the desert, at a castle, in a magic garden or a haunted house. We play “cue” games that encourage active listening as the children are asked to listen for a magic word and react to it, while they are engaged in a story. Part of every class is devoted to learning and singing popular songs that will comprise a performance that each class gives at the end of the year.
The children love the opportunity to ”put on a show” for a truly appreciative audience. My class supports children’s growing ability to empathize, by observing and investigating the way feelings “look.” We talk about how we know that a character is feeling proud, sad, excited, happy, scared, worried, etc. As a teacher I am always gratified and excited to watch the children grow in self-confidence, sensitivity, and ability over the course of the year.