Issue with exclusive high school theatre

[zmb]

This year, I entered my sophomore year of high school as my first year in a 10-12 school. Technical theatre is offered as a class at the school that I chose to take later because currently it is being taught out of portable as the campus is under construction. That has came back to bite because now I am not able to participate at level in the theatre program because I am not in the class. It works the same way for actors too, they have to be taking a drama class (which due to scheduling you aren't ensured entrance to the class) to even audition for any role in a play or muscial; except for the fall production, it consists of 10 people that were casted over the summer, essentially people returning from previous years, no one new.

This has me and other people I know irked because my junior high had a 7th/8th drama class that everyone took unless they became a TA or took a music class and a 9th grade advanced class. We normally produced two shows a year, one mainly composed of the advanced class with some the techs (like me) coming from outside the class because the director knew us and our abilities. The other show was open to for the school to try out for being on cast or crew. I joined on in 7th grade as a followspot opeartor and worked my way up to doing lighting design and using a Strand Palette by my Freshman year. Other people took the same route such as being an assistant props master and later becoming an assistant stage manager.

I and other people feel that the way that the way this is being ran is unfair compared to other programs like sports where you try out to be on the team or for zero period band where if you can play an instruement you can get in. I have become somewhat frustrated over this and looking for some help on how to deal with this.

 

[Grog12]

Honestly you have 2 options:

You can take it in stride, take the class when its offered and move on.
or
Talk to the person in charge of the theatre department at your school to see if you can volunteer.

I understand that your Jr High ran things differently. That's because it worked that way at your Jr. High. Different teachers teach differently.

 

[actorgeek]

Do you have a ton of kids in your theater program? I have seen schools do this as a way to give everyone intrested a shot at being a part of a show by limiting the number of kids who can audition. By only allowing upper classmen to audition it gives them a chance to play bigger roles, allowing them to have better and bigger resumes, which help if they are looking at majoring in theater in college. Likewise with the crew, if a senior can say they were the lighting designer for all the shows their senior year, it looks great on a resume.

My theater program is pretty fair about letting everyone be involved and do what they want to. However when it comes to crewing, stage managing, directing, etc. seniority takes priority.

Do what you can to get involved in anyway possible.

We always remembered there would be other shows.

 

[zmb]

I'm not sure how many people are involved but the fall production is a cast of 10 people all juniors and seniors that was casted over the summer. I am fine with letting the upper classmen have bigger roles and crew positions, I wouldn't expect to walk in my first year to be a lead character or a stage manager or designer. But getting your foot in the door is proving to be difficult because the director has been busy or out of her room in the past week and didn't want to let me know when I could come by again.

 

[Footer]

I taught at a performing arts magnet school for a period of time, so I'm not talking out of my rear end here. Big secret, all shows in education are roughly pre-cast before the show is picked. In the world of education, you are extremely limited in the shows you due to casting. If you have 15 girls and 2 guys, you can't do 1776. Every show has weird requirements. A good director will pick a show that will be a challenge to his/her students while at the same time be in their reach. You aren't going to do Oedipus with a cast that had problems with Charlie Brown. As much as it sucks, it is a fact of life in education. Not every role is finalized before auditions, but a rough framework is usually in place.

Right now, its the beginning of the year. You and your friends are "untested". The reason why the director is casting out of the class is because it gives her a chance to see what you are like outside of a 1 min audition. You are starting at a new school, you can't expect to just drop in to what you were before. EVERY time you change in life, this same thing will happen, be it college or a new job. Here is the beutiful thing about the world of education though... in 2 years YOU will be the senior and be at the top of the pecking order. At that time you will look down to all the new people and think the same thing they are thinking about you. Its how it works, you have to put in your time to get your position.

I know it sucks. I have been there. Everyone on CB has been there. School has not been in session that long. I bet that later in the year they will be more then open to getting new blood in the theatre.

 

[len]

Did you try talking to your counselor? While most high school children don't like this and I try and stay away as much as possible, maybe it's time for your parents to intervene.

 

[JVV]

Did you try talking to your counselor? While most high school children don't like this and I try and stay away as much as possible, maybe it's time for your parents to intervene.

I guarantee the director, TD or any other teacher involved will be more impressed with you if you continue to plug along and volunteer for ANY position that opens up, rather than have you send your parents to 'intervene'. There is nothing worse than a parent who only hears their child's side of the story, coming in and demanding you give their precious child a position in the cast/crew.

Stick with it. Your time is coming.

 

[zmb]

Did you try talking to your counselor? While most high school children don't like this and I try and stay away as much as possible, maybe it's time for your parents to intervene.

I am going to try to meet the director again tomorrow and talk to her. Depending on how that goes I will go see my counselor.

Second, my parents don't like the situation either because they know how much I like continuing in tech theatre and my Dad was actively involved when he was in high school.

 

[MNicolai]

Some high schools don't have a very strong theatre program, and that's that. Have you considered transferring to a different high school? We've had a few students this enroll at our school from different school districts into our program for nothing other than that's the high school that they thought would best let them prosper in the performing arts.

If you've got a real problem with how things are and they aren't going to change through the year, find a different high school and ask about open enrollment, then transfer between terms or at semester.

 

[zmb]

Some high schools don't have a very strong theatre program, and that's that. Have you considered transferring to a different high school? We've had a few students this enroll at our school from different school districts into our program for nothing other than that's the high school that they thought would best let them prosper in the performing arts.

If you've got a real problem with how things are and they aren't going to change through the year, find a different high school and ask about open enrollment, then transfer between terms or at semester.

This school use to have a strong drama program that involved events like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with an old director.

I would love the idea of transferring high schools along with some other people but then I would have to deal with waivers and transportation; even if I had a license right now I couldn't get a parking permit until next year.

 

[Footer]

Some high schools don't have a very strong theatre program, and that's that. Have you considered transferring to a different high school? We've had a few students this enroll at our school from different school districts into our program for nothing other than that's the high school that they thought would best let them prosper in the performing arts.

If you've got a real problem with how things are and they aren't going to change through the year, find a different high school and ask about open enrollment, then transfer between terms or at semester.

If the school is offering technical theatre as a class, I don't think this is a small theatre program. Very few programs in the country have that. When I taught in Georgia, I was one of four teachers in the entire state that was teaching off the technical theatre state standards. Technical theatre classes are very rare. If your school has that class, I would do everything possible to stay at that school. It also sounds like you are in the midst of getting some new facilities. That could also be contributing to the small show.

Don't move schools. Don't panic. You will get your chance. Don't make any huge decisions after your 1st to 5th week of school.

 

[DuckJordan]

While I will seem very harsh in this post, I intend it to help you understand what is going on.

As a new student you are not proven to anyone but your old teachers and maybe a few of your friends on how well you do your work. That said Middle school is different than any other theater thing out there. I can't remember the last time i was ever impressed with things that came out of 7/8th grade drama programs (not to say i don't enjoy their performances and see the use of them) but that will not get you in the door of any college drama programs if you haven't worked in High school as a technician. When i started college this year, you had to be enrolled in a drama course to have any part of the program. This is to allow the people who are wanting to go into the art for a profession. I see more and more high schools becoming exclusive on who they let in the program because its starting to get larger and larger as far as student involvement.

Just as everyone else has said, volunteer for anything and everything. Show her that you are willing to do the S$&% work. The worst technicians are the ones who feel they are above picking up a broom and sweeping a stage floor if they are on sound because "That's not their job".

This may or may not be your situation but there is a student who is in the theater program here who is a freshman and expects to be handed keys and a show to design. Lets just say he has been sorting gel and cleaning seats for the last month.

 

[museav]

Technical theatre is offered as a class at the school that I chose to take later because currently it is being taught out of portable as the campus is under construction. That has came back to bite because now I am not able to participate at level in the theatre program because I am not in the class.

I'm trying to understand the situation. It sounds like participation is tied to being enrolled in one of the classes and you chose to not enroll in the class. Was that link between the class and participation not understood when you made the choice?

 

[zmb]

DuckJordan, I have tried having another student that is already in drama class vouch for my experience and it sounds like to do the simplest tasks like sort gel and sweep the floor you still need to be in the class.

museav, I was not aware of the requirement for being in the class when filling out registration nor were other people I know.

 

[gafftaper]

First off it is not at all unusual to have both acting in a production and being on the tech crew tied to being in a class. When I was teaching high school that's the way I ran my program. I would say that in most schools that have a tech class it's very likely that you are required to take the class to work on the crew.

There are many reasons for this:
1) It shows that the school believes that the arts (and more specifically tech theater) are valuable. Your school considers Tech theater to be a valid vocational choice, just like taking a shop or CAD class. Too many schools don't offer the class at all or consider it a side activity like sports. That's sad. Too many schools have a drama teacher who is teaching English all day and drama is just an after school club. Students get very little real training in tech in these places. Be thankful that your school is actually the rare one committed to a real tech program where you can learn something.
2) It's an opportunity for you to learn tech the right way. I don't know you, so please don't take this personally, but the likelihood that you have picked up a lot of bad habits in middle school are very high. It's also very likely that you know some basic operation, but you know very little about why things work the way they do. I get so many students coming to me at the college who think they know all about tech theater and they just don't. They've never had a good class with someone who really knows what they are doing. They may know basic operation of a light or sound board but they know nothing about the theory of why they are doing what they are doing. So taking a class is a great opportunity for you to really learn something.
3) For the school requiring the class is a way for the teacher to sort out the students they don't want to have around. I required students to take my intro to tech class to do anything with me. This gave me the opportunity to assess who I could trust and who I wanted to have around. If students had a bad attitude, drove other students crazy, were lazy, not responsible, careless... I'm not letting them on my real crew. How do I find out who I want on the crew? Take the class.
4) If the teacher lets everyone work without taking the class, the class will get cut due to low enrollment and then the teacher looses their job.
5) I'm not sure which school you are at, but many of the East side high schools good reputations for their theater programs. That means the programs are pretty competitive. Why should the teacher allow a student they know nothing about come in out of the blue and be part of the crew when there is an entire class full of trained students to choose from? In a competitive environment you have to prove yourself and earn an opportunity. The fare way to do that is in class like everyone else.

Second Issue. Going to the principal and complaining is only going to isolate you further from the program. Like I said this is a common practice, especially in schools with a good theater program and good teachers. You may be God's gift to tech theater but you are nothing in the program until you do your basic training and prove yourself. There are lots of students who want to do tech. How do you get your chance to prove yourself? Take the class. It isn't fare to the other students to let you come in and take over when others are working hard doing the work and learning the theory. So, going down to the principal and complaining is only going to put you on a black list with both the teacher and students.

You made a mistake in not registering due to lack of information. Sorry. That's the way life is sometimes. You mentioned having another student vouch for you. Did you talk to the teacher yourself or did the other student talk for you? You aren't going to get anywhere without a personal appeal.

If you are at Eastlake drop me a PM. I'm old friends with the theater manager there. I doubt she will change the program for you, but maybe I can at least help you get an accurate understanding of how the program works.

 

[zmb]

Just before people think I'm the only one crying wolf here I have support against the current policy from my former director, the former teacher at the school, a lighting designer who I learned a lot from and other students both in and out of the class.

Over the summer, a change was made to being able to join the drama classes that people had to sign up for two semesters. People I knew that only signed up from one semester were dropped from the class without being aware of the change and therefore not allowed to change their schedule.

 

[Tex]

JVV gave you some very valuable advice. Keep volunteering. Ask about working as an usher or cleaning up after shows. Ask if you can clean the paint trap. That alone would earn you a place in my program. If that fails, go to every performance of every show and be the biggest fan they have. If you really want to be part of the program, make sure it's obvious from the things you do. Always be polite and when given the opportunity, work hard and follow directions.
My thoughts on who gets to participate are a bit different from the majority of posters, but then again the graduation requirements are a bit different in Texas. Every student is required to have a fine arts credit. This tends to fill up lots of sections of Art I, Theatre I, and Tech Theatre I.
I'm the director (and TD) in a school with about 2400 students. The theatre program has about 200 students enrolled. I teach two Production classes, two Tech I classes, and one Tech II, III, IV class. My beginning tech classes are a mixture of (mostly) kids that want to be there and (a few) kids that just need a credit. I cannot, as part of the curriculum require that a student participate in an extra-curricular activity unless I don't charge admission. I'll do that for student directs, but I can't for the musical. They'll work on the show in class, but I can't require them to come in after school. The designers and crew chiefs come out of the advanced class and anyone who takes the time to fill out the audition form and get it signed by their parents is welcome to work on a crew. Most of the musical crews are made up of Tech I kids and kids who auditioned but were not cast.
I have learned over the years that a closed audition process limits my options as a director and eliminates opportunities for kids who may not be able to fit a theatre class into their schedule. Of course, I choose a play that I can cast with my students if they're the only ones that show up at auditions but by opening auditions to the entire student body I have the option of casting that stuco kid who's taking 6 AP courses or the football player who's not doing anything after school in the spring. I can't imagine how my musical would sound without the choir kids. It's an effort to schedule and I have to share time with other activities, but I feel like I'd be shooting myself in the foot if I didn't have open auditions. An added bonus is that my production class kids know that there's added competition for roles and work harder.
There are many ways to run a successful theatre program; this is just what works for me.

 

[zmb]

Update: My counselor called the drama teacher two weeks ago to talk to her about the situation and hasn't gotten a call back. I am thinking about bringing this up with the principal if she isn't returning calls and willing to discuss.

 

[DuckJordan]

Update: My counselor called the drama teacher two weeks ago to talk to her about the situation and hasn't gotten a call back. I am thinking about bringing this up with the principal if she isn't returning calls and willing to discuss.

This tells me two things neither connected. Either your counselor never called the drama teacher or you drama teacher is showing that you should TALK TO THEM ABOUT IT! your working around her and quite frankly if i was the drama teacher i would show how you as a student are working not only against her but the way the school is set up. I find too many students that do this in high school think they can get away with in college. We just had a kid get kicked out of the school for trying the crap your pulling (sorry to sound like an ass but that's exactly what your doing) by working around the drama teacher by using a counselor then going to the principal it shows your not willing to take the time to get into the program but would rather have the door held open to you.

Sorry if it hurts but from where I'm standing that looks exactly like what your doing.

 

[MNicolai]

Update: My counselor called the drama teacher two weeks ago to talk to her about the situation and hasn't gotten a call back. I am thinking about bringing this up with the principal if she isn't returning calls and willing to discuss.

That's a fast way to make a lot of enemies.