THEATRE DEPARTMENT DESCRIPTION & PHILOSOPHY
There are two components of the LRHS drama department. The first is the variety of courses offered to students as Arts electives. Any student may take Theatre Arts I and/or Technical Theater I. After either of these prerequisites are met, students may take, with teacher approval, higher level courses in Theater Arts and/or Technical Theater. The progression is as follows:
|
Theater Arts |
Technical Theater |
| Theater Arts I (open to Freshmen – Seniors) | Technical Theater I (open to Freshmen –
Seniors) |
| Theater Arts II (open to Sophomores – Seniors
who have taken Theater Arts I) |
Technical Theater II (open to Freshmen –
Seniors who have taken Technical Theater I) |
| Mainstage Theatrics – This is an audition only class and is given honors credit. Students who have completed Theater Arts II may audition for their Junior and Senior years. | Tech Crew – This is an application based class and students who have taken Technical Theater I and held a leadership position for a show or students who have completed Technical Theater II may apply. Only the top applicants are taken for this competitive class. First time Tech Crew students will receive one semester of honors credit while students who are repeating Tech Crew will receive two semesters of honors credit. |
| Students may take technical theater all eight terms at Leesville for credit if it fits in their schedule. They should see their Guidance Counselor for more information
|
In order to offer students an opportunity to experience real theatre, the department also has two main stage productions; a fallproduction and a spring musical. It is the strong belief of Mrs. Catania and Ms. Wrayno that all students should have the opportunity to benefit from the teamwork and personal growth theatre production provides. It is for these reasons that they require all theater students to spend time after school working on each production per quarter. There are three ways that they may work on a production: by being cast as an actor, by being on a running crew for tech, or by being on a non-running crew for tech. Running crews are the crews that have jobs to do during the run of the show and a daily rehearsal schedule that runs from the Saturday prior to the show through the close of the show. Non-running crews do not have to be at school the week of the show.
Auditions are held for two days with callbacks on the third day. In order to assure that all students have an equal chance to get on their first choice crew, there is an after school meeting to sign up for crews. Students who are unable to attend the meeting (which is on the Important Theater Dates sheet) will be able to sign up for crews in class the next day, however some crews may already be full by this time. When students sign up for crews, they will be able to mark on their form if they want to be on a running or non-running crew. We try hard to put students on one of their first three choices for crews, but spaces are limited and they may not get their first choice crew. The crew heads, Ms. Wrayno, and Mrs. Catania work hard to make sure each student is placed on a crew where they will best be able to utilize their talents for the good of the show. Once placed on a crew, students will have a meeting where the crew’s competencies will be explained. Running crews have competency auditions to get onto the running crew. Non-running crews such as paint or set construction have competency auditions to get on a “mini-crew” which is the crew that meets up to four times a week. Past experience, ability to work with others, ability to take direction, and skills demonstrated are all taken into account in these competencies. In order to make sure our beginning theater students have an opportunity to gain experience which ensures a continuation of a strong crew after seniors graduate, we make sure that when possible the running crews and the mini-crews have some students from each grade level on the crew. To further help with this effort no running crew or mini-crew may be more than one half seniors. Students who do not make the mini-crew are still on the set construction or paint crew but will only be expected to come two days of the week. These days will be determined at the first crew meeting. Students who do not make running crew for their assigned crew will be assigned to that crew’s strike crew in order to have an opportunity to get their hours for second quarter. Students staying after school to work on the shows may receive activitybus passes from them on days the activity bus runs. Students who have extenuating circumstances that prevent them from working on the show should see Mrs. Catania and Ms. Wrayno for alternative options or assignments.
Mrs. Catania is the director of Troupe #5540 which is part of the prestigious International Thespian Society. Ms. Wrayno assists in many of the club’s activities. Students must put in a minimum of 100 hours into two play productions. Students are inducted twice a year and there is an induction fee that covers their lifetime membership in the national organization. Students interested in learning more should visit the website www.edta.org and click on International Thespian Society or see Mrs. Catania. Yearly membership dues are $25 for Freshmen-Juniors and $37 for Seniors (the extra money covers their cords for graduation). Once inducted, students are expected to attend general meetings and ITS events. For more information visit ITS’s website: http://lrhsits.wordpress.com/.
