Great Children’s Musicals & Plays
Tips for Planning a Successful Production
Putting on a children's show can be daunting. Carefully consider how to approach and execute a children's production ensures its success.
When you envision having the kids in your religious group or school putting on a musical or play, it is easy to see the end product of children standing on risers and singing their hearts out or loudly delivering their lines. Getting to that day is the challenge. The hope is that the entire process, from conception to performance day, is a positive experience. There are a few things you can do to ensure that this will happen.
Plan the Schedule Well in Advance
Now that you have decided to dive into the process, you need to make sure that have planned out on a calendar every rehearsal and performance. This can be a complicated process if you are apart of an active organization, such as a large school or church, with many activities to schedule around.
Be aware of holiday weekends, which often take families out of town. Thanksgiving week, for example, is a time when you can expect to have low attendance. It is still important to have rehearsal if at all possible.
Get Parent Commitment
Without parent commitment you can not have a musical at all. Parents need to be willing to:
- Bring kids to rehearsal regularly and on time
- Work with kids to memorize parts
- Donate either time or props to the production
When it comes to the drama, parents need to be particularly willing to work with kids to memorization both the songs and dialogue. Memorization needs to happen at home. While repetition at rehearsals will help them, it won’t be enough. When the kids memorize their parts at home it lets the time they spend with the group to be about making their role come together with everyone else.
Have all necessary materials ahead of time
It can be exciting to get started as soon as you have a preview pack or the first part of music or script in hand. However, it is smart to wait until all parts of the necessary materials are purchased and delivered. It would be difficult to acquire a CD or drama script if it goes out of print. If you are using older materials, this is especially important. Many dramas and musicals go out of print rather quick for children since they are designed with pop culture references and jokes. It pays to wait the extra week to make sure that you have everything you will need for the next few months.
Have Plan B, C, and D Ready to Go
It would be nice if everything ran exactly the way you wanted it to. Like everything in life, though, you have to expect the unexpected. Not every single possible chance can be planned for, but there are a few good back up to have.
- Have understudies for each of the actors.
- Plan alternate locations for the performance.
- Know what you would do if the piano player doesn’t show up
- Plan how you would play the music if the main sound system won’t work
Have Fun
This might be hard to remember when the stress starts building up, but make the experience fun for the kids. Introduce music with games, such as musical chairs. Play memorization games as the event gets closer to test them. Reducing the stress of over rehearsing will make the kids a little less anxious leading up to the event.
Take time to plan everything out and have fun with the kids.
