Filed under: Teaching, Theater Making, Uncategorized | Tags: Outdoor Theater, poetry, Teaching during the pandemic, Wizard of Oz
The K-12 Musical is an impossible event that happens every year at the school where I teach theater. Impossible and yet we do it. This year could have been the year we didn’t do one, and no one would have taken it amiss. But I wanted my seniors to have their last show. I wanted the school to have something we could all do that was three dimensional, something that engaged not just our minds, but our bodies and voices as well. And so I devised a version of The Wizard of Oz that took place outdoors before a limited audience that travelled with Dorothy through the Land of Oz. Over a hundred children aged 6-18 took part. Even more added their voices to the music recorded in music class, some even composed the spooky music I added to the sound design. These blog entries are a brief chronicle of the production, the following pieces were born just before before the last great week of rehearsal known as Tech Week.
Cue the despair I’ve hit that inevitable stage Where I’m certain There’s no way in Hell Heaven or Earth I can pull it off. The tasks are insurmountable The kids don’t know what they are doing, And what’s more, they never will. No matter how hard I pull, It’s not going to cross the finish line. Time to get a big haircut. It’s my only hope.
Sunday morning at Cave Hill
I am pretending for a little while that the world of Oz is not barreling down on me, that I have all the time in the world to sit here on this stone bench, content in the knowledge that there is a fox family safely cuddled in its den, just to the right of the azalea hedge. A glimpse of them would be more than I could stand. The gates just opened, I’ve not seen anyone else except for a grounds crew whacking the grasses around the graves near the great gingko tree- FOX!
All the things still to be done Jostle for center stage, Twist into a familiar headache And wake me hours before dawn- What about me? Me! I was here first, You haven’t forgotten about me, have you? Me! Puzzle pieces clamor To be put in their place. Breathing at the meditation window, The sky is full of helicopters Hovering over some disaster Unfolding across the river. There’s a brawl inside my head, I cannot hear the birds who sing before first light. Their faith in the dawn does not forsake them.
Careening into Tech Week Fatigue makes it harder to keep my footing In the stream of special requests To miss rehearsals To miss performances dance recitals, horse shows, track meets, college visits, haircuts, doctor’s appointments so sorry couldn’t be helped hope it’s not too much trouble too much trouble too much my brain is spinning like Dorothy’s house- How do I make that work? Steal ten minutes here, fifteen there, lunch, recess, practice, prepare. I’m supposed to be able to pull Whatever I need out of my little blue bag, Voila, I’m supposed to say, Here is your solution Here is how we will make this work But today I don’t think I’m a good enough wizard to manage it.
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The Fox at Dawn 