Each year students in Advanced Drama have the opportunity to participate in several productions and events, some even outside the classroom. A typical day in Advanced Drama starts out with stretching on stage, a daily reading (typically from Shakespeare), and then a. Advanced Theatre is a one-year class that focuses on preparing for and producing various performances throughout the year including, but not limited to, Haunted Theatre, Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre, Senior Showcase, Drama Night Live, Improv Nights, festivals, and more. This is the class blog for our Advanced Drama Class and we will use this blog page to provide access to the curriculum for the class and to provide some transparency for the parents as well. The activities and the weekly breakdown can be found in the syllabus for the semester.
Pali’s second period Advanced Drama course is made available to aspiring actors at Pali, starting their sophomore year. The class is two semesters long and fulfills Pali’s visual and performing arts credit, but the class itself can be taken multiple times. Taught in Gilbert Hall by Nancy Fracchiolla for the past three years, it requires a teacher recommendation as opposed to other drama classes at Pali — such as seventh period theater ensemble — that do not need any. Typically, most students in Advanced Drama take the theater ensemble course the year prior.
Each student in Advanced Drama is hand-picked by Fracchiolla to join. Fracchiolla looks for students “who have that extra something — students who have talent coupled with intellect and a desire to go more in depth with their artistic sensibility — be that performance, writing, direction or design.” Students are able to demonstrate their ability to Fracchiolla in other drama classes, or in school performances such as plays, musicals, or the live sketch comedy show that Fracchiolla runs, Friday Night Live.
Currently, the class has 21 students. Junior Rachael Weiss accounted the small class size to the fact that “the only people in Advanced Drama are the people who really want to be in Advanced Drama… we all work together really well.”
Senior Hamraz Azizi agrees as well, remarking how, “the people in the class are genuinely interested and put in everything.”
The focal point of the class is to help students who are passionate about drama expand their skills. It involves the study of acting theory, theatre history, writing, directing, producing, performance trends and the relevance that drama has to society.
These subjects are not taught in the traditional classroom style of textbooks and lectures. “We mostly learn through doing,” Weiss explained. Part of their time is used to learn and practice Uta Hagen’s Ten Object Exercises, a famous form of acting development. The students have also performed a silent scene using only delsarte poses, which is a system of dramatic expression created by French musician François Delsarte. Another activity involves putting on masks to “become someone else for a period,” said Weiss. These methods seem to be effective, with Weiss reflecting, “I’ve learned how to approach acting in a whole different light.”
Additionally, Advanced Drama often collaborate with Pali’s Drama, Play Production and Theater Workshop classes in order to create scenery and costumes for Pali’s main stage productions.
Currently, members of the class are also working in groups and pairs on scenes from famous plays such as Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie. They are planning to showcase these scenes in Gilbert Hall on March 7 at 7 p.m.
Another major project that Advanced Drama students are currently working on is an interactive environmental piece titled A Walk Through My Mind. This type of project is an advanced drama staple; last year Advanced Drama students created “Humankind,” a performance crafted entirely from interviews with students, parents and staff. “A Walk Through My Mind” has no confirmed date, but is likely to be performed some time in March.
As the year continues, other Pali students will get to Advanced Drama projects unfold as the its members complete and perform their work.
When asked if she felt that her students were leaving Advanced Drama as better actors or actresses, Fracchiolla responded, “I certainly hope so; I know I’m a better person for having spent time with them.”
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We’ve all been to a football game before. The sweaty players, the food, the enthusiastic parents and students cheering on the game; But something is missing here. The cheerleaders! The Lions cheer squad is down on their luck when new rules for qualifying for nationals requires 5 members to constitute a full squad; but they only have 4.
Britney the cheer captain played by Braylee Bennett, puts together try outs to start their hunt for a new cheerleader. The problem is, the kids trying out aren’t your average cheerleaders. The play, So You Wanna Be A Cheerleader, written by M.G. Davidson, actively portrays this.
Bishop England High School’s Advanced Drama class is producing this marvelous show. Ashlan Stephenson, the instructor of this class says, “This class was created to put into action what the students have previously learned in Drama 1 and 2. Students learn how to produce a show from start to finish”. Their student director, Eliza Stevens, claims “[What’s so special about this show is] the diverse roles that not only I got to piece together in the play, but that the actors got to create. Reading the script you can clearly understand the characters and who they are, but once you have talented, creative, and humorous actors show it on stage it brings the play to life. Cheerleader will make everyone laugh whether you are 5 or 50 years old” .
The show is ridiculously funny regardless if you’ve lived the high school experience or not. Stephen Liming plays Kevin, the sarcastic male cheerleader of the squad. Liming promises “The comedy is quite enjoyable in this production and I think a lot of the jokes will end up landing with the audience”.
Other than the comedy, the show has some good messages. Mary Love Gurrieri plays Brittani, one of the few cheerleaders on the squad. She addresses “Teenagers often always judge a book by its cover and are not very excepting, but judging first impression can backfire” Lauren Mummert, plays Taylor, a girl who wants to try out for the squad. Mummert includes her character has given her insight of a deeper meaning. She discovered that “My character Taylor has shown me that even if something scares me to death I should still shoot for it because you miss every shot you don’t take”.
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This show is funny and enjoyable to those behind the scenes and those in the house. The experience in the class has also inspired students in the class such as Braylee Bennett, Richard Dukes, Lauren Mummert, Mary Love Gurrieri, and Stephen Liming to take a career in the performing arts. They hope this show will also inspire you to reach for the stars no matter how you look or your “popularity rank”.
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So You Wanna Be A Cheerleader is on April 27th at 6:30 p.m. in the Bishop Thompson Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $3. The nearest parking is on the stadium side of the school, near the Gym/Performing Arts Center entrance. For more information contact Ashlan Stephenson, drama teacher, at astephenson@behs.com.