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In response to educators' growing need for Broadway show study guides that met National Curriculum Standards and were usable in the classroom, Camp Broadway created StageNOTES®: A Field Guide for Teachers. This series of study guides provides relevant, useful background information, with a uniformity of style and lesson plans. The content of our study guides is specifically written to be useful as a teaching tool whether or not the class sees the show. For example, The Color Purple study guide is extremely effective for students studying the novel.
StageNotes® is our creative response to the need for standards-compliant curriculum. We hope you, your students, and your family enjoy using our guides as much as we enjoy creating them for you!
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13
When his parents get divorced and he's forced to move from New York to a small town in Indiana, Evan Goldman just wants to make friends and survive the school year.
Easier said than done.
The star quarterback is threatening to ruin his life and his only friend, Patrice, won't talk to him. The school freak sees an opportunity for blackmail and someone is spreading the nastiest rumors.
With an unforgettable rock score from past Tony Award®-winning composer Jason Robert Brown, "13" is a hilarious, high-energy musical for all ages about discovering that cool is where you find it, and sometimes where you least expect it.
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A Tale of Two Cities
Two men in love with the same woman, two cities swept up by revolution. And one last chance for a man to redeem his wasted life and change the world. The best and worst qualities of humanity are vividly brought to life in this breathtaking adaptation of Dickens’ timeless story. Legendary characters. Thrilling music. Visually stunning design.
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42nd Street
42nd Street features the career of up-and-coming chorus girl Peggy Sawyer, seeking a Broadway career. After gathering her courage for hours, she enters to audition for Julian Marsh's new musical, Pretty Lady. Marsh is a director trying to get on top after the Great Depression with one last musical. Unfortunately, the audition is over when Peggy arrives. Luckily for her, the suave tenor lead of Pretty Lady, Billy Lawlor, is attracted to Peggy and gets her to sing with him and get noticed by Julian, who puts her in the show as a chorus girl. The lead of the musical is Dorothy Brock, who was cast for the sole reason that her boyfriend is the show's angel. During the show’s opening night, Peggy accidentally trips and pushes Dorothy Brock, causing her to fall and break her ankle. Billy and the cast convince Julian to replace Dorothy with Peggy in order to continue the show. At the train station, Julian tries to convince Peggy to stay, singing to her: "Come on along and listen to the lullaby of Broadway...." and she decides to stay and do the musical. The show is a huge success and pushes Peggy into stardom. The lyrics sung by Marsh to Sawyer, from the song "The Lullaby of Broadway," have become among the best recognized musical lyrics in Broadway history.
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A Year With Frog and Toad
Arnold Lobel's well-loved characters hop from the page to the stage in Robert and Willie Reale's musical A Year With Frog And Toad. Conceived by Mr. Lobel's daughter, Adrianne Lobel, A Year With Frog And Toad remains true to the spirit of the original stories as it follows two great friends, the cheerful and popular Frog and the rather grumpy Toad through four fun-filled seasons. Waking from hibernation in the spring, they proceed to plant gardens, swim, rake leaves and go sledding, learning life lessons along the way, including a most important one about friendship and rejoicing in the attributes that make each of us different and special.
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Billy Elliot
The one name on everybody’s lips is BILLY. BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL is the new show that has captured Broadway’s heart and received the best reviews for any musical in years. Called “EXTRAORDINARILY UPLIFTING” by Time Out New York and “INTOXICATING” by The New York Times, BILLY ELLIOT is a joyous, exciting and feel-good celebration of one boy following his heart and making his dreams come true. Billy's life is packed with the culture of County Durham in northern England during the mid-1980s. The musical brings every detail to vivid life, from the bawdy lingo to the life-shattering Miners' Strike. This rough, gruff, working-class world starkly contrasts with Billy's peaceful ballet class escape.
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Cats
Winner of 7 Tony Awards (including Best Musical), CATS has become an international sensation. Boasting Andrew Lloyd Webber’s award winning score, this magical production has given millions of people an inside look at the Jellicle tribe of cats and their dreams of making it to the Heavyside Layer. Find out more about life as a cat in one of the most famous and loved musicals in Broadway history!
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Chicago
"Murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery--all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts."
So begins the musical Chicago--and creators John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse never back off from their bold and sinister promise. Chicago is the kiss-and-tell tale of Roxie Hart, a chorus girl who kills her lover as a career move; Billy Flynn, a sharp lawyer who turns Roxie into a celebrity; and Velma Kelly, a dancing jailbird with an ear for headlines and an eye for talent.
Chicago, winner of six 1997 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival, is a loving look back at vaudeville, a timely satire of the justice system, and a reminder of what great theater can be.
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Dirty Dancing
The movie Dirty Dancing is a legendary entertainment phenomenon. The soundtrack continues to sell millions of copies. Re-imagined for the stage by the original screenwriter, DIRTY DANCING - The Classic Story On Stage, combines all the intensity and excitement of live theater with new songs, new scenes, and thrilling new dances. Whether you're a fan of the film, or you've never seen it before, DIRTY DANCING on stage is an unprecedented live experience, exploding with heart-pounding music, breathtaking emotion and sensationally sexy dancing.
Step inside the classic story of Baby and Johnny -- two fiercely independent young spirits from different worlds who come together in what will be the most challenging and triumphant summer of their lives-told by a tremendous cast of 37 and featuring 35 hit songs, including "Hungry Eyes, "Hey Baby, "Do you Love me?" and the heart stopping "(I've had) the Time of my Life." DIRTY DANCING- The Clasic story On Stage has everything you remember from the movie-and more! The show all comes to heart-racing life with additional brand-new scenes that make the story resonate even more deeply with fans and newcomers alike.
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Frost Nixon
How was it that a famous British talk-show host, with a playboy reputation, was the one to elicit the apology that the rest of the world was waiting to hear from a former U.S. President? This fast-paced new play takes audiences into the minds of Richard Nixon and David Frost and shows the determination, conviction and lengths that these two men, and their closest confidantes, went to as they took the stage in one of the most hard fought political interviews in history," describe press notes. Frost/Nixon debuted in a sold-out run at London's Donmar Warehouse before transferring to the West End, winning a 2007 Evening Standard Award. The show opened on Broadway in April 2007 earned a Best Actor Tony award for Frank Langella.
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Grease
Grease, by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, is the all-American musical, based on the sub-cultures of high school life in the 1950’s. The show takes place at Rydell High School, where Danny Zuko fronts his gang – the T-Birds – who romance their female equivalents – the Pink Ladies. When good-girl Sandy Dumbrowski arrives in town, the Pink Ladies take her under their collective wing. The Grease StageNotes takes a curriculum compliant look at the themes of this classic musical.
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Gypsy
Set during the vaudeville era, Gypsy is about a relentless stage mother, Rose, traveling the country with her two daughters, June and Louise, and their manager, Herbie. While June and Louise wish their mother would settle down and marry Herbie, Rose continues to pursue dreams of stardom for her girls. When June deserts the act, Rose turns her attention to the shy Louise, whom she hopes to fashion into a star. When the act is booked into a burlesque house by mistake, Louise is forced into the spotlight and Gypsy Rose Lee is born.
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Hairspray
In Hairspray it's 1962 - the '50s are out and change is in the air. Baltimore's Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion--to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance program, "The Corny Collins Show" and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the program's reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her 'do? Only in Hairspray! Welcome to the '60s! The musical features an original score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Their songs take Tracy from the soundstage of a 60's-style dance show to the streets of Baltimore to a downtown rhythm and blues record shop.
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In The Heights
IN THE HEIGHTS is a new musical about three days in the life of Washington Heights, a vibrant and tight knit community at the top of the island of Manhattan. It's a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music.
Find out what it takes to make a living, what it costs to have a dream, and what it means to be home. Previews begin on Broadway February 14, 2008 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
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Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is the story of an orphan girl who overcomes an abusive childhood and the death of her best friend to become the governess of Thornfield Hall. At Thornfield Hall, she falls in love with Edward Rochester, an Earl with a dark secret. On their wedding day she discovers his secret: he already has a wife, an insane lunatic hidden in the attic. Shocked, Jane flees to her childhood home, to find that her aunt is dying. Even though her Aunt had treated her cruelly as a child, Jane forgives her. In her absolution of her aunt, and the realization that she is someone who can love and be loved in exchange, she returns to Thornfield Hill, only to discover it has burned to the ground and Rochester has been blinded. Jane and Rochester are married and soon Rochester's sight partially returns so that he is able to see his new-born son.
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Legally Blonde
Sorority star Elle Woods doesn't take "no" for an answer. So when her boyfriend dumps her for someone “serious,” Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style. LEGALLY BLONDE The Musical has been created by a dean's list of top-of-their-class Broadway talent, including Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Jerry (Hairspray) Mitchell; composer and lyricist Laurence (Batboy) O'Keefe and Nell (Sarah, Plain and Tall) Benjamin; book writer Heather (Freaky Friday) Hach; and scenic designer David (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) Rockwell. LEGALLY BLONDE The Musical will take you from the sorority house to the halls of justice with Broadway's brightest new heroine (and of course, her chihuahua, Bruiser).
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Movin' Out
Movin' Out is a jukebox musical featuring the songs of Billy Joel. Conceived by Twyla Tharp, the musical tells the story of a generation of American youth growing up on Long Island during the 1960s and their experiences with the Vietnam War. The principal characters are drawn from those who appeared in various Joel tunes: high school sweethearts Brenda and Eddie ("Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"), James ("James"), Judy ("Why Judy Why"), and Tony (Anthony in "Movin' Out"). The show is unusual in that, unlike the traditional musical, it essentially is a series of dances linked by a thin plot, and none of the dancers sing. All the vocals are performed by a pianist and band suspended on a platform above the stage while the dancers act out the narrative sans dialogue.
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Rent
Eight friends. One extraordinary year. A story of Love. Hope. Struggle.
Triumph. Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize Winner for Drama and the 1996
Tony Award Winner for Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best
Featured Actor in a Musical.
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Spamalot
More than just the 2005 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Monty Python's Spamalot reigns supreme as the funniest show on earth! A wild, wacky and wonderfully demented re-telling of the tale of King Arthur, Spamalot features those legendary knights of the round table, as well as flying cows, taunting Frenchman, dancing chorus girls and killer rabbits.
If you haven't figured it out already, Spamalot is an adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the 1975 film that is the best loved and most successful of the Monty Python screen ventures. A favorite of critics and audiences alike, Spamalot is not one to miss. Get your tickets today for a quest you'll never forget!
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Stomp
One of the most unique theatre experiences in the world of performance, STOMP has played to thousands of sold-out audiences around the globe. Company members use everything from dustpans to garbage can lids to create a pulsating and thrilling show. Audiences everywhere have been awakened and inspired by this physical tour de force, helping individuals all over the world to find the rhythm in their own lives.
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Sweet Charity
Sweet Charity is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. Adapted from Nights of Cabiria, a film by Federico Fellini, Sweet Charity tells the story of an optimistic young woman, Charity, who not only wears her heart on her sleeve, she's had it tattooed to her arm! As the play begins, Charity finds herself dumped by the married man on whom she had pinned all her hopes and dreams, and she vows never again to be taken advantage of by a man. But Charity is too trusting and soon finds herself involved with an Italian movie star. The actor, however, is no better than the other men Charity has dated, and once again she finds herself jilted and alone. The next night, however, as fate would have it, she finds herself trapped in an elevator with a claustrophobic tax accountant who soon sweeps Charity off her feet. Soon it becomes clear that this man is different--that he actually wants to marry her--but will he still feel the same way when he finds out that Charity works at the Fan-Dango as a dance hall hostess? Sweet Charity premiered at the Palace Theatre, New York, on January 29, 1966 with a cast that featured Gwen Verdon (Charity), John Mcmartin (Oscar), Thelma Oliver (Helene), James Luisi (Vidal), Arnold Soboloff (Daddy), and Sharon Ritchie (Ursala). The production, which was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, was directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. The 1986 Broadway revival won Tony Awards for Best Revival, Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael Rupert), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Bebe Neuwirth), and Best Costume Design (Patricia Zipprodt).A second revival, starring television and film star Christina Applegate, opened on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on May 4, 2005. The show was nominated for three Tony awards including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical for Applegate. The show ended its Broadway run on December 31, 2005, after playing 279 performances. A national tour of the recent Broadway revival began in September 2006 starring Molly Ringwald as Charity Hope Valentine. In June 2007, Paige Davis took over the role for the remainder of the tour.
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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a one act musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn and a book by Rachel Sheinkin. The show centers around a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam County. Six quirky adolescents compete in the Bee, run by three equally-quirky grown-ups. The spellers learn that winning isn't everything. The 2005 Broadway production, directed by James Lapine was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning two, including Best Book. The show has spawned various other productions in the U.S., a national tour and Australian productions. An unusual aspect of the show is that three or four real audience members are invited on stage to compete in the spelling bee alongside the six young characters.
This StageNOTES® was produced with Bridge Multimedia and Universal Design on Stage providing rich support for experiencing theatre including:
- A large print version of the program, a foreign language version of the program, a spoken word version of the program and a Braille version.
- Synopses are provided in advance in foreign languages and in simplified English; pre-show introductions are provided to patrons who are visually impaired or blind; hard of hearing or deaf, or have limited English proficiency.
- An accompanying study guide, aligned to what students are learning, gives school groups a reason to attend the theatre.
- Performances with a sign language interpreter, or with an educational associate further extend the theatre experience.
Click here to download the study guide PDF
Click here to listen to the Visual Description for this show
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The Color Purple
The Color Purple is a joyous musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s award-winning novel. This guide has been developed as a teaching tool to assist educators in the classroom who are introducing their students to the story.
By using StageNOTES®, you will understand how The Color Purple exposes the past (History), expands our visual and verbal vocabulary (Language Arts), encourages creative thinking and expression (The Performing Arts), illuminates the human condition (Behavioral Studies), and aids in our own self-exploration (Life Skills).
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Urinetown
Urinetown: The Musical begins its satirical tale of industrial corruption in a Gotham-like city, where a 20-year drought has brought on a crippling water shortage. In a mad attempt to regulate water consumption, the government has outlawed the use of private toilets. The citizenry must use public, pay-per-use amenities owned and operated by Urine Good Company (or "UGC"), a private corporation run by the corrupt and iron-fisted Caldwell B. Cladwell. Anyone who refuses to pay is immediately and without question hauled off to Urinetown. Nobody knows exactly what happens in Urinetown, but the population is going mad, desperate for relief.
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Wicked
Long before Dorothy dropped in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One - born with emerald green skin - is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding new musical in years. WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman ("My So Called Life," "Once And Again" and "thirtysomething"), and is based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire. With musical staging by Tony Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who's Tommy, How To Succeed...), WICKED is directed by 2003 and 2004 Tony Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, A Man of No Importance).
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Young Frankenstein
When Frederick Frankenstein (that's Fronkensteen), an esteemed New York brain surgeon and professor, inherits a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his grandfather, deranged genius Victor Von Frankenstein, he faces a dilemma. Does he continue to run from his family's tortured past or does he stay in Transylvania to carry on his grandfather's mad experiments reanimating the dead and, in the process, fall in love with his sexy lab assistant Inga? Together with Inga and his oddly shaped yet endearing helper Igor (that's Eye-gor), the good doctor succeeds in creating a monster—but not without scary and often hilarious consequences.
Based on Mel Brooks' hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein unfolds in the forbidding Castle Frankenstein and the foggy moors of Transylvania Heights. The show's raucous score includes "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and the unforgettable treatment of Irving Berlin's "Putting On the Ritz."
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