Theater Sites: Acting, Broadway, Children’s Theater, Musicals, Playwriting, Puppetry, Readers Theater, Storytelling

Acting/Improvisation

The Actor Source Homepage
http://www.actorsource.com/
Material ranging from auditions, casting calls to headshot photographers, monologues and acting related links. The reader must “sign up” but neither the form nor the “monthly rates’” are currently listed. The “Revised Pages” should be up soon??!!

For teachers and with supervision, older high school students.

Learn Improv
http://www.learnimprov.com
An excellent set of exercises that will help performers and teachers develop skills for improvisational comedy.

• Warm-ups
• Exercises
• Handles
• Long forms
• Ask Fors
• Random structure
• Random workshop
• Random show
• Search for a structure
• Contribute a structure
• Kudos and Links

Updated 2002. For teachers and advanced High School students.

TheatrGroup: “Method” Acting Procedures
http://www.theatrgroup.com/Method/
A commercial group that is offering online courses in method acting – but they do have a dozen of the typical exercises for this kind of work ready for you to try out.

Last update 2003. For High School teachers.

Broadway

Playbill.com
http://www.playbill.com
Will help you check up on the current Broadway scene.

Kept current. For High School teachers and students.

Toppest.com: Theatre
http://www.toppest.com/theatre.htm
A British site that “features recent theatre news headlines and a directory of theatre web sites, including Broadway and London theatre.”

Kept current. For High School teachers.

Children's Theater/Theater for Youth

See the AATE site for URLs for individual theater links. Click on Resources; scroll to Professional Theatre for Youth.
http://www.aate.com.

Also see the ASSITEJ/USA site for the listing by state of their member theatres.
http://www.assitej-usa.org

Childsplay
http://www.childsplayaz.org/
Arizona's professional theater for youth.

Great Arizona Puppet Theater
http://www.azpuppets.org/
Tours and shows in their home theatre. New Times Magazine named the Great Arizona Puppet Theatre the Best Children’s Theatre for 2003!

Stageworks (formerly Mesa Youtheatre)
http://www.mesaartscenter.com/stageworksPA.aspx
An award-winning program for youth that offers classes and opportunities for youth to perform as well as productions for the family in the new Mesa Arts Center.

Valley Youth Theater
http://www.vyt.com/
Phoenix theatre for young actors and audiences. Opportunities for students to perform as well as attend theatre productions.

Festivals

Edinburgh Festival
http://www.Edinburgh-festivals.com
Information about the summer festivals. Check out the children’s festival at: http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/childrens/

Kept current. High School teachers, and students – with supervision.

The Puppetry Home Page: Puppetry Festivals
http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/festivals/index.html
Links to the sites for U.S. festivals.

Kept current. High School teachers and students.

The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Theatre and Drama
http://www.brookes.ac.uk/VL/theater/company.htm
Links to theater companies, events and festivals, organized by country. There are 40+ country listings! The information is old, but many of the links are still good.

Updated April 1999. For High School teachers and students.

www.shakespearehelp.com
http://www.shakespearehelp.com
Links to U.S. and Canadian Festivals.

Kept current. For teachers.

Musicals

Musicals.Net
http://www.musicals.net
Click on Shows to find a list of dozens of musicals. Most have a Forum, Links, Song list and Synopsis plus information about ordering recordings, etc. Well worth the visit.

Kept current. For High School students and teachers.

Playwriting

Artswork: Playwriting/Screenwriting
http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/students/tb/03_00_playwriting.htm
This page has definitions for students to read about playwriting and screenwriting. The left hand directory takes the children to activities to help them with:

• Character Game
• Characters from History
• Scenarios
• Screenplay
• Dialogue Examples for 3^rd – 5^th grade plus dialogue from the Infanta and the Little Princess

Created 2004. For students and their teachers.

Copyright, the law and licensing the show
http://www.angelfire.com/or/Copyright4Producers
Kevin N. Scott has a comprehensive and interesting article for both teachers and students. Links to other helpful sites.

Last updated July, 2005. For Middle and High School teachers and High School students.

The Playwriting Seminars
http://www.vcu.edu/artweb/playwriting/seminar.html
"An opinionated web companion on the art & craft of playwriting" by Richard Toscan from Virginia Commonwealth University. An excellent site!!! Can be helpful for the teacher introducting play and screenwriting to the student. Has excellent information at the graduate level on:

• Content: story & themes, characters & dialogue
• Film: the screenwriting craft vs. playwriting
• Structure: the -wright of the playwright's craft
• Working: writing techniques, rewriting & editing
• Format: for manuscripts & more interesting things
• Business: submitting scripts, copyright, royalties, & resources

Kept current. For teachers

Puppetry

Artswork: Puppetry
http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/students/tb/12_00_puppet.htm
A page for children to read. Has instructions for building puppets and creating a puppet show. They are directed to a page that helps them write scenarios and create characters.
http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/students/tb/99_tg_16.htm
takes the teacher to the teachers’ guide that presents a lesson for developing and performing a puppet play with lessons for creating scenarios, developing dialogue through improvisation, and finally critiquing the work. Also on this page are directions for building Styrofoam ball and figure-on-a-stick puppets; paper bag, sock and found object puppets.

Written in 2005. For students in grades 3-8 and their teachers.

The Detroit Institute of Arts
http://www.dia.org/collections/performing/default.asp
Has a collection of American theatrical puppets from 1850-1950. Some good images.

Gorden's Puppetry Page
http://cre8tivedrama.freeservers.com/puppetry
outstanding material developed by a teacher from Mesa Youtheater. Be certain to link to www.cre8tivedrama.com for more very good information about drama for children. The lessons at this site are student-written; some are good, some less so.
At the puppetry site you'll find:

• Puppetry in America (an essay)
  
• Making Puppets (excellent instructions for string, sock, box head, felt, glove, shadow, rod, and junk puppets)
  
• My Puppets (examples for each of the puppets in the "Making" section)
  
• Sample Lesson Plans (one lesson each for PreK-K, 1-3, and 4-6)
  
• In the Classroom (hints for success)
  
• Links

Created in 2000. For Elementary School teachers.

The Puppetry Home Page
http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry
From Sagecraft. Has good information and links:

• Puppetry Questions
• What’s New
• Puppet News
• Puppetry Definitions
• Puppetry Traditions Around the World
• Puppet Building
• Using Puppetry
• Puppetry Schools, Workshops, etc.
• Puppetry Organizations
• Puppetry Festivals
• Puppetry Exhibits and Museums
• Other Puppetry Sites and Resources

Last updated January, 2006. For Elementary, Middle and High School teachers.

Readers Theater

Aaron Shepard’s RT Page: Scripts and Tips for Readers Theater
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/
One of the most quoted sites. Mr. Shepard is a former professional Readers Theater performer, now a writer for children. The site is here to sell his books, but he has very helpful material for preparing and presenting Readers Theater. He ialso suggest s materials.

• What is RT?
• Reader’s Theater Editions(free scripts for young readers)
• RT tips, an online guide to reader’s theater (or readers theatre)—scripting, staging, and performing
• RT Scripting Sheets
• Other RT Resources

Kept current for teachers K-12 and High School students.

Dramatic Storytelling in the English Classroom: Readers Theatre
http://www.aspa.asn.au/Projects/english/rtheatre.htm
From teachers for the Australian Government. Concise but very helpful information:

• Purpose
• Process (excellent!)
• Adapting material for readers theatre
• An example of readers theatre
• References, resources

Written in 1999. For Elementary, Middle and Secondary School teachers.

An Example of Script Formatting
http://www.humboldt.edu/~jmf2/floss/323rt.script.example.html
From an instructor at Humbolt State University. “This is an example of a tried and true format for Readers Theatre scripts.”

For Elementary, Middle and High School teachers.

Gander Academy: Readers Theatre
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/langrt.htm
Simple descriptions with links to wonderful material, from teachers in Newfoundland. Last updated in November 2000 so some links are broken.

• What is Readers Theatre?
• Reading Theatre Scripts
• Writing Scripts
• Recommended Print Resources
• Recommended On-Line Resources

Primarily for Elementary teachers but some material is appropriate for older students.

Teachervision.com: The Art of Teaching: Readers Theatre
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/lesson-plans/lesson-6526.html
Concise article defining Readers Theatre, and answering questions: Why use Readers Theatre? Where to get scripts, Three tips for success. Plus additional web links.

Current. For Elementary School teachers.

Storytelling

Artswork: Storytelling Making Up Your Own “How” Story
http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/students/tb/09_01_ex&outline.htm
Based on Native American “how” stories, this text, for students, guides them through the process of creating, rehearsing and sharing their own stories. There are several student examples. http://artswork.asu.edu/arts/students/tb/99_tg_15b.htm
The teachers guide that accompanies the student text.

Created in 2004. For students in grades 2-4.

Herberger College for Kids, 2005. Photo Credit: Tim Trumble.

Effective Storytelling: a manual for beginners
http://www.eldrbarry.net/roos/eest.htm
A personal page from Barry McWilliams but the information comes from his own experience and is well thought out.

• Finding stories
• Characteristics of a good story
• Adapting to our audiences
• Preparation
• Delivery elements

1998 copyright. For teachers and Middle and High School students.

National Storytelling Network
http://www.storynet.org/
“Our mission: ‘Bringing together and nurturing individuals and organizations that use the power of storytelling in all its forms.’”
Information about festivals, organizations, the National Storytelling Directory. This is a group of people that truly enjoy one another. Perhaps you’d like to join them!

Kept current. For teachers

Tell a Story! A Guide to Storytelling
http://www.aaronshep.com/storytelling/Tips.html
From Aaron Shephard, a performer and children’s writer. The site is here to sell his books, but the material here is very helpful.

• Finding Your Story
• Preparing Your Story
• Telling Your Story
• Final Hints

Copyright 1996. For teachers and Middle and High School students

Tim Sheppard’s Storytelling: Resources for Storytellers
http://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story/
A British storytelling sharing storytelling materials and links he finds helpful. We found the categories a bit confusing so we suggest looking at it all since there are some treasures here. Mr. Sheppard has annotated each link.

For teachers.