BEHIND THE STAGE DOOR - STUDY GUIDE

A resource guide for teachers

BEHIND THE STAGE DOOR is intended as a resource guide for teachers and students to use before and after attending a performance at Stages Theatre

Company. Our goal is to provide helpful information to enhance your theatre-going experience and to offer a resource that serves as a springboard for extending this experience into the classroom and across the curriculum.

WHO WE ARE...

Stages Theatre Company is committed to the enrichment and education of children and youth in a professional theatre environment that

stimulates artistic excellence and personal growth.

Guide content by Jeannine Coulombe

WHAT GOES INTO A PERFORMANCE

The performance you see at Stages Theatre Company is the result of many people working together. As the audience, you mostly see the performer On stage, but there are many more people working behind the scenes that you never see. Each person, both on stage and off,

serves an important role to create the performance you see as an audience member.

Role of the Director • Responsible for the overall vision of the production • Guides actors in interpreting characters and provides them with stage movement • Works with designers in planning the sound, lights, costumes, make-up, props,

scenery, stage effects

Role of the Designers • Responsible for creating the look of the lights, scenery, costumes, make-up, sound

and stage effects • Works with the director in realizing the overall vision of the production

Role of the Stage Manager • Responsible for organizing the production, including schedules, resources,

communications, technical effects and personnel • In charge of making sure everything runs smoothly both during rehearsals and

performances

Role of the Crew • Responsible for building the scenery, costumes, props and stage effects that you see

on stage • Work backstage during the performance operating the scenery, props, costumes,

effects, lights and sound

Role of the Cast

• Responsible for performing the characters in the play on stage in front of the audience.

Role of the Audience • The play doesn’t exist without you! That’s right, you are a collaborator in any

performance you see. All of the work that goes into a production means nothing without the audience there to experience the performance. It is a unique responsibility. It is important for you to learn your role so you can join everyone else who has worked to create the production

THE ROLE OF THE AUDIENCE

The audience has an important role in the theatre experience. When the lights go down, a performance, especially for you, begins. This special relationship only

happens in live theatre. When you take your seat in the audience, you accept the responsibility of a special agreement.

The Audience Agreement 1. Believe what happens is real. It is happening live, before your eyes! 2. Listen carefully and quietly. 3. Let the production unfold and enfold you. 4. Respond honestly and sincerely. The actors are aware of your presence and your responses. 5. Tune in to what is happening on the stage. 6. Remain polite throughout the performance. How to be a Polite Audience Member

1. Avoid anything that distracts the performers. Un-necessary talking, rustling papers, gum-snapping, jangly jewelry, cellophane wrappers,cell phones, and pagers are all examples of un-warranted and un-welcome sounds during the play.

2. Never use flash cameras. They are strictly forbidden. Their blinding lights can be an actual danger to the actors.

3. Finally, when the play is over, show your appreciation with hearty applause. These are the sounds that warm the hearts of the actors.

Before the Show Activities

1. Have students make a list: “What do we do when we watch television or go to a movie?” Compare the results to the theatre audience etiquette list above. How are they similar? How are they different?

2. Take some time to practice being an audience member. Turn down lights to darken the room. Have a student tell or read a story. When the speaker is done, have the audience applaud. Ask the speaker how the quiet listening and the applause made him or her feel? How did it make the audience feel?

3. Before the play, discuss the elements that go into a theatrical production. Scenery, make-up, costumes, lighting, properties, and sound effects each has a unique design and a unique designer. In consultation with the director, each of these designs is coordinatedto produce an overall design concept. By making students aware of these production aspects, you can then ask them to comment on their observations of specific design elements after viewing the play.

LISA MCCOURT - AUTHOR Since publishing her first book in 1997, on the heels of a ten-year career in the publishing industry, Lisa McCourt has established herself as a prolific author of children's books. Her works range in focus from the moralistic Chicken Soup for Little Souls series to picture books such as The Most Thankful Thing and Goodnight Princess Pruney Toes, and the exuberant antics detailed in I Love You, Stinky Face and its sequels. Teaming up with illustrator Cheryl Nathan, she has also worked as a book packager, and has also written nonfiction titles, such as A Dream to Fly: The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, Deadly Snakes, and Candy Counting: Delicious Ways to Add and Subtract.

McCourt once told Something about the Author, "I was the oldest kid in my family, so I spent a lot of time babysitting my brother, Michael, and my sister, Aimee. The first stories I ever wrote were for my brother. I made up a bunch of silly characters that lived inside the human body. (I've always thought that body stuff was so cool!)

“Every job I've ever had has involved kids in some way. At twelve I became a camp counselor-in-training, and I loved it so much I kept working for camps until I finished college.

"My first job out of college was for a company I bet you know—Troll Communications. The original owners of Troll taught me all about what makes an awesome kids' book. I was so young when I started that they were kind of like on-the-job parents to me, and I'm forever grateful to them."

In addition to her own writing, McCourt has continued her involvement in publishing by founding the book-packaging company Boingo Books. As she explained, "Being a packager means publishing companies hire me to create each book as a whole package—including not just the story but the art, the design, the cover, the kind of type, and where the words go on each page." As encouragement to aspiring writers, McCourt advised: "Go get your journal, a notebook, a napkin, or the back of last week's homework—and start writing!"

(Taken in part from http://biography.jrank.org )

CYD MOORE - ILLUSTRATOR Cyd Moore grew up on a dusty farm in South Georgia. She and her two brothers ate lots of hot boiled peanuts, cold watermelons and corn-on-the-cob. These southern treats were fuel for many childhood adventures through enchanted forests, bottomless swimming holes and creature filled old barns. Memories of those days have become the perfect catalysts for her imaginative, colorful and sometimes even scary illustrations.

Her dad built an airplane and ultralights for fun, and Cyd often flew with him over pastures and neighbors and barns and streams. Her mother was an art teacher and showed Cyd that she could use more than crayons to color the world.

Graduating as an art major at the University of Georgia, Cyd chased her dreams as a graphic designer and illustrator working in television, newspaper publishing, and advertising agencies. Eventually she began illustrating children’s books, sharing her imagination and inspiring children around the world to let their colors fly. You can see Cyd’s artwork in books, posters, games, greeting cards, album covers, magazines, museums and even McDonald’s Happy Meal boxes. She truly loves her job and loves sharing it with everyone!

She has published over 50 books including the adorable I LOVE YOU STINKY FACE series, HE’S BEEN A MONSTER ALL DAY, WILLOW, and WHAT DO PARENTS DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT HOME?

Cyd’s sense of adventure was not left behind in the woods and streams of South Georgia. She continues to find inspiration for her art through worldly travels and excursions. Whether it’s riding an elephant in India, exploring Mayan temples in Guatemala or just relaxing on a beach in Ecuador—life is never a bore!

(Taken in part from http://www.cydmoore.com)

JEANNINE COULOMBE – PLAYWRIGHT/LYRICIST Jeannine Coulombe is a Minnesota native, playwright and theatre artist. Her original full-length plays include Homegrown, The Mill, Hummingbirds, The Vacant Lot, Planting Shelly Anne, The Road to Santiago and Broken Peaces. She has also written numerous shorter works, including Special Talents, Picture.Cigarette. Rose Beds, Mike and Ned, With A Baby Carriage, and Fish. Heradaptations of children’s literature include Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and Starry River of the Sky (both based on books by Grace Lin), Zen Shorts and Zen Ties (based on books by Jon J. Muth) and One Dog Canoe and I Love You, Stinky Face, both musical adaptations in which she wrote both the book and lyrics. Her plays have been seen at Upright Citizens Brigade, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, Manhattan Repertory, Producer’s Theatre, Stage Left, History Theatre, Stages Theatre Company, Synchronicity Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, Harwich Junior Theatre, Workhaus Collective, Theatre Unbound, Thirst Theatre, Minnesota Fringe, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota-Duluth, and A Theatre Group. Her work has been published by Dramatic Publishing, Smith & Kraus, and Heinemann. Ms. Coulombe won the University of Iowa’s IRAM Award for Best New Play (Hummingbirds), the Maebaum Award (The Mill) and the National AIDS Fund CFDA-Vogue Initiative Award from the Kennedy Center (The Vacant Lot.) Ms. Coulombe received her MFA from the University of Iowa’s Playwrights Workshop and her BFA in Theatre and BA in History from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. In addition to playwriting, Ms. Coulombe is a founding member of the Workhaus Playwrights Collective in Minneapolis. She was also a founding member of the Twin Cities’ company Theatre Unbound. Currently, she is the Manager of New Play Development at Stages Theatre Company. In addition to playwriting, she works as a director and dramaturg.

MICHAEL GRUBER – COMPOSER As a founding member and resident composer of The Catalysts, Mr. Gruber has written Fruit Fly Shelly Bachberg presents: How Helen Keller and Anne Frank Freed the Slaves and Orange isthe the POTUS. Other musical works include: The Old Dead Five, Vegas Organic and Hit it,Mike! as well as the following song cycles: The Not So Peaceable Kingdom, The TennesseeCycle, Loved Returned and Songs for Two Women. Recently, he has been commissioned by Stages Theater Co. to write the score for a musical adaptation of Stone Soup for the 2016-17 Season. As an actor, Mr. Gruber made his Broadway debut in the final company of A Chorus Line in 1989-90. Other Broadway credits include Laughing Room Only, Kiss Me, Kate, Swing!, My Favorite Year and Miss Saigon as well as Munkustrap in CATS, a role he also played in the Cats Video released in 1998. Mr. Gruber has also done the national tours of both West Side Story and A Chorus Line. Regionally, he has played roles in theatres from Seattle and Los Angeles to Philadelphia, Boston and Atlanta. Locally, Mr. Gruber can be seen as a performer at both the Chanhassen and Guthrie Theatres.

THE STORY

PLAY SYNOPSIS Based on the book, I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt and illustrated by Cyd Moore, this world premiere musical with a script adaptation and lyrics by Jeannine Coulombe and music by Michael Gruber captures a child’s wild imaginings in a fun-filled, heartwarming musical adventure. Just as in the book, in the midst of every-day life, the ever-inventive child presents the mother with a few outrageous questions in search of understanding and reassurance, such as, “Mama, would you still love me if I were a stinky, smelly skunk?” And the devoted mother replies to the ever-expanding outrageousness with an endless supply of both wit and unconditional love. At the end of the day it is confirmed that Mama will always love the Child “No Matter What.” A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE PLAY & ITS HISTORY I Love You, Stinky Face, based on Lisa McCourt’s popular children’s book, was commissioned by Stages Theatre Company for this world premiere production with original music written by Michael Gruber and script and lyrics written by Jeannine Coulombe. This collaboration is brought to our main stage this April for this first ever stage adaptation of this award-winning book. The book, I Love You, Stinky Face written by Lisa McCourt and illustrated by Cyd Moore was first published in 1997. It was followed by I Miss You, Stinky Face and It’s Time For School, Stinky Face in 1999, Merry Christmas, Stinky Face in 2002, Happy Halloween, Stinky Face in 2007 and Ready for Kindergarten, Stinky Face? and It’s the 100th Day, Stinky Face!, both in 2010.

POINTS OF DISCUSSSION The ideas and questions in this section are designed as a springboard for student discussion after attending the play. BIG IDEAS

Unconditional Love Imagination Reassurance Routine

WHO? WHAT? WHERE? WHEN?

1. Who is the stuffed animal that the Child takes to school? (Dino)

2. What does the Child pretend the school becomes after Mama goes away? (A swamp)

3. Where do the Gators enter from during the “Gators Galore” song? (from the bathtub)

4. When does the Child pretend to be a Great Big Green Alien from Mars? (during dinner)

WHY?

1. One of the basic premises of the book and play is that the Child continuously asks the Mama questions on whether Mama would still love the Child even if the child was stinky, or ugly, or ferocious or any number of things the Child thinks up.

2. The Child in the story is thought to have a terrific imagination. Half of the story unfolds within the Child’s imaginative thoughts. What does it mean to have an imagination?

3. The Child plays with a whole array of stuffed animal toys throughout the play. These toys come to life

ACROSS THE CURRICULUM The possibilities are numerous for using both the book and play of I Love You, Stinky Face as a jumping off point for cross-curriculum and interdisciplinary study in your classroom. From units on re-enacting the story or writing character dialogue to comparing and contrasting bedtime stories this popular book offers a platform for reaching any number of educational goals.

Below are a few curriculum suggestions to incorporate both the book and play I Love You, Stinky Face into your classroom studies. Please also refer to the ADDITIONAL RESOURCE section at the end of this guide for links and resources to more curriculum ideas and lesson plans.

THEATRE ARTS

ACTIVITY CIRCLE ACT THE STORY - Re-telling & Re-en-ACT-ing (Grades K-2) In this exercise, students will act out the story of I Love You, Stinky Face as a group. All students will play all the roles simultaneously. You, as the teacher, will play the narrator to keep the story moving and to give directions.

1) Read the story of I Love You, Stinky Face to your students. 2) Discuss what happens in the story. Who are the characters? Where is it set? What are

the events? 3) Stand with your students in a circle and let them know they are going to act out the

story of I Love You, Stinky Face. Instruct them that they will all be playing all the parts while standing in the circle. They will switch from role to role as the story progresses. This switching will be prompted by you as the narrator. Remind them that they will always stay in their place in the circle. (i.e. if the character walks or runs, it is done in place.)

4) Start by setting the scene. Where are we? Time of year? Inside/Outside? Who is there? What are the characters doing?

5) Start telling the story. Have the students become the Child, they can start by having a pose or yawning before bedtime. Then, have the Mama enter and have the students do a Mama pose. Then, have Mama speak. EXAMPLE: Narrator (as Mama) says, “Time for Bed. Good night, my wonderful child.” And then direct students to repeat. Everything will be done in this call and response way. Then, have the Child respond, “But I have a question….”

6) Then, one at a time, have the students re-call the order of the questions in the story from the Child and the responses from the Mama. Also, have them assume the role of each thing the Child imagines (such as a ferocious alligator, a meat-eating dinosaur, etc.) How would the different creatures stand, walk, talk? Have the students act out

those things in place within the circle. It is an opportunity to build vocabulary. What does “ferocious” mean? What does it look like? Etc.

7) Continue until all the questions have been asked and answered and the Child finally falls asleep.

This can be effective to show or play around with—beginning, middle and end; story setting; comprehension; story sequencing, vocabulary and character. It works well also for students to be able to re-tell a story. VARIATION: Assigned Roles: You may also want to eventually split the class up and have them each take a separate role, instead of acting it out in a circle with all of them playing all the roles simultaneously. Half the class can be “in” the play and the other half can be audience. Then, you can switch, so that eventually everyone gets a chance to take the stage.

ACTIVITY Predictions and Expectations (Grades K-4)

BEFORE THE PLAY: Read the book I Love You, Stinky Face. With student input, establish the expectations for the upcoming play. What actions or events might be seen on stage? What characters might the play include from the book? What set or sound or costume elements might they see on stage? It is a good time to cover some of these stage elements with your students to enhance their enjoyment and understanding of live theatre. Students may draw or write about what they anticipate seeing.

AFTER THE PLAY: Revisit the expectations to see how many were realized. Discuss the similarities and differences from the book to the play, in terms of plot, characters, and action. Were the characters as portrayed on the stage faithful to the characters in the book? How or why? How would you describe the main “message” of the play? How was it similar or different from the book? Did they see what they expected? What were some of the stage elements that they remember seeing? Set? Costumes? Props? Lights? Sound? Music? How did these elements support the story of the play?

ACTIVITY CHARACTER MOVEMENT & DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE (Grades K-2) OBJECTIVE: Students will gain a deeper understanding of the descriptive words used by Lisa McCourt in the book, I Love You, Stinky Face. Students will use their full bodies and voices to act out the descriptive words used to describe the imaginative creatures in the book. Students will try poses and movements and eventually sounds to portray the characters in the book.

LESSON PLAN • Read the book, I Love You, Stinky Face. • Spread the students out around the room (You don’t have to move desks, although an open

playing space is good too.) You may want to use rubber spots (shapes) to give each student a home base, which helps in giving the space structure while also moving about as different creature characters.

• Each student should start on his/her own spot. • Choose one character from the book at time. Call out one of the characters in the book (big,

scary ape, super, smelly skunk, ferocious alligator, terrible, meat-eating dinosaur, slimy, swamp monster, green alien from Mars, and a gigantic cyclops.) On their spot, have the students create a pose of the creature. Explain that in the theatre, when acting out animal-like creatures, we don’t get down on all fours because it is difficult to do a whole play like that. Instead, we use our imaginations to use our whole bodies to create the creatures, but on two legs instead of four. Once each student has created a pose of the character, have them move around the room as that character. CAUTION: Remind students to ONLY use their bodies to show the character movement, not their voices. NO SOUND. When students are limited to communicating with only their body, their choices become more specific and clearer, engaging not only their bodies in the movement, but their imaginations as well. It is important for them not to use sound. Example: We are conditioned to be a cow by mooing. Take away the mooing, how do you communicate that you are a cow?

• Have students return to their home base to start the process with the next creature in the story.

• After going through each creature’s movement. Have the students add a sound that the creature may make or a line of dialogue the creature may say.

*Extension: After seeing the play, discuss with the students how their movement may or may not have been the same as the actors on the stage.

LANGUAGE ARTS ACTIVITY CHARACTER DIALOGUE (Grades K-3) OBJECTIVE: In this activity, students will create/write dialogue for each of the creatures in Lisa McCourt’s book. PLAN OUTLINE

1. Read the book, I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt. 2. Have students look through the book at each of the characters that the Child creates

when asking Mama the “what if I were…” questions. Discuss what they think each of the creatures might say if they were to talk about what they like, dislike, or might want to be when they grow up or what the characters might say to the Child, if they could

ask the Child a question. 3. Then, have each student choose one of the creatures for the final part of the exercise.

Have the student draw a picture of the creature or make copies of the creatures from the book.

4. Then, let students write in each speech bubble what the creature would say if it could talk. Dialogue should reflect thoughtful and appropriate conversational exchanges based upon the circumstances of each creature. The dialogue should also show a text-to-self relationship. What would the Cyclops tell us about himself? What would the Swamp Monster tell us about himself? Etc.

5. Once students have written their dialogue bubbles, have them share them with the class out loud. You may encourage each student to act out the characters with their bodies while they share what the characters say. Encourage them to think about how the character might walk or talk based on what they say. They can try to be a frozen statue of the character before it moves to assist in finding a way to express the character physically as well as through its dialogue. The book also gives good clues as how the characters might move. Discuss how a character moves and uses its body reflects what it says and visa versa.

6. Discuss how the dialogue was created using the story and words of Lisa McCourt as a guide. How did they decide what the character would say?

ACTIVITY BUT MAMA, WHAT IF I WERE… A writing lesson based on I LOVE YOU, STINKY FACE (Grades K-2) Objective Students will: • Use the book I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt as a writing prompt • Create their own Imaginative Creature • Write their own “chapter” to the book Lesson Plan

1. Read I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt. 2. Lead a short discussion about all the different creatures the Child imagines in the

questions to Mama. Why do they think the Child comes up with all these questions and creatures?

3. Have the students imagine another creature that could be in the story. 4. Have the students draw a picture of the creature they have created. 5. Have the students write out the question from the Child about that Creature. 6. Have the students write out the answer from the Mama about that Creature back to the

Child. 7. Have the students share their pictures and writing with the class.

THE STANDARDS Here is a listing of Academic Standards that can be met by attending a performance at Stages Theatre Company and using this resource guide for pre and post performance activities. THEATRE ARTS (K-3)

0.1.1.4.1 0.1.2.4.1 0.2.1.4.1 0.4.1.4.1

THEATRE ARTS (4-5)

4.1.1.4.1 4.1.3.4.2 4.2.1.4.1 4.3.1.4.1 4.4.1.4.1

THEATRE ARTS (6-8)

6.1.1.4.1 6.1.2.4.1 6.1.3.4.1 6.1.3.4.2 6.2.1.4.1 6.3.1.4.1 6.4.1.4.1

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading and Literature (Comprehension/Literature) Speaking, Listening and Viewing Writing

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Please review all links below before sharing with students.

• http://www.lisamccourt.com/ - The official writing website of Lisa McCourt. • http://www.cydmoore.com/ - The official website of Cyd Moore, the book’s illustrator. • http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/i-love-you-stinky-face#cart/cleanup -

website of the publisher for the book.

FURTHER READING COMPLETE LIST OF LISA MCCOURT’S CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS: • I Miss You, Stinky Face • Merry Christmas, Stinky Face • Happy Halloween, Stinky Face • Ready for Kindergarten, Stinky Face • It’s Time for School, Stinky Face • Chicken Soup for Little Souls – The Never-Forgotten Doll • Chicken Soup for Little Souls – The Goodness Gorillas • Good Night, Princess Pruney Toes • Love You Until— • Chicken Soup for Little Souls – The Best Night Out with Dad • Chicken Soup for Little Souls – Della Splatnuk, Birthday Girl • It’s the 100th Day, Stinky Face • The Most Thankful Thing • Chicken Soup for the Soul – Family Storybook Collection • Yummiest Love • Granny’s Dragon • Candy Counting • Chicken Soup for Little Souls – The New Kid and the Cookie Thief • Chicken Soup for Little Souls – A Dog of My Own • 100th Day of Bug School

Our study guide is designed to be a resource for teachers and students before and after they attend a production here at Stages Theatre Company. We are always interested in how we can improve this resource to be the most effective for you and your students. We would like to you to share with us what activities or discussions from this guide that were the most useful for you. You can email your responses to Jeannine Coulombe at jcoulombe@stagestheatre.com Thank you for attending Stages Theatre Company!