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Help! How Do I Memorize My Lines?

7/11/2014

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Memorization is a big part of your job as an actor. Getting off-book (that means all of your lines are memorized) and having your script out of your hands frees you up to explore your character's surroundings and physicality (how your character moves, stands, gestures, holds their body). But getting to the point at which you're comfortable leaving your script at your seat is hard to do! Here are a few tips to remember as you try to memorize your part.

Memorize scene by scene.

Don't try to tackle the whole play at once. Pick a scene and repeat-repeat-repeat until you feel comfortable. Then, move one to the next scene. Here's the trick, though - it's easy to get caught up working from the beginning, striving for perfection, and then never actually making it to the end of the script. Make sure you pace yourself. Choose a time limit for each scene - even set an alarm - and if the alarm goes off before you think you're word-perfect, that's okay. Move on to the next scene, and review the first one when you have a chance.

Think about your cues.

As you memorize, it's just as important to focus on your cues (the lines or actions that come before yours) as it is to focus on your lines. Think about how the line before yours could remind you what to say. Are you answering a question? Does the same word or sound get used in both lines? Why does your line make sense coming after your cue?

Speak out loud, with exaggerated articulation.

Repeating your cues and lines to yourself is great, and will help you become familiar with them, but speaking them out loud is much more likely to make them stick in your brain because you are using many parts of your body to communicate the line: 
your eyes read the words if you have a script in your hand, 
your mouth shapes the words, 
the sounds are created by your vocal chords and articulators, 
and your ears hear them as you speak.
Over-exaggerate all of your consonants and vowels (each sound in each word) to help your muscle memory remember the line.
What's "muscle memory"?

Our brains and bodies are constantly looking for easier and easier ways to complete tasks. When we repeat an action over and over, our brain works together with our body to commit the task to memory, so that the next time we need to do it, we can complete it without thinking about it. 
A lot of the routines in our lives are related to muscle memory. 

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For instance, say your family usually keeps a gallon of milk in the door of the refrigerator. Every morning, you walk to the fridge and pull the gallon out of the holder in the door. 

One day, someone decides that the milk is better off on the bottom shelf instead of in the door.

The next morning, you walk to the fridge to get your milk. Even though you know that the milk is now being kept on the shelf, your muscle memory will most likely still cause you to open the refrigerator door and reach for the milk in the door. To override your muscle memory, you have to really think about where you should be reaching your hand. If you don't think about it as you're doing it, your hand will reach for the door storage.

That's because your brain and body have created a shortcut together, allowing you to pick the milk out of its usual spot in the fridge without applying any conscious brainpower to it.

Write them out.

Some actors also write their cues and lines out over and over to help with memorization. Others create notecards listing their cues and lines. Just like when you read out loud, writing uses a lot of different parts of your body - your eyes, your wrist, your fingers - and the more parts of your body you can use during memorization, the more likely your whole body is to remember your lines.

Memorize right before bed, and review right away in the morning.

Working on your lines right before you go to sleep can help your brain retain, or keep hold of, your lines better than working on them during the day. To maximize the effect, make sure to pick up your script first thing in the morning as well to review your lines!

Read with a partner.

If you have a friend, parent, or sibling who can help you out, great! Ask them to read each cue so that you can get in the habit of listening to what's said before your line and responding to it.

Be creative!

Put on a silly costume that suits your character. Act scenes  out using dolls or friends. Put the words of your lines into the music of a song you like.

Take care of yourself.

Your brain gets tired from activity just like your body does.  Make sure you're fueling it well with healthy food and lots of sleep. If you're working on your script for a long time, make sure to take a five-minute brain break every 15-30 minutes. Take a walk. Play with your dog. Turn on some music and dance. You'll come back refreshed and ready to work.
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So you have a script in your hand. Now what?

7/10/2014

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First of all, way to go!
Whether our actors receive scripts or not, completing the audition is an exciting achievement, 
and we're proud of you!

At Compass Creative Dramatics, we do our best not to waste too many trees, so if you or a friend didn't receive a script when we announced our cast, do not worry. It just means that we can teach that entire role without printing a script -- saving some trees in the process.

That said, if you've been given a script, you might not be quite sure how to use it effectively.

Well, you're in luck, because that's what I'm here for!
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Students work with their scripts during our 2012 Script Development Workshop of 
Peas & Harmony: The Princess & The Pea (Remixed)
When you've been cast in a play, the task of developing your character and telling a story on stage can feel a little overwhelming -- especially when you'll go from audition to performance in just five days! Luckily, your directors are there to help you learn the play, answer questions, 
and help you explore the new character you've been chosen to play.

Not all of your work is completed at rehearsal alongside your directors, though -- 
you have a big job at home, too!

The first thing you want to do is find a notebook and a pencil. 
Then, grab your script and READ.

Now, you might be thinking, "That just means reading my part, right?"

Nope! 

When you read your script the first time, don't worry about your character. At all. Just read it through to hear the story, the way you might read a chapter book. Think of every scene as a chapter of the story, and at the end of the scene stop to think about it. This is called script analysis.

Ask yourself:
What new characters did we meet in this scene?
Where did the scene take place?

See if you can retell the scene in your own words. What happened in this scene? 
How did the characters seem to react to what happened? Why do you think they reacted that way?
When you reach the end of the script, think about the story as a whole. What is a lesson you learned from reading the story? Try to explain the story in 10 sentences or less (this is called a summary). Make sure you tell the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Writing your summary down may help you organize your thoughts.
Sometimes when you read your script there will be words you haven't seen before. This first time reading your script is the best time to stop and take your time to learn the new words. Try to figure out what the word might mean by reading the sentences around it. Then, use a dictionary to find out how close you were (you can find one online here). If you need more help, ask a parent or other adult to explain the word to you. On a piece of paper, keep a list of the words that were new to you, along with their definitions, so that you can look at it later when you come across them again.

When you read your script the second time, start thinking about your character. 

Begin by making two lists:
What I say about myself

What other characters say about me
As you read, make notes. If your character says or does something that tells you they are kind, smart, angry, or anything else, write it down. If someone else's character notes that you are stingy, cheery, sassy,  or anything else, write it down. 

Check out an example of this kind of list here.
When you reach the end of the play, you might have a lot or a little information on each of these lists. No matter what, you'll have a better idea of the story from the second reading, and you'll be able to see how your character fits into the world of the play.
Ask yourself:
How did my character change from the beginning of the story until the end?
What does my character do to help move the story forward?

Congratulations! After reading your script through a couple of times, you probably have a good start to understanding the story and your character's place in it. From here, keep reading your script over and over, and start memorizing your lines so you can be ready for rehearsal off-book on Wednesday!

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Meet Rebecca, our Summer Education Intern!

7/9/2014

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Rebecca is rockin' it out teaching Culture Splash classes at the Chicago Park District Lincoln Park Summer Camp. She'll also be joining us at for Wizard of Oz summer camp in Waukegan and in Chicago, and assistant teaching Preschool Camp in Chicago!

Even with all of that on her plate, she indulged me with an interview:

What's your favorite article of clothing?
I really like sweaters. 

What's a book that every kid should read?
Every child should read Dr. Seuss, anything and everything by him. 

What was your favorite subject in school?
My favorite subject was math, but only if I could understand what was going on, otherwise English. 

Best summer activity:
I really enjoy going for walks in the summer, possibly enjoying an ice cream cone. 

If you could have a superpower, what would you choose?
I would choose flying because traveling wastes so much time. 

What job would you have if you weren't in theatre or education?
If I wasn't in theatre or education I would love to be a lawyer or a therapist. 

If you had a time machine, where and when would you go?
If I had a time machine I would go back to 5th grade and tell myself to embrace my talents and not be scared. 

What would you take to a desert island, besides food or water?
I would take somebody to talk to on the island. 

If you had to eat one thing for breakfast forever, what would it be?
I would forever enjoy everything bagels with vegetable cream cheese. 
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Behind-the-Scenes Super Secrets #2

7/5/2014

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Okay, so I know it's been months since I promised you installment #2 of the Behind-the-Scenes Super Secrets series.  And I'm super sorry. 

Here is Behind-the-Scenes Super Secrets #2: Music!
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This sad puppy has been waiting for months for this blog.
When we left off back in January, we were talking about the script -- how the words on your page get from someone's brain onto the page and into actors' hands. We discussed playwrights, lines, and stage directions. We talked about how there are usually lots of versions of the script -- called drafts -- written before the playwright shares his or her work with other artists.

One important part of those drafts is developing the music and the lyrics, and that's what I'll focus on today. I write the lyrics (the words in songs) and the melody (the main tune, the series of notes that go up and down -- and that get stuck in your head) for songs in Compass Creative Dramatics scripts. As I work on lyrics and melodies, there are a couple of things I try to keep in mind.

1) Compass students have to learn fast. Right? Once the show is cast on Monday, we might go through a scene or two together that afternoon. But after that, each group in the cast gets to meet with one of our educators for just an hour or two on Tuesday to learn the entire show - that means all of your scenes, songs, and dances.

Therefore,

2) Catchy is a good thing. After we teach you your scenes, songs, and dances, we let you know that it is imperative (that means very, very important) that you go home and review them on your own or with your families, so that you are ready for rehearsal the next day. If you walk out of Alice in Wonderland rehearsal with, say, "It's a Fine Day for a Picnic" stuck in your head (and you will!), it makes it that much easier for you to remember your melody and lyrics so that you can rehearse at home.

Once I've written (most) of the music, we'll bring on an arranger -- someone with the musical skills to take the melody I've created for your voices, and add an instrument (or two, or three, or twelve) to back it up. With Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, we opted to go for one instrument -- piano.
What kind of instrument is a piano? string percussion
For Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, we asked musician and composer Josh Holte to create the piano arrangement for us. Once we had Josh on board, I handed the music over to him. With most of our collaborators, we use a program called Dropbox (shoutout to Dropbox! woo!) to share digital files. We'll also use email, or meet with artists in person or via Skype (shoutout to Skype! woo!).

Since Josh lives in Wisconsin, we relied a lot on email to send files back and forth, make notes, and communicate changes. I sent him the original melodies, as well as thought about feelings I wanted people to have listening to the accompaniment, and anything other notes about the song.

Here is an excerpt (a small piece of a larger hole) from the original notes I sent Josh along with mp3s of the melodies.
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See?
Josh took those notes and created some pretty great first drafts. When he emailed me his first drafts, I was able to provide him more detailed notes -- what worked well, what we wanted to keep, what sorts of tweaks needed to be made. We worked together to create several drafts of his compositions, and between his writing and my notes we ended up with lots of fun tunes that we got to try out with students at the Script Development Workshop in Waukegan in March -- and which we'll get to share with all of our summer campers in 2015!

I. Can't. Wait.

But for now, IN TWO DAYS we begin Summer Camp 2014 -- The Wizard of Oz. We are going to have four spectacular weeks of Munchkins, Flying Monkees, Winkies, and of course, Dorothy, Toto, and all of their friends. 
Come check us out!
Bedford, IN (July 7-11)
Sheboygan, WI (July 14-18)
Waukegan, IL (July 21-25)
Chicago, IL (August 4-8)
There is still time to join us in all four cities - so check out the link above to learn how to register for the fun.

I can't wait to see you!

- Cathlyn
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P. S. This is Josh, with his family. Josh is the one in the bunny suit. Looks good, right? 
j/k j/k. He's the dude on the left.
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