6 Tips For First Time Theatre Teachers

A college professor once told me to write the following in my notebook at the beginning of our very first class: “There is no such thing as a child who hates music. But there are plenty who hate music teachers.” He then said if that is the only thing I remember from his class, it will be enough. Forty years later, it is the only thing I remember from that class. But its wisdom guided much of what I accomplished as a teacher and director.

Below are a few things I picked up from my forty years of teaching that I hope will help you succeed in your career as a teacher.

Whether you are more comfortable with a structured, linear rehearsal process or a more improvised, spontaneous approach, children, young and old, will sense if you are unprepared, stressed and/or ill-equipped for the task ahead.

Unforgettable Moments from the International Thespian Festival 2014

One of our biggest and best opportunities to meet our customers happens at the end of June each year in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Educational Theatre Association’s (EdTA) International Thespian Festival is held in this lovely and welcoming city each summer on the campus of the University of Nebraska. This year, nearly 4000 Thespians and their directors descended on the festival by trains, planes and automobiles (OK, mostly on 17 hour bus rides) and attended hundreds of high school shows and workshops with world-class presenters and teaching artists.

Team TRW attends the festival to have facetime with the people who make theatre happen with high school kids from around the globe. From as far away as Canada, London, Dubai, Qatar, and Saipan and Mound City, TX and…everywhere