Lesson Plan: 3 Tips on Singing Musical Theater Songs

Ordway Teaching Artist Andy Kust leads you through 3 simple steps to creating a musical theater vocal performance

Check out our Challenge Activity at the end of the lesson and put these concepts to work for you!

Video Lesson Guide

1. Choose Songs To Which You Connect

• One of the most critical elements when singing a musical theater song is that you, the singer, is able to connect to the words that you’re singing. At the most basic level, we have to treat the lyric as text and the audience has to see the singer creating these thoughts authentically for the very first time, during every performance or audition. 
• The way to encourage this connection is by taking initiative when you choose your repertoire. It’s a huge time commitment, but a great investment to really listen and sing through a ton of songs to find those 3 or 4 pieces that really fit you like a glove. Look at new composers as well as shows that were perhaps nominated for Tony Awards, but didn’t win….
• When you approach the character that is singing the song that you chose, assess which personality traits of your own that you need to enhance, as well as the personality traits that you need to turn down in order to serve the story. We all have a common well of emotions that we have access to - it’s just a matter of being specific when you choose which ones to use for each song. 

2. Use All The Tools The Composer Gives You

• When you choose a musical theater song to sing, there are a ton of musical elements that we can tune-in to, like melody, rhythm, song form, volume, harmonies, meter, range, and so many others! Each of these elements can clue you in to the composer’s intent, and can help you create interesting, nuanced, detailed performances. 
• If you just examine the rhythms, look at what words have been assigned to shorter rhythms and what words have been given longer, sustained phrases. A purposeful composer would give more important thoughts more time, so in general, the longer a note is held, the more thought and emotional weight the should apply to it. 

3. Enhance The Relationship Between Your Singing and Speaking Voice

• This is a topic that not many coaches talk about, but it is so essential to being a musical theater actor. Your singing voice and your speaking voice should share as many characteristics as possible. Why, you ask? Because when a character goes from speaking in a scene to singing in a song, the bridge between those two sounds needs to be as well-constructed as possible, thus making it believable that the character breaks into song without sounding like a completely different person. 
• The first step of this is to choose a phrase from one of your songs and start in the middle of your range by speaking the phrase. Then, without changing the tone color of your voice, add the prescribed pitches. Go back and forth with this until you can feel the similarities between the two elements. Once you’re comfortable with this, start to add more musicality to the phrase until it feels performative. 
• The ultimate goal is to be able to slip in and out of singing and speaking without the audience really hearing the difference. The “Dear Evan Hansen” original cast is filled with actors who are masters at this craft. Give them a listen!

Challenge Activity

TRY IT:  Find a recording of your favorite Musical Theater song, and a copy of the song lyrics.  First look at the lyrics: what emotions do the lyrics remind you of?  If you were composing this piece, what lyrics would you emphasize? Would you speak any of the lyrics? Then, listen to the recording, noting how the artist interpreted this piece.  Compare and contrast your interpretation with the artist's interpretation.

Lesson Plan: 3 Tips on Creating a Character

Ordway Teaching Artist Britta Ollmann leads you through a pointed way to dive into a character, picking out useful information from the script before beginning the rehearsal process.

This is a great activity if you are preparing for show, looking at a script for the first time or just fun to do if you’re interested in a particular character. 

Check out our Challenge Activity at the end of the lesson and put these concepts to work for you!

Video Lesson Guide

1. Initial Read-Through

• Get the script, and soundtrack (if it’s a musical).
• Read what the playwright has given you, and listen to the music in the context of what you’re reading. 
• No note taking! Just experience the show and the character as an audience would.
• This gives a big picture view of the story and where your character fits in.
• Notice: What kind of feelings wash over you? How do you feel at the beginning vs the end? What kind of journey has the story taken you on?

2. Character Notes

• Create a document with 4 different categories:
• What are the facts? 
• Character description (age, location, family, etc.) and plot points that your character is part of.
• What does the character say about themselves? 
• This can be in talking to another character, talking to themselves, talking to the audience. You can also question whether what they’re saying is the truth. How do they present themselves to other characters?
• What does my character say about other people? 
• Notice when they are talking about someone else and what they say.
• What do other people say about my character? 
• This helps to see how others perceive your character and what their relationship to other characters is.

• Now you have a condensed version of the script with the material categorized that is CENTERED around your character.

3. Character Choices

• Make some initial decisions about you character. 
• Why does your character chart looks like it does?
• Does your character talk about themselves a lot? 
• Do they talk to or about specific characters more than others? 
• Does how your character thinks about themselves match with how others think of them?
• What questions or ideas do your categories bring up?

By taking the time to dig into your character BEFORE rehearsal even begins, you can approach the whole play with a point of view that will help your character come to life and serve the larger story!

Challenge Activity 

TRY IT: Choose a show that has an adaption that you can watch right now. Maybe Cinderella or the Baker from Into the Woods. First do the character study activities above. Then watch the movie version and see if you can see the specifics you identified coming out in the performances of the movie actors. What did they emphasize that you agree with? What might they have missed? What did they find that you didn't see in your analysis?

Resource Repost: Elements of Dance

Perpich Arts High School dance program- photo by Dan Markworth

Hey teachers- check out the revamped Elements of Dance website! The site provides a concise resource for students to learn about BASTE (Body, Action, Space, Time Energy), the building blocks of dance.     

In addition, the site features individual and group assignments specific to each dance element, and video examples of each element by Minnesota dancers and choreographers.    

Apply it to your learning! Try an Ordway Education Video Lesson on dance, and see how many elements you find in the lesson.  

Video Lessons: What kind of video lessons would you like to see from Ordway Education?

What kind of video lesson would you use in your classroom?

Check out the Story Murals Lesson created around the 2009 Flint Hills International Children's Festival by Ordway Education and educator Jan Louise Kusske from Obama Service Learning Elementary, SPPS.  This video lesson was a study guide activity for the performance of The Very Hungary Caterpillar and other Eric Carle Favorites. Please note the video may take a minute or two to load.



What other video subjects or art forms could Ordway create short video lessons for that would be helpful in your classroom or for preparing students to come to Ordway performances?

Please use the comments field below to let us know!