Musical theater is a trifecta, requiring cast members to be actors, singers, and dancers. Help theater arts students develop these skills with a unit designed to prepare them for a staging of a musical.

In this musical theater worksheet, students will read summaries of Les Miserables, Oliver!, and the professional career of Andrew Lloyd Weber. After reading the summaries, students are asked to evaluate the plot and the characters of the...

The study guide for David Yazbek's musical based on Eran Kolirin's film, The Band's Visit, is packed with background information, images, and cultural connections. The resource is the perfect accompaniment to a study of the musical.

That old fashioned rock and roll comes alive as theatre arts students prepare to attend a live performance of the musical School of Rock. Packed with both pre- and post-production materials, the guide has it all. Rock on!

Aladdin, Disney's Broadway musical comedy, is a magic carpet ride. Prepare your class for a field trip to the show with a study guide that is a treasure trove of activities, cultural connections, and background information.

Students write a rap or hip-hop lyric about the life of a famous Black American. They explore famous Black Americans in history and explore how the rap form compares to other forms of poetic expression.

A reading comprehension worksheet traces the history of musical theatre. It starts with ancient Greece choruses and continues through the ballad and comic operas of the Renaissance, the operettas of Britain, France, and Germany, the...

Musicals have been adapted from stage plays, novels, and movies. With The Lion King, Disney transforms its animated film into show-stopping, live-action musical theatre. The guide Disney provides to accompany a study of the award-winning...

Whether you are planning a class trip to the theater or want to engage your drama club in an inclusive production unit, a resource focused on the Broadway musical Anastasia is sure to capture young imaginations. It includes background...

Drag queens in thigh-high shiny red leather boots! Welcome to Kinky Boots, the Tony Award-winning musical about a young man trying to save his family-owned shoe-making business. With an engaging story line and songs by Cyndi Lauper, the...

Need extensions for those class members who welcome additional challenges?  Check out the activities in this packet designed for The Fantasticks, billed as the "longest running musical in history."

Learners, utilizing video clips and Web sites, compare specific passages from original texts to moments in Broadway musicals on which they were based, analyzing similarities and differences between them. They adapt literature into a...

Introduce theatre arts students to the principles of musical theatre with a short information sheet that identifies and explains the importance of eight performance principles. 

Here is a series of five exercises intended to bring movement, dance, and theater into the classroom. Intended for special ed classes, but appropriate for any grade, learners will pantomime, play pretend, dance, move, and create...

Immerse yourself in the beautiful, twisted world of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. A detailed lesson plan provides important details about the writing, stagecraft, music, and literary elements of the famous musical, as...

Students transform literature into musical productions. In this integrated arts lesson plan, students discuss how musicals are written and produced. Students then select literature they are familiar with to adapt into musical productions.

Sometimes it's impossible to keep up with the Joneses. Scholars watch video 48 in the Crash Course Theater and Drama series that describes poor theater, which takes out the typical lights, costume, and sets that rich theater includes....

There are two distinct periods of African theater: BC (before colonialism) and AC (after colonialism). The 49th installment of the Crash Course Theater and Drama introduces viewers to African dance and theater traditions. However, they...

It isn't easy being green, especially if you are a green witch in the Land of Oz. Elphaba, the main character in the popular musical, Wicked, teaches viewers this and many other life lessons as she battles intolerance, prejudice, and...

Everything is beautiful about a digital stage kit designed for a study of Douglas McGrath's The Carol King musical, Beautiful. Of particular interest are McGrath's notes about the challenges he faced crafting the musical about King,...

People who are not fans of musical theater often cite the (seemingly) spontaneous songs as distractions from the plot. But in most musicals, the songs serve to drive the plot and to provide valuable insight into character motivation and...

A musical about society anxiety, loneliness, suicide, dysfunctional families, and the spread of posts on social media can open up deep conversations in a high school classroom. The 2017 Tony Award Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen, takes an...

"Razzle dazzle 'em. And they'll make you a star!" Chicago, with its focus on celebrity, on the manipulation of the press, and on how razzled versions of the truth can dazzle spectators, is an ideal choice for any study of American...

What are the ingredients of happiness? Jenna, expert pie maker and the main character in the musical, Waitress, is faced with this question, as she struggles to free herself from an abusive marriage and pursue a happier life. The...