The rehearsal went well, with two kids knowing all their lines which helped speed up practice. Blocking scenes on stage helped the kids grasp the setting and improve their acting. The last rehearsal focused on adjusting lights and deciding music, though the director felt tired of repeating the play and let the kids get off track instead of taking the practice seriously.

1. Rehearsal
December 8, 2011
Marley Emerich
Strengths
Today we got a lot done. We did normal practices with the kids,
which were basically the same as last rehearsals. But that was the
problem, they had improved in line memorization, loudness, and
awareness of creating a setting but their acting was still them reading off a
paper. While Diane practiced the play and played games with the kids I
took each kid individually and talked to them about acting. Two of the kids
told me (Hanson and Jr.) that they never watched TV, movies, or a play so
getting them familiar with acting was difficult. I went through some
exercises with them and then went through each one of their lines with
their new “knowledge” I saw a big improvement in their acting because
they now knew what they were doing. I also did this with Annie but she
didn’t have much trouble to begin with. Kazuki also did this but with Diane
because of the language barrier between him and me. We made a lot of
progress today!
Weaknesses
Besides the fact that the children’s acting needed to be improved I
knew this was our best day and I didn’t really have any other problems.
The kids did get a little crazy every once and a while and we did have some
trouble with Kazuki reading the script and being loud. English is a
language that he’s not very good at yet but he has showed immense
improvement on that level.
Feedback/Improvements
Mrs. Rankin gave us a lot of feedback on what to do for costumes. She
told us not to make it simple and boring and just to t-shirts and jeans
because cool costumes that go with the play or character will do a lot
better then just plain old clothes. She also recommended we send the
scripts home with the kids so they could memorize their lines. Next time I

2. will ask the kids what kind of costumes they own so we can get a good idea
of what we can use. I will also try to focus a little more on Kazuki to
improve his performance.
Big Changes - Thursday January 5, 2012
Marley Emerich
Strengths
Today we got a lot done. It was the first practice after a two-
week holiday so I was a bit nervous that they forgot everything. But
surprisingly, two out of four of our kids knew their lines completely. This
helped a lot because it didn’t slow down our rehearsal as much because
some of this kids weren’t looking at their scripts all the time. I did very
well in directing them today. We had the stage for 10 minutes so we used
that time to block our scenes which was a very important thing we needed
to get done. After we got that done we made the kids practice the play as if
they were really performing it. Leaving and entering the scenes as well as
moving around on the stage really helped them grasp the setting, which
helped their acting immensely. After we got off stage we finalized costume
ideas and practiced the blocked play around tables outside.
Weaknesses
This day went very well. I didn’t really have any weaknesses because
Diane, the kids, and I are comfortable with each other and know what we
are expecting them to do. They are now aware of how this is supposed to
look so they aren’t confused (besides Kazuki who is still having some
trouble). However we found out that our main character Annie wont be
here for the play so either Diane or me will have to fill in for her and only
one of us will be able to change the scenes. It’s going to be hard work.

3. Last rehearsal before 1st performance
January 12, 2012
Marley Emerich
Strengths –
Today we practiced on the stage and adjusted the lights so during the
performance we knew what lights to use. I was the one who picked the
lights and decided the ques. This was a very difficult and important job
because the lighting can really help a performance or it could really bring
it down. For the 10 minutes we had, I tested out and wrote down all the
lights we were using and when, and later filled out a Lighting Cue sheet so
when we actually performed, I could easily move the lights to where I
needed. We also decided on music for in between scenes. Today was our
last practice and I felt that we got a lot done. We practiced over and over
again until we felt that they were ok.
Weaknesses –
My weaknesses this class was that I was probably a little tired of
going over the same play. They were too. So in all honesty I wasn’t as
energetic or determined to get things done as I used to be. I felt that if we
had rehearsed more I’d feel a little bit better about performing this. I let
them run a little wild that day, playing too much and getting off track. No
body really took this practice super seriously, which we probably should
have.