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Theater Production
Types of Theater
There are many different types
of theater that you can see, and
all of them have different
production styles.
Educational Theater
EDUCATIONAL THEATER
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Theater that is produced at a school
The performers are taught to act in
the process of producing a show; the
stage crew learns how to design and
build sets, costumes, props and
create lighting and sound effects.
Educational Theater
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You must attend the school to
participate in the production.
Includes Elementary School,
Intermediate School, High School,
College/University Theater.
You are graded on your performance
and technical theatre skills.
Educational Theater
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You often take a class to learn basic acting
and technical theater skills in intermediate
school or high school.
Productions are usually cast from those
classes.
You also are enrolled in production classes
when you are in a theater production at
school (such as the Musical Theater
Production class at MVHS).
Educational Theater
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Most high schools in the US produce at
least 2 productions each year.
• A drama or comedy
• A musical theater production
High schools produce more theatre than
Broadway!!
Educational Theater
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College and university theater allows
students to major in theatre in areas of
acting, musical theatre, directing, costume
design, lighting design, set design, sound
design or stage management.
Students at the college and university
level often go on to the world of
professional theater or teaching.
Educational Theater
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Our neighborhood educational
theater……
CHALLENGE:
• Name at least 5 places in Orange
County you can see an educational
theater production.
Community Theater
COMMUNITY THEATER
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A type of theater where the
performers are local amateurs who
want to perform
So...What is an amateur?
Community Theater
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The word amateur is French from the
Latin word
amātor, lover,
from amāre, to love
Community Theater
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So, an amateur is someone who
loves something so much that they
want to do it even though they are
not getting paid for it.
They perform because they love to
be on stage, or build sets, or be a
part of the theater.
Community Theater
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You do not pay to be in a community
theater production
You do not get paid to be in a
community theater production.
Often the city helps to produce the
shows with some financial backing.
Community Theater
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Many people who acted in high school or
college, but did not pursue it as a career,
choose to perform in community theater.
Community theater holds separate
auditions for performers for each
production.
CHALLENGE: Do you know of any
community theaters in the Mission Viejo
area?
Recreational
Theater
RECREATIONAL THEATER
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Theater for children and young
adults who pay to be a part of a
theater production
Often, these experiences are a part
of a city or school district
recreational department.
Recreational Theater
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Performers are grouped by age and the
productions often have large casts.
Performers also are double or triple cast
for more performance opportunities.
Recreational theater typically does
musicals that have many roles for
children, such as Annie or Peter Pan.
Recreational Theater
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Performers will pay in the range of $150
to $250 to be a part of each production.
There is usually no audition process
required to be this type of theater.
“Pay to Play” theater
CHALLENGE: Do you know of any
recreational theater companies in Orange
County?
Children’s Theater
CHILDREN’S THEATER
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Theater that is performed for children
ages 4-12 by adults or teens
It can be educational, community or
professional theater as well.
Often, a children’s theater company will
tour to elementary schools to perform for
schoolchildren.
Children’s Theater
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Children’s theater today often goes
to schools to enrich a literature unit
or important concern in today’s
society.
Some in Orange County may have
come to your school, performing
shows about the history of Orange
County or The Island of the Blue
Dolphins.
Children’s Theatre
FUN FACTS:
 Children’s theater in the United
States was used during the Great
Depression to help educate
immigrant children.
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Many of the productions taught
about citizenship and the history of
America. Some were language
programs as well.
Children’s Theater
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Performers in children’s theater
usually use a different style of acting
called presentational acting.
• They often talk directly to the children
and come into the audience.
• Their gestures and movements may be
larger than life.
Children’s Theater
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MVHS has produced a number of
children’s theater productions
performed by Drama 2.
Some of the past titles are “Pollution
Solution”, “Charlotte’s Web”, “James
and the Giant Peach” “Honk!Jr.”,
“Cinderella” and “Seussical”
Youth Theater
YOUTH THEATER
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This type of theater is for ages 12-17
and is performed by adults or teens.
These types of productions usually
deal with a social issue that is
focused on teens.
Youth Theater
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Often, these productions are followed
by a group discussion to allow the
students to discuss the issue.
MVHS Drama 2 produced the plays
“Class Action”, “EAT: It’s not About
Food”, “Eat, it’s not about food”, and
“Glimpses” which dealt with different
teen problems.
Youth Theater
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In the past, some outside theater
groups have come to our campus to
present the play “Secrets” which was
a play about AIDS.
This was sponsored by Kaiser
Hospital.
Have you seen any other youth
theater productions?
Dinner Theater
DINNER THEATER
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This type of theater is performed
while the audience has dinner. A
meal is included in the price of the
ticket for the show.
At some theaters, the dinner is
served by the performers and they
get to keep the tips!
Dinner Theater
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Dinner theater can also be
improvisational, where the actors
interact with the audience as
characters throughout the dinner.
Dinner Theater can ALSO be
educational, community or
professional.
Dinner Theater
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MVHS Advanced Drama produces a
dinner theater each year.
Sample shows include Manuscript
Mayhem and Movie Mayhem.
Improvisational Theater
IMPROVISATIONAL THEATER
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This type of theater is based on the
idea of making up the scene and
characters on the spot.
It can be educational, community or
professional theatre.
Improvisational Theater
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The form we know today can be credited
to Keith Johnstone and a group called
Theatresports, and a woman named Viola
Spolin who created theater games.
These people created the many games
and scenarios that have directly, or
indirectly, influenced every major improv
group.
Improvisational Theater
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ComedySportz is based on improvisational
theater and is actually rehearsed so that
the players learn the basic skills, such as
C.R.O.W., as well as the formats of the
scenes/games.
CHALLENGES:
• What does C.R.O.W. mean?
• Do you know of any other types of
Improvisational Theater in Orange
County?
Professional Theater
PROFESSIONAL THEATER
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This type of theater is for skilled
experts. Performers & theater
designers and technicians make their
living/career in theater…on the
stage.
In other words, they get paid $$$!!
Professional Theater
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Professional theaters are also
referred to as union theaters.
• To work a an actor in a professional
theater, you must be a member of the
stage actors’ union -- Actor’s Equity
Association (AEA) is that union.
Professional Theater
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Actor’s Equity Association seeks to
advance , promote and foster the art
of live theater as an essential part of
our society.
They negotiate wages and working
conditions for actors.
Professional Theater
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A professional actor is paid based on
the size & location of the theater,
and the size of their role.
The average salary for a chorus
member on Broadway is $1500 a
week.
Professional Theatre
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Theater technicians actually make
much more per week than the
actors……hmmm…it might be useful
to learn how to use power tools after
all!
Directors, Designers and Stars
negotiate their own salaries based on
their resumés.
Professional Theater
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Broadway theatre, commonly
called simply “Broadway”, refers to
theatrical performances presented in
one of the 40 large professional
theaters with 500 seats or more
located in the Theater District in New
York City.
“Off Broadway” means there are 499
or fewer seats.
Professional Theater
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Broadway theatre produces 7-8 shows, 6
days a week.
The theatre is “dark” (closed”) one day a
week.
• Monday used to be the universal day off, but
most theatres today are rotating days off to
meet the demand.
Professional Theater
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Broadway is named for the street that it is
on and is often called “The Great White
Way” because of all the lights
in the marquees.
Professional Theater
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There are many exciting shows on
Broadway…
Professional Theater
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BUT -- Professional theater is not
just on Broadway. Broadway
companies often tour. At the Orange
County Performing Arts Center,
professional touring groups often
come to town.
You can see shows like…
Professional Theater
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Book of Mormon
Wicked
Cinderela
Newsies
Professional Theater
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There are also regional theaters in
Orange County and LA, such as
South Coast Reparatory Theater, The
Ahmanson Theater, and The
Pantages Theater, which are
professional theaters.
General Notes:
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Generally speaking…musicals cost more to
produce, BUT they usually make more
money in ticket sales since they have a
wider appeal and the theater can, and
usually does, charge more per ticket.
• That’s why…most schools wait until the
spring to produce their musical, so they
have time to build up a decent budget.
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A theater season runs from fall to
summer, just like a school year.
The season reflects the target
audience of the mission of the
theater and the audience base.
• Example: A mystery dinner theater would
choose detective or thriller types of shows.
• Example: A theatre in the South town may
choose plays that reflect Southern culture.