Did You Know? Kept from the wrestling team because of knee injury, a teen-age Tom Cruise auditioned and won the role of Nathan Detroit in his Glen Ridge, NJ high school production of Guys And Dolls, and so began his acting career.

Perfect research tools for actors and designers, or cross-curricular enrichment guides for students and teachers

MTI Study Guides were created for educational use, but are equally valuable as informative production aides. Each Study Guide includes a plot synopsis, discusses historical perspective, and provides topics for discussion, research projects and essays.

For each show, timely and important issues are addressed in an engaging and entertaining style. Discussions, essays, seminars and other educational projects on these issues can provide an entire semester of education in literature, history, politics and the fine arts - pre- and post-performance.

The Fiddler On The Roof guide asks students to explore the importance of tradition in society and how it affects their own lives.

The Assassins table of contents illustrates how the guide focuses on social and political issues, including political violence in America, the media and gun control, as well as musical and theatrical issues.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Depression

Questions and Discussion Prompts

• How is Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) portrayed in the show? Do you think this portrait is historically accurate?
• FDR is perhaps best known as the father of the New Deal. How are his presidency and his accomplishments regarded today? Do they still influence our lives?
• Investigate the role played by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her influence in her husband's political life. Why was she considered a controversial figure?

Assignments: Research and Writing Prompts

• Research the presidency of Herbert Hoover, FDR's predecessor. Do you  believe Hoover was in some ways responsible for the Depression? Why or why not?
• Research the life of FDR before he become president.
• Describe the election campaign of 1932.
• When he became president, what were some of the first actions  Roosevelt took to calm the country and restore confidence?
• Describe some of the social programs introduced by Roosevelt.
• Find other works (films, books, plays, etc.) in which Roosevelt is portrayed. How do those portrayals of Roosevelt compare with his treatment by Meehan, Charnin and Strouse?
• Learn more about the members of the president's cabinet who are portrayed in Annie (Louis Howe, Francis Perkins, Cordell Hull, Harold Ickes and Henry Morganthau)
  

Orphans and Orphanages

Questions and Discussion Prompts

• What is an orphan? What happens to orphans in your community?
• Have you ever worried about what would happen to you if you lost your parents or guardians?
• Are your natural parents the ones who raised you? Have you ever been to an orphanage or in a foster home? How did they differ from the orphanage in Annie?

Assignments: Research and Writing Prompts

• Research the almshouses in which children were kept during the  1800s.
• What were American orphanages like in the 1930s? Is the orphanage in  the show an accurate portrayal of the kinds of institutions in which children without parents were placed? Miss Hannigan uses corporal punishment in Annie. Is this typical of the way children were treated in the orphanages of the 1930s?
• When did child care become government-regulated in the United States?
• Are there still orphanages? Are there orphanages in your community?

MTI Study Guides are available for $5.95* each, or $3.95* for 20 or more copies of the same or mixed titles. Now available: The first ENHANCED STUDY GUIDE from MTI for Les Misérables School Edition. MTI’s ENHANCED STUDY GUIDES include a Reference CD, and are available for $20.00* each, or $15.00* for 10 or more copies.

A sampler book of highlights from several study guides is also available for your perusal at no charge. The Study Guides are written by Sarah Schlesinger, Department chair of New York University's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, and are available for a wide variety of our musicals.

Shows with Study Guides available include...

Annie

Annie Warbucks

Assassins

big, The Musical

Candide (1973)

Children Of Eden

The Civil War

Company

Damn Yankees

Fame - The Musical

The Fantasticks

Fiddler On The Roof

Five Guys Named Moe

Follies

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum

Godspell

Guys And Dolls

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

Into The Woods

Jekyll & Hyde

Les Misérables

Les Misérables School Edition

Let 'Em Eat Cake

Little Shop Of Horrors

Miss Saigon

The Music Man

Of Thee I Sing

Once On This Island

The Pajama Game

Saturday Night

1776

She Loves Me

Strike Up The Band

Sunday In The Park With George

Sweeney Todd

The Who's Tommy

West Side Story

Working