From Conception to Birth...the Beginnings of an MTI Kids Show

From Conception to Birth...the Beginnings of an MTI Kids Show

By GERRY LIU on April 07, 2010

winnie-the-pooh-kids-pilot1The ingredients? Raw script, adapted and new music, a stage space and most importantly KIDS! In this case, our initial partnership with a NYC public school to pilot a new KIDS Collection show during the last week of March. And what a conception! Of course it will go through the entire "pregnancy" before it becomes the show for young performers, hopefully to launch around the same time as the new movie next year. The excitement of a pilot is the collaboration of "real world kids" and their abilities and of course, enthusiasm. Day one: Welcome activities,  casting by noon, director decisions about  music and the voices available. Can your cast handle and comprehend the script and directions before them? Day two: Yay, we're back for more! Six hours of rehearsal and some were 2nd graders no less!  Characterization games, music rehearsals, voicing decisions and becoming a cast! Day three: staging appropriate for a "reading". Day four: Does the music, the script and the staging tell a clear story? Day five: Showtime! Acclimate to a performance space, add some suggestive costuming, know that the audience reaction as well as the scriptwriter, music writer, dramaturge and licensors will be honest about feedback. Alas, the gestation of a MTI Kids show has begun its methodical and careful process. The 26 member cast of 2nd to 5th graders truly embraced the "new baby"!