The Scene: September 9, 2022
Playwright Sarah Tuft on 'Staging 9/11: Why then? Why now?', Learn how to boost attendance and participation with a Student Marketing Team, Look inside the Broadway Teacher’s Workshop and more
Welcome to The Scene, your weekly round-up of theatre news you may have missed this week. In this week’s email:
HOT TOPICS: London Theatre’s pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth, The 10 Most Represented Colleges on Broadway this past season, The Boost attendance and participation with a Student Marketing Team, A Beginner’s Guide to Reading Music, Why Every Performer should be Involved Backstage, How to create equitable spaces for BIPOC Students, and More
THE BROADWAY BEAT: Get an Inside look at the Broadway Teacher’s Workshop, 21 Broadway Characters that should get Detention, and the Cast of “& Juliet” perform on American’s Got Talent.
THE BIG IDEA: Playwright Sarah Tuft on about how the power of theatre can help teachers and students better teach and learn about 9/11.
SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW: Plays and Musicals that tell stories about Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family.
LONDON THEATRE PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE QUEEN
Discover how Theatre’s across London are celebrating the life of Queen Elizabeth II
THE BIG 10 OF 2022
Check out the 10 Most Represented Colleges on Broadway in the 2021-2022 Season
BOOST ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION WITH A STUDENT MARKETING TEAM
A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO READING MUSIC
This short video provides some quick tips that will help demystify music notation.
WHY EVERY PERFORMER SHOULD BE INVOLVED BACKSTAGE
HOW TO CREATE EQUITABLE SPACES FOR THE BIPOC STUDENTS IN YOUR THEATRE PROGRAM
Learn how to to help every artist reach their full potential.
SCHOOLS RECEIVE $10,000 RACIAL EQUITY GRANTS FROM THE EDUCATIONAL THEATRE FOUNDATION
GET AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE BROADWAY TEACHER’S WORKSHOP Go inside the three-day NYC workshop for theatre teachers.
21 BROADWAY CHARACTERS THAT SHOULD GET DETENTION
WATCH THE CAST OF THE UPCOMING BROADWAY MUSICAL & JULIET PERFORM KATY PERRY’S ‘ROAR’ ON AMERICA'S GOT TALENT
This Sunday marks the 21st Anniversary of September 11th, 2001. For those of us old enough to have experienced that day, it can be almost shocking to realize that not a single K-12 student currently enrolled today, was born before 9/11/2001. Even more shocking, many of our co-workers have little to no memory of that day because they were children. With this in mind, The Scene reached out to playwright Sarah Tuft, whose play 110 Stories shares untold stories from 9/11, to speak about how the power of theatre can help students and teachers better understand this harrowing day 21 years later.
Staging 9/11: Why then? Why now?
By Sarah Tuft
Like many New Yorkers, when the Towers fell, I rushed down to help, only to learn they mostly needed ironworkers and first responders to dig through the rubble. The moment also called for doctors, massage therapists, and chaplains to attend to the workers. Volunteers like me felt honored simply handing out water.
At Ground Zero, people from all walks of life came together with one common goal - to alleviate suffering. Most worked around the clock, refusing to go home, even to sleep. Everyone marveled at how kind everyone was…
I wanted to preserve this moment in time. I also wanted to expose systemic failures missing from the official narrative. So, when recovery workers began telling me their stories because “it helped them heal,” I turned to theatre…
110 Stories is that “time capsule.” A gripping docudrama, 110 Stories weaves first-person accounts into a moment-by-moment journey through 9/11 as told by eyewitnesses, survivors, and recovery workers.
Now - twenty-one years later, what can unpacking that time capsule do?
First, because it’s from the perspective of “everyday people” - a mother, a dog-owner, a nurse, even a homeless man who saved lives - 110 Stories makes 9/11 feel immediate, real, and relatable. The play takes those who lived through 9/11 back to the grief of the day and the unity of its aftermath.
But for an entire generation born after September 11th, 110 Stories is especially powerful. Educators tell me it allows students to humanize an event they only know through history books. Since the play goes hand-in-hand with the history curriculum, it also offers rich interdepartmental opportunities.
On a deeper level, and especially for this generation of young people who’ve gone through COVID, our nation’s discord, and natural disasters, 110 Stories is a journey from trauma to recovery. It shows how resilient we are and teaches compassion and service as a response to suffering. The play is also funny which reminds us that, not only is it okay to laugh - it’s essential.
Theatre allows us to be imaginatively empathetic, to put ourselves in someone else’s world. Now more than ever, it’s important we harness that power to rekindle our empathy.
With that in mind, I’m excited to be teaching two workshops at the upcoming EdTA Theatre Education Conference: “The Story Behind 110 Stories: How 9/11 Inspired A Play” which tells how I went from 9/11 volunteer to playwright; and “Devising Documentary Theatre: Building a Play from Real Life” which shows educators how students can tell the story of their communities with docudrama.
110 Stories reminds us that when we come together as a community, there’s nothing we can’t do.
Click here to learn more about 110 STORIES and Playwright Sarah Tuft. To check out a perusal of 110 STORIES follow this link.
As the World reflects on the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II, The Scene went searching for plays and musicals that tell related stories, Here are a selection of plays and musicals about Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family.
THE AUDIENCE by Peter Morgan
ABOUT: For sixty years, Queen Elizabeth II has met with each of her twelve Prime Ministers in a private weekly audience. The discussions are utterly secret, even to the royal and ministerial spouses. Peter Morgan imagines these meetings over the decades of the Queen’s remarkable reign, through Prime Ministers from Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher to the 2015 incumbent David Cameron. THE AUDIENCE is a glimpse into the woman behind the crown, and the moments that have shaped the modern monarchy.
KING CHARLES III by Mike Bartlett
ABOUT: The Queen is dead: After a lifetime of waiting, the prince ascends the throne. A future of power. But how to rule? Mike Bartlett’s controversial play explores the people beneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain’s most famous family.
HANDBAGGED by Moira Buffini
ABOUT: HANDBAGGED imagines what really happened in the private meetings between two of the world’s most powerful women: the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, and Queen Elizabeth II. Born just six months apart, each leader has the capacity to change the world, but how the world should be changed is another story altogether. Will Mags and Liz find common ground in tumultuous times, or will the gloves come off at Buckingham Palace?
A ROYAL AFFAIR by Luis Santeiro
ABOUT: Hilda, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, finds work cleaning for retired history teacher, Edna, a serious person with a big heart. Hilda misses her children and works hard to earn enough money to send them things: high profile shoes, electronics, etc.—all essentials in the ever-popular world of status. How will her neighbors know she is good to her children if they don’t receive these things? Hilda seeks escape in her fantasies of one day meeting royalty, and even perhaps serving tea to Queen Elizabeth. Hilda diligently reads HOLA! magazine to keep up with the goings on with royal families around the world. Her fantasies escalate, until Rene, Edna’s gardener who has fallen in love with Hilda, puts her in touch with Luz, a medium (in love with Rene) who can help Hilda meet her royals. With Luz’s help, Hilda calls upon Marie Antoinette and her lover, Axel Fersen, who appear and take over the lives of Hilda, Edna and Rene. The problems that arise with royalty in the house add to the confusion and the hilarity as Hilda must make a decision about what to do with her life. She must decide whether to stay in the U.S. and marry Rene or else be deported, since Luz, hoping to win Rene back, has reported Hilda, Antoinette and Axel to the immigration authorities, or to go back home on her own after receiving word that her children are acting like “adults” —the kind she does not want them to imitate. In the end, Hilda’s experience with royalty, fantasy and love help her decide to go back home on her own to be loved by those for whom she wanted so much. After living with Hilda, Edna makes new strides to enjoy her life, and Rene finds he is re-attracted to Luz, who is ready and waiting.
DIANA Music and Lyrics by David Bryan, Book and Lyrics by Joe DiPietro
ABOUT: It’s 1981 and the world is hungry for a royal wedding — but is the 20-year-old bride prepared for what comes after? Following her fairytale union, Princess Diana faces a distant husband, an unmovable monarchy and overwhelming media scrutiny. But her modern perspective and remarkable compassion galvanizes a nation, even as it threatens the royal family’s hold on England.