The COVID FACTS of putting on a musical in 2021!

I'd like to start by congratulating everyone again that has decided to be a part of this year's musical, it is sure to be a great time!

There are several important pieces to making this happen and keeping everyone safe in doing so.

• There are 38 school days until our show that will be used for rehearsals
• Students can pick up their scripts from Ms. Chapman or at the first rehearsal.  
• All students will be required and on their honor to practice the music from home, there is a zip file located in the Classroom, I will also be loading mp3's of the songs to the classroom as well. When the weather allows we will be practicing music in-person/masked outside.
• Monday's and Thursday's will be used for blocking, acting, and singing (as the weather gets warmer or with small groups) - We need the blue medical masks for rehearsals indoors if anyone is looking for a way to help.
• Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday will be devoted to dancing rehearsals, in the gym at the middle school, or outside for large group blocking rehearsals. 
• Rehearsals start on March 8th (TOMORROW) Monday 3-5 PM
• ALL REHEARSALS are 3-5 PM
• If your child is in school all day they don't have to worry about the rehearsal check-in process.
• If your child is on the off-color school day they will need to arrive at the end door by the football field where I will meet them and check them in, temperature and questions.
• Your child must be masked at all times, as the weather gets warmer and even outside they will need to be masked because of the size of the group.
• They must maintain social distancing at all times and bathroom trips and water bottle fill-ups will be one at a time.
• EVERY child must have their own WATER BOTTLE.
• Because of masking, we aren't going to do food breaks, but we will do a water break most likely outside whenever the weather allows.
• Kids will be outside and waiting for their rides at 5:00 PM according to my cell phone, any announcements will be done via this website so that we don't hold them up and ultimately you up.
• There are rehearsals Monday - Friday but the actual groups are clearly labeled on the cast list PDF if for some reason you need clarification of your child's practice schedule please do not hesitate to ask. 
• There will be a weekend recording session, NOT vacation weekends or Easter but before the musical, stay tuned, the timing will be important!

• My email is chapmank@hartfordschools.net Any issue, or schedule questions should be emailed to me, please.
• Leslie Rench can be contacted at renchl@hartfordschools.net and if you have a costuming question or a concern you can contact her there.

• There will be a need for help to move things from the catacombs to stage and for set building, over April break, if you are inclined to help, the schedule will be mornings mostly and COVID precautions and masking will be mandatory throughout.

• The dates for our show are May 7th and 8th.  The show will be live-streamed from the HHS auditorium. 
• Showtime is 7 PM
• All show access is $10.00 for a family pass, and $7.00 individual.
• We will be working on a couple different fundraisers to help defray the costs for this odd show year.
• T-shirt orders will happen this year, there will be a website to purchase the t-shirts that link will be available shortly.  All t-shirts will be $15.00.
• Please favorite this page if you haven't already.
• The Calendar tab is on the right side of this home page.

Thank you for reading this far, here we go! ~Kristen Chapman

TO THE CAST! the cast list will be published in one hour!

 Hello Everyone and Congratulations on making the decision to be a part of the Spring Musical!

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR AUDITIONS, and your patience through the technological struggles, it's about time to get this show on the road!

Yesterday, I sent an email to the kids that were set to audition into the evening. The message from the second half of the email rings true. Please, read on, and again, for those that have seen these words already, it bears repeating!

It is so much fun to be a part of a show. Never forget that is or should be the MAIN reason to be a part of any production.  It is BRAVE to audition and to risk disappointment but you can choose to grow from every experience!

Our fantastic historic shows were because we had a lot of talented kids who yes, we believe were cast correctly, but someone else might have chosen differently. This doesn't mean we were wrong in how we cast our shows but these same shows would NOT have been fantastic if not for the kids who wanted to be there who were highly talented and lent their talents to the production no matter their role, principal, or ensemble.

Sometimes you are called back because you are being looked at for a potential lead, and other times we just need to see more from you, more focus, more whatever...but it also means that sometimes you will be cast in the ensemble, again or for the first time.  I can't tell you how to navigate your sadnesses and disappointments but I can tell you that you do have a choice in how it affects your overall experience and I trust that each and every one of my students knows how highly I regard you as humans! I love you all, and would not give out a lead only to ultimately hurt another of you...that's not in my DNA and it hurts my heart that any of you would ever think that!

I've been where you are, I have auditioned time and again and sometimes it worked out, I got the role I wanted, and other times it didn't. It is the nature of theater, as you know.

All this to say, I (we) value you, and admire your dedication to this craft which feels intimidating to so many.  No matter what the cast list says in an hour we are so proud of you and I (we) hope you will be proud of yourselves too! 

Several of you have been double cast, please read the list in its entirety.  

💟Ms. Chapman

It's AUDITION DAY!

 I feel like Anna from Frozen right about now, for a number of reasons, the freezing cold temperatures for sure but "It's Audition Day" feels about as exciting as "It's Coronation Day"!  Oh my Disney-brain! ;) 

Today is the day!

There is STILL TIME TO GATHER FRIENDS to audition too!  I would love to have 25 - 35 kids at least!  We can do this and it will be AWESOME!

There is a new tab on the right of this page that says:

AUDITIONS this has the links for the practice videos and the videos that you will use for auditions.

I heard that the zip file for the music from the show was giving folks a hard time, please accept the HMMSMUSICAL classroom page or email me for an invite if somehow I missed you.

Those that have accepted should have received word that I uploaded audio files of guide vocals and the audition instrumental-only tracks this morning!  I am hoping this will correct the issue most were having!  Again, do not fret you will have an opportunity to practice upon arrival too (as always)!

I am so excited to get this show on the road and I hope you are too!

Thanks and break a leg, everyone!

With love and best wishes, Ms. Chapman

Here are the links for the auditions

 It's not too late to sign up!  You can do it in person today 3/1 or 3/3 or email Ms. Chapman the time you need for auditioning.  Wednesday 4:30 - 6 and 6:30 - 8PM. Callbacks on Thursday 5:30  - 7:30PM

Thanks, Ms. Chapman

These are the pieces below...Get'cha is the baritone audition, and What I've been looking for is the soprano/alto audition

CLICK HERE - AUDITION - Dance Tutorial

CLICK HERE - for an Up tempo - GUIDED TUTORIAL

CLICK HERE -Dance only no tips or counting

REMINDER - MAKE THE DANCE your own, add some sass, really go for it! :)

CLICK HERE - and You can reach your audition tracks by joining the HMMS MUSICAL classroom on Google :)

Email Ms. Chapman with questions!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR INTERESTED MUSICAL FAMILIES

THIS IS THE WEBPAGE TO SAVE FOR ALL FUTURE UPDATES!

First, thank you to those that came to yesterday's informational meeting. Please email me as questions come up.

IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE:

• March 3rd (Wednesday) is the last day to sign up for auditions and IT IS AUDITION DAY!
• Auditions will be held via ZOOM I will put that link here on the webpage on Tuesday the 2nd.
• There are two slots for auditionees. Your child only needs to attend ONE of the two sessions on the 3rd.
• The first slot is 4:30PM - 6:00PM
• The second slot is 6:30PM - 8:00PM
• We will select students from these two groups for callbacks.
• Callbacks will be on March 4th from 5:30 - 7:30PM 
• The callbacks will have a separate ZOOM ID and will be emailed to those students asked to come to callbacks.
• If you are unfamiliar with the callback process, callbacks simply mean "we need to see more" from your child, it does not guarantee a principal role.
• The Cast list will be posted at 3:00PM on Friday the 5th ONLINE ONLY so that all students can be present for the posting.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR FULLY REMOTE/HOMESCHOOLED/OTHER SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT:

• Yes, your student can be a participant in this year's production.
• You must agree to follow Vermont travel guidelines regarding single-family gatherings, and quarantine.
• Contracts are required to participate, they are available via email per request, as is the music for auditions. Please reach out ASAP!
• To sign up for a time to audition please email Ms. Chapman (chapmank@hartfordschools.net) BEFORE next Wednesday so that she adds you to the session of your choice and gets you the correct ZOOM ID.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR IN-PERSON STUDENTS:

• BEGINNING TODAY 2/25/21, Thursday, Friday(2/26), Monday (3/1), and Wednesday (3/3) will be available in-person sign-ups outside Ms. Chapman's room.  Please make sure to sign up for ONE of the two times offered for auditions.
• Contracts are available outside of Ms. Chapman's room for you and your parent to sign. Parents can also email and request an electronic copy.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL STUDENTS:

• You must sign up for a time to audition in one of the two ways listed above.
• You are responsible to learn the audition piece for either the soprano (traditionally girl) or baritone (traditionally boy) roles. 
• You can choose the part that you are most comfortable with.
• Soprano's you do not have to sing both parts of the audition piece with Troy and Gabriella you can sing just Gabriella's part, whatever is easiest for you
• Do your best!
• You are responsible to learn the dance audition piece.
• Both the song instrumental and the dance audition will be posted on Monday the 1st. 
• You must sign and return your contract, either through email to Ms. Chapman or in-person to Ms. Chapman.

BREAK A LEG! ~Ms. Chapman

CLICK THIS for contract for HSM Jr

HOW DO I GET TO THE PARENT INFORMATIONAL MEETING 2/24/2021 for 6PM?

 THIS MEETING IS GOING TO BE HELD TOMORROW EVENING February 24th at 6PM via ZOOM.

STEP 1) Go to zoom.us

STEP 2) In the upper right of the screen click the words JOIN MEETING

STEP 3) It will ask for a Zoom ID and a passcode. 

They are:

Zoom ID: 953 6706 5243

Passcode: HMSMusical

STEP 4) This will get you to a "waiting room" I will let you in for the meeting.

STEP 5) Once in the meeting, you can opt to turn your camera on or not, everyone is automatically muted, please use the hand raise function to interject, or the chat bar. There will be time for questions at the end of the meeting.

STEP 6) That's all there is to it! Hope to see you there! Thanks, Kristen Chapman

So excited to announce...

This year's Spring Musical will be High School Musical Jr.

Our first order of business will be an informational ZOOM meeting that we hope you'll attend on Wednesday evening February 24th. 

Zoom ID: 953 6706 5243

Passcode: HMSMusical

This meeting will begin at 6PM.

Please come with your questions about this year's musical.  We can tell you it will look different from past years but we will do our best to make this a fun and exciting experience for all those students interested! 

Hope to see you on Wednesday at 6PM. Thank you for your interest in this year's musical!

We will need help with costuming and set building (though not in the same capacity as past years) if you are interested in helping at all please consider the April break week as a big participation week.

To your interested students, please have them sign up on the board outside of Ms. Chapman's room on either their Red or Blue days regarding interest in the show, the sign up will look different because of Covid restrictions please give them an email that I can send an invite and invitation to for auditions. Auditions will be held on ZOOM as well, on March 3rd. On the 4th we will hold callbacks, also on ZOOM.

The audition selections have been posted outside my room but I am attaching two YouTube clips of the pieces that the students are to sing for the auditions. Get Your Head in the Game is the baritone/boy selection and What I've Been Looking For is for the Alto/Sop/Girl selection. These tempos are the intended tempos of the audition however when practicing What I've Been Looking For auditionees do not have to pretend like they don't know what they are singing as in the example here. We will be using boxed (meaning pre-recorded) versions of the songs. Hope these help!

Thank you, see you soon, Ms. Kristen Chapman

Get Your Head In The Game

What I've Been Looking For