Information for Ann

Hi Ann,

The work at St. Mark's has been going very well and the classes are all anticipating your visit next Tuesday (April 21). We discussed possible design ideas yesterday with each class and below are some notes which will hopefully help you prepare for your visit. Also, there are brief synopses of each of the four Operas on the blog under the March 26th posting titled Week One Summary.

Ms. Melanie Moore's grade 7 class - 9:00 - 9:50am

School of Freaks

The main characters in the Opera are Vampires and Zombies. There is also a giant meteor which plays an important role. We discussed the possibility of the students working on creating:

1. A Giant Meteor
2. Half masks for the Zombies
3. Half masks for the Vampires

Mr. Rob Scicluna's grade 8 class - 10:15 -11:30

Social Soldiers

This Opera contains three distinct sections; Child Soldiers, Child Labour, Child Poverty. Some of the ideas which were suggested were to create the following:

1. Bandannas for the Child Soldiers (to be worn either across the face, around the head, or around the neck)
2. Child Labourers - we weren't as definite on what could be created to help depict these characters. Perhaps something that would identify them as all being the same and all being oppressed.
3. Child Poverty - One of the scenes has a bonfire in it. The students suggested creating an imitation bonfire that could easily be removed from the scene.

Mr. John Kennedy's grade 7/8 class - 12:40 - 1:45
Romantic Conflict (title still to be determined)

This Opera has a lot of conflict between four rival cliques. We discussed the idea of creating some object, article of clothing, or accessory that would immediately help to define each of the specific groups. The following are the different groups and some ideas that the students came up with:

1. Jocks & Cheerleaders - Pom Poms, School Letters (like the ones worn on High School jackets)
2. Artsy Kids - Some kind of headgear i.e. a beret or colourful scarf
3. Nerds - Ties, glasses, pocket protectors
4. Popular Kids - this one was more of a challenge and the ideas were much more concrete like cell phones, jewellery, personal electronic devices

Ms. Becky Sappong's class - 1:55 - 2:55

Misunderstandings

The bulk of this Opera takes place aboard a city bus. We discussed the idea of creating some kind of set that can be placed near the front of the stage which looks like the front of a bus.