In past schools that I’ve worked at, there have been many different ways to approach holiday season performances. In high school, we had multiple grades performing in the same showcase. For younger years, we’d combine grades, perform a musical as well as classroom highlights. These schools all had one thing in common: large rental spaces or staged theaters. My current school has very limited seating with limited sightlines. Not to mention I only have three sets of risers. When it comes to our Winter Musicals, I have to be creative between each grade. Each different age group has their own musical. Last year didn’t work out so well, click here to see why. This year, however, we have three Winter Musicals! For the TLDR version, here’s a video I made discussing my winter musicals for 2023. Grade 1 A Bear-y Merry Christmas There are many speaking parts in this show. I only have 50 grade 1s this year so it works for me to split the script up a little bit. I reworked it so that each student can have their own line. However, I have students learn two lines in groups of two, just in case one student is absent for the performance. There are 6 songs in this composition. Utilizing the iconic melody from “Jingle Bells” as well as original works. The songs are SUPER catchy and quite easy to grasp for my littles. The genres vary and include different tempos as well as instrumentation. I highly recommend this one! Grade 2 Elfis and the Elves Get All Shook Up! There are many opportunities for speaking parts and flexibility among most of them. The only two characters that stay consistent are Santa and of course, Elfis. As they travel the world, there are many different-sounding pieces that open the conversation for culture instrumentation and other practices. There are also 6 songs in this show. Each song is representative of the culture and depicts the context from its origins. A word of caution when introducing the opening song: it is quite wordy. It’s explaining the situation in the musical stylings of Elvis which may be difficult for some developing singers. I defintely recommend making lyric slides for this piece. All in all, I am incredibly happy with this winter musical! Grade 3 Freeze Frame! I am a little conflicted with this show. The story line seemed more appropriate for younger musicians. However, I favoured it because it was musically enriching and allowed for more indepth study of musical concepts as we learn the content. I feel that the story plot would have worked better for grade 2 but the demands of the musicality are at a grade 3-minimum caliber. Final Thoughts Over all, I am very pleased with this years selection. The students thoroughly enjoyed it and there were many bits of humaor for the adults. The songs are all stuck in my head and I’m sure I’ll be hearing them until our next winter musicals!
