Missing School

College Majors Musical Theater Major
1

<p>I know many of the people that post on this particular board are parents, so I have a question that I'd be interested to see what parents of musical theatre kids think. </p>

<p>I am interested in auditioning for a professional, annual production at a respected theatre in Kansas City of A Christmas Carol. I've talked to several people that have done this show, and they said it was one of the best shows they've ever been in, however, they had to miss quite a bit of school in order to do the show. I'm sure I could talk it over with my principal and teachers if I got into the show, and my parents are extremely supportive about it, but I'm kind of worried about missing so much school. Has anyone had a child in a show they had to miss school for? How did you work this out?</p>

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<p>Hi brdwybound - this has happened with both my MT D (many times) and my straight acting S as well over the last few years. Our criteria are how much school will be missed (a day for a matinee? or several days ? We have dealt with both)and how are they doing in their classes. They are both good students so it has never made a lot of difference to them academically. I have been able to always agree if they got into a show</p>

<p>My D missed 'regular' high school classes freshman year(she attended a diffferent school for 9ht grade) and I just sent in a note saying why she would be gone to her homeroom teacher- no one questioned me They both attend a Performing Arts HS now so it is no big deal at all. I always like to let teachers know in advance so if there is work to be made up, it can be dealt with.</p>

<p>I also allow a bit of latitude if it is needed during tech week if rehearsals are particularly late(as they frequently are). I will allow a 'stay at home and rest day' if necessary but it not the norm - only used if necessary. As an actor (who works as well) I wish I could have those days myself!</p>

<p>Hope this helps- break a leg on your audition if you decide to do it!</p>

<p>MikksMom</p>

3

<p>brwaybound
My D did a 7 week stint of August Wilson's Piano Lesson. It was out of town and so she had no options for achooling other than taking it and having it sent. At the time she was in 6th grade, which may or may not have made it easier. (Teachers where not very organized about kids being gone and sticking with what they said would be done- the hard part. The easy part was that her grandmother could serve as her tutor.)
She has, as have many of her friends, done local Christmas Carol productions that have matinees and rehearsal during the day. All the schools seemed to adjust to this. In fact she is at the performing arts school and they seemed to be the least flexible- particularly the arts teachers! Most schools can adjust on an individual basis if you are going to be out part of the day or intermitten days, and most have some sort of policies if it is not local and you will be gone for a chunk of time. We ALWAYS requested as much work in advance as possible, and tried to keep her up -to date rather than making up work while trying to do the regula work.
I think it was easier when D was out of town as she was free of the school schedule. She used the hour of energy when she got back from shows to do math, her math learning flew up but her grandmother was not into math from 11:30- 12:30 at night.
Advice I can suggest
- get as much work before hand as possible.
- even when tired try and get to class.
- Ask your teachers for a clear time line of when work needs to be done.
- schools are most likely to be flexible if you can suggest a plan for meeting requirements.</p>

<p>and my unsolicited advise is do it if you have the chance. My D learned sooo much working with professional actors, doing the same show 37 times in 4 weeks and finding out what being a "working actor" really means.</p>

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<p>Hi, yes, my d has worked professionally since she was 9 and in the fourth grade.She has often missed school for short and long runs of shows that she is cast in.We have always been very open about her performance schedules and demands and meet with teachers and administrators to give them as much info about dates she'll be out with a performance or rehearsal schedules that are demanding,ie;getting home at 1am AND NEEDING to sleep in the next morning a bit.
We get all work ahead of time and stay in touch with teachers by email. The school district has come to know that as a family we support getting the work done.
She is now in high school and even last year as a freshman we were very upfront with the Principal, Asst. Principal and guidance counselor before she began in this public high school (very academic and sports minded). She was cast in a musical last winter that kept her very busy for 3 months between rehearsals 1 hour from where we live, tech week and finally performances. The High school teachers were all very supportive and appreciated the efforts we made to ensure that my d's work was complete.
Be open, respectful and responsive and so will they. Go for it! The experiences are ones our kids will not get in school. So worthwhile.</p>

5

<p>Thank you so much for your advice everyone! The audition is in August before school starts, so I think I'm going to go ahead and audition and see what happens from there. I will talk to my teachers and school administrators if I get cast in the show, and I hope they will be as understanding as it sounds many of the teachers at your children's schools have been!</p>

6

<p>My S has been in a regional production of Christmas Carol for 3 years (9th, 10th and 11th gr) and it has been such a joyful opportunity. I would strongly urge you to go for it!! The key is communicating with your teachers as soon as you know your schedule. My son gives each teacher a run down of the days he will be out of class and makes up any quizzes, tests during lunch or after school. It has been a little stressful at times, but well worth the additional efforts. Good luck!!! Keep us posted! :)</p>

7

<p>it always seemed like i was missing high school classes for auditions, competitions, music festivals, etc. and normally my high school was really understanding about it. i came from a pretty small school and all my teachers knew how important performing was to me, so as long as i kept up (which i always did) they didn't have a problem.</p>

<p>one of my shows even went on tour and i had to miss more than a week of school. i was in Advanced US History and missed a huge amount, but my history teacher was willing to provide me help outside class as long as i got him tickets to the show, which was selling out. it was nice to know that he was concerned with both my academic and performing success, and he ended writing me an AMAZING letter of recommendation.</p>

<p>good luck!! i hope everything goes well!!</p>

8

<p>My d has also been faced with the same situation. She was part of a theater in schools touring ensemble in our state which caused her to miss 12 days in a 3 week time period from school. She did the ensemble for 3 years with the last one being her freshman year of high school. She realized then, the biggest problem was with the faculty. As a former teacher, I was sympathetic to how distractive this could be in the classroom and we tried to be extra curteous and my daughter was great about getting the work ahead of time and having it done before she even got back to school. </p>

<p>But, then our school system implemented a policy which was a pain to deal with......after four days of missed school in a semester you must make up the time on Saturdays! My daughter wasn't thrilled making up the time (since she had aleady completed the work and the teachers that were there on Saturdays weren't necessarily her teachers. Just babysitters to make sure the time was made up, just like detention!). So after freshman year, she decided no longer to audition for the tour even though it was always one of her favorite things. Unless you have some ridiculous rules like this one, I would sugges to go for it! Just stay on top of your work and try to make it as little extra work for your teachers as possible.</p>

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<p>We have a little experience with this too. It is hard to say from the OP just how much school you are talking about and over how many weeks. I imagine that a show like A Christmas Carol, which is seasonal, wouldn't span more than five weeks or so. It is harder to miss school in HS but I think it can be worked out at many schools to do this. However, one must also think about what sort of student you are, as that plays a factor, I feel. </p>

<p>Our experiences....in sixth grade, my D did a professional regional tour that involved 30 performances. I vaguely recall her having to miss 3 days of school per week over about five weeks. Her school was very supportive of this endeavor. Her teacher was into it and she had had him for two years (we have multi age classrooms). She was a very good student. She got all of the work for missed days ahead of time and handed it all in on time. Because she was at school a couple days each week, she was a bit in the flow that way. She also works great doing independent study. I think this is key. One has to be able to be self directed in their work. Another key is to have great time management. My D worked back stage a lot and in car rides, etc. She is used to juggling schoolwork and a very heavy extracurricular load and shows. I'm not sure all learners do well with independent study or time management so someone considering this, must self evaluate that aspect, as well as how good of a student they are in terms of grades, etc. and if their doing the tour will affect their school performance. I say this as a parent but also as a former teacher. </p>

<p>As well, occasionally in middle school, my D had to miss some days of school (not a real lot) for some professional shows she did around the country but these usually just involved a couple of days at a time on occasion. She also sometimes missed for auditions out of town. When missing school on occasion, it is not quite as tough as consecutive days weeks on end. Again, she got all work ahead of time and handed it all in upon her return. She didn't get flak from school and they all knew she did this sort of work. Still, it was not high school (though come to think of it, she was taking some high school courses in middle school). </p>

<p>In high school, she had to miss again, on occasion, but rarely more than one day in a given week ever, and not a real lot like a tour. But every spring, her dance troupe (outside of school) performed around the region on school days and so she had to miss about six days in a couple week span just for that. Like Sporti mentioned, she missed for things like festivals/concerts but that was a little different because that was connected more to school and so others were also missing. Also, her last year of high school, she missed some days to go to college auditions. We did not run into problems at school over this stuff. But we definitely had our D get all work ahead of time. She does well in school and her grades were not affected. </p>

<p>I know one local family that has their own theater touring company. Each year, they have taken one or two of their kids to do a certain short term tour, often of A Christmas Carol around the country. Their kids, therefore, had to miss like a month of school (not in and out, but consecutive days) and they were allowed to do it and worked it out. Their girls are excellent students as well. </p>

<p>You have to see what you can work out with your school, and also reflect about your own work ethics and ability to do the work independently, and if all seems positive, go for it. Doing some professional theater work in your youth is a wonderful experience. Good luck.</p>

10

<p>Wow, your daughter sounds not only extremely very talented, but also incredibly smart! I definitley need to think about my schoolwork in this case. I see myself as a good student but I know it will be a challenge to miss so much school. I have heard the time missed for this school is about 4 hours a day for 3 weeks for rehearsals, and then matinees at 10am and 2pm once the performances start on certain days. I have one other quick question on the dance lines... how did your S and Ds deal with missing voice and dance? Were lessons put on hold or did they try to work those into their hectic schedule as well? I'm sorry to be asking so many questions, but this is the first time professional theatre has presented an opportunity during the school year.</p>

11

<p>For dance, when my daughter was out of town, we found a ballet school that let her take classes with some of theur kids, using age and hours in class as guides for placement. D had only started pointe a couple of months before so she did a few private, short lessons with pointe so she continued to get used to the shoes and development.</p>

<p>When she has been performing locally and had to miss school making up and taking voice and dance classes was more challenging. These were indvidually negotiated with the dance school and voice teacher. Dragging her out of bed for a 9am tap class on Sat mornings seemed cruel but she did it. We tired to get her to as many dance classes as possible, but during the rehearsal phases this was pretty much out. Once the show was up she could usually make dance since it was between school and the show.
Voice we let slide and this was OK with her voice teacher.</p>

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<p>I recommend that you talk to your school about their policy before auditioning. In our city, the schools vary greatly on what they will or will not allow. I can think of at least one private school that is not supportive of missing school for the arts. The local public performing arts magnet school used to require the students to do only school shows and not shows in the community. A group of parents negotiated, and now their policy is to allow one show outside of school during the school year. Other schools are very supportive of kids missing classes for the arts. My son went to a private school that made the decision based on the student and how well they were doing in school. </p>

<p>Thank goodness my son was driven to do well in school and was always allowed to miss school for rehearsals and performances, as needed. He worked hard to keep in touch with his teachers when missing school and would stay up late at night finishing his school work after rehearsals and shows. I think that doing theatre actually makes the student more disciplined in other areas of life.</p>

<p>There is a local Children's Theatre in town that requires the actors to miss up to 11 days of school for the school shows they perform. They usually cast kids at most just once a semester, unless the student is home schooled. My son did 8 shows there from 5th to 9th grade, and after 1 show in 9th grade (HS), he decided not to audition for that theatre any more. He was in honors and AP classes and wanted to do well in school. It was his personal choice that he did not want to miss that much school. It paid off, as he graduated valedictorian of his class! Instead of doing shows at that theatre, he had many opportunities at the local equity theatre, dinner theatre, and community theatres. The professional theatres usually required a few days out of school, but this was manageable. </p>

<p>We always made sure he continued his voice lessons, but where he suffered was in dance classes. He started dancing with a couple of classes in 9th grade and added a few classes each year plus a couple of summer intensive programs. Up until his senior year, though, he was always participating in a theatre show and having to miss dance classes. Thank goodness his dance studio was understanding! Senior year was the first year that he consistently attended his dance classes. He didn't do as much performing senior year because he was too busy with college auditions. This helped his dance training a little bit.</p>

<p>Good luck with the auditions and with your negotiations with your school.</p>