Guest Blogger: Passport to Broadway

The StudentsLive team has a habit of touching down in China around the time of a major storm. As we approached on Friday morning at 3 a.m. - maybe the only hour at which a 75-minutes-early arrival is less than desirable - there was a bit of shaking, and the plane swerved as it decelerated after landing. On the drive into town from the airport, we could barely see through the windshield due to the downpour.

After six intense days of learning, studying, practicing, and expressing, the big day arrived, and in the morning we drove to our venue and walked upstairs to the second-floor theatre. It was chilly inside, but things warmed up throughout the day, aided by a single ambitious backstage heater.

One day to go! We've been practicing our show song by song, breaking it down into pieces and fine-tuning each section. Muscle memory is kicking in, and the students are starting to sing and dance more like an ensemble. They have a greater understanding of the purpose of each song in the story they're telling, and they're improving at remembering the sequence of events. We ended day six with two run-throughs, the second much smoother than the first.

'If you can feel a song, you can dance.' Such were the words of wisdom of nine-year-old Peter, one of many students to have breakthroughs in the past couple of days. Our cast members have been studying so hard to get the lyrics and movement correct, and they have done an admirable job. But they are only starting to feel the songs and express the attitudes that are such an important part of the performance.

By far, our students' biggest challenge is to act with feeling. Pronunciation, melody, and dance steps can all be practiced to perfection, but performing while conveying a convincing attitude is difficult for someone unaccustomed to the task. Many of the students are naturally shy, and they are used to approaching schoolwork seriously.

This week, StudentsLive returned to China for the third consecutive year to bring an intensive seven-day Broadway program to students in Guangzhou. Nineteen youngsters from the Clifford International School, aged seven to twelve, joined us at the Guangzhou Seamen's Club hotel in the center of the old city to learn a half-hour show full of singing and choreography. The StudentsLive team comprises director and founder Amy Weinstein, choreographer Stephen Brotebeck, and musical director Seth Weinstein.

It is with a great sense of respect for all that BroadwayWorld has developed, created and featured in all aspects of Broadway theater standards, and with a great confidence and pride in what I have been able to accomplish throughout my career, that I am honored to partner with the excellent team at Broadway World to bring more attention to one of the most comprehensive experiences for the study of performing arts and related professions internationally.

Today, the day of our performance, we delayed our start time by ninety minutes, and the extra sleep was nothing short of heaven.

We've had a couple of challenging days, but we've also witnessed some breakthroughs among the cast. Acting is difficult, especially for students used to vocations in which there is one correct answer. It's easy to tell people they are singing the wrong notes; it's harder to tell them their intent isn't showing and expect them to fix it. It's also hard to remain alert and in character for nine hours on the eighth consecutive day of rehearsal.

Last year, the American International School of Guangzhou converted an on-campus warehouse into a gorgeous 497-seat theatre. It still smells of fresh wood and polish. Yesterday we moved from the dance studio into the theatre for the remainder of our rehearsals.

Two days after Typhoon Merbok descended on Guangdong province, three theatre professionals from New York descended on the American International School of Guangzhou to begin a ten-day intensive program for twenty-nine students from the fourth to the twelfth grade. In our first three days, we cast each participant and taught all the music and half the staging and choreography for our hour-long show. Much like the rain, our pace was strong and driving, and much like the ninety-degree temperatures, our energy was high and sweat-inducing.