Challenge 1: The small pool of students means they have less time. These are the same kids who are on the basketball team after school, who tutor elementary students, who are studying their butts off in both our AP courses. The Korean missionary kids spend practically their entire weekend at church. The Khmer kids have family obligations involving large blocks of time. They can't just drop everything for a musical.
Solution 1: Make it nearly mandatory for students to join. There's only one other class - I.T. - offered in the same time slot, so about 80% of the high school is involved somehow in the production. Students do most of their prep during a normal class period, with occasional outside practices scheduled around sports.
Challenge 2: The small pool of students also means they have less talent. Remember that guy who got the part because he could act, but whose voice cracked on the high notes? Yeah, me too.
Solution 2: Get the choir to help. A few major characters sing solos, but most either speak their lines or sing along with the choir. Even the middle school choir is singing a few of the songs. We've also made a few changes to the script, like dividing the narrator's part into three, so that no one girl has to carry such a heavy load. Also, we've got the Korean factor. Those kids are musical! Not only do we have an outstanding lead, we even have a very capable understudy.
Challenge 3: The drama teacher, Erin, has her hands full. She's also the yearbook adviser and art teacher for grades 4-12. She doesn't have time to singlehandedly direct a musical. Also, she never directed a play until last year, so she lacks the experience to teach all aspects.
Solution 3: Enlist other teachers' support. Lesley, the librarian/elementary-middle school music teacher, has handled lots of logistical details and overall coordination. Megan, the high school choir teacher, is obviously quite involved. Others are less obvious choices: first-grade teacher Sarah is in charge of costumes, with help from expert seamstresses Suzanne and Tirai (aka ESL teacher and 4th grade TA). Dani, who teaches mostly math and PE, was supposed to teach health the same period as drama and choir. The first day of class, they decided to cancel health and add her to drama, since she has extensive dance experience. She's now choreographed and taught all the dances. It takes a village...
Challenge 4: We're in Cambodia! The resources available here are hit-or-miss, hidden, and quite different from what's available in the US.
Solution 4: Flexibility and perseverance. If we can't find leather jackets, why not change them to traditional Khmer wedding jackets? The girls' hoop skirts get their oomph from wicker hula hoops. It turns out that a cyclo (bike-pulled carriage) works pretty well as a chariot. Sometimes being here is a great advantage: using scrap material and a tailor, we got Joseph's incredible coat made for only $30. Sarah and Erin have spent every weekend scouring the markets for bargains and elusive props.
Challenge 5: Asian students. They can't visualize colors like "ochre" and "mauve," and have no idea what a "juicy tidbit" is, or how to dance a hoedown. Most have never danced, period, besides maybe imitating K-pop videos. Many have never heard a Southern or French accent, let alone practiced them, and a few have pretty thick accents of their own.
Solution 5: Treat it as a learning experience, of course! I got them up to par on the French accent - my one contribution. They've dived into the dancing and expanded their vocabulary. We're also adding some Asian elements...they can do a pretty mean Korean fan dance. And their hoedown moves are getting better and better.
I don't know what further challenges await them, but I know that staff and students alike are committed to excellence. I can't wait to witness the final product!
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