THE THEATRE MUSEUM AND THE WATERFRONT MUSEUM'S 

EDUCATION QUESTIONS FOR "SHOWBOAT 'ROUND THE BEND!"

Discussion Questions Before Seeing the Exhibition

What was a showboat?

What was the purpose of a showboat?

When was the era of the showboat?

What did the old time showboats look like?

How were the old time showboats different from a modern day cruise ship?

What is a calliope? What is a steam whistle? Why did they use it?

What do you think you will learn from attending this exhibition?

What does the term 'showboating' mean?

Discuss after seeing exhibition:

What new things did you learn about showboats?
If you were running a showboat in the 21st century, what would you include in an entertainment program?
How much would you be willing to pay to see a showboat presentation today?
Which songs of today would you arrange to be played on the calliope? Why did you choose these?
What was your reaction to the pictured two-storied bargelike showboats like the Attaboy, the Cotton Blossom, the Majestic, and the Showboat?
Were you surprised that showboats played along the Hudson River and New York Harbor? Why?
What kinds of entertainment made up a typical showboat presentation?
Why were America's rivers a spawning ground for showboats?
How did life on the river change with the advent of the steamboat?
What inventions led to the demise of the showboat?
Post Visit Activities
• Create an ad for a magazine or newspaper advertising your showboat.
• Using a video recorder, create an ad for TV.
• Make a sketch of an olio or front curtain that might have appeared in your showboat in 1860, 1920, 1940, 1960, or 2000.

Design your own showboat.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS AT THE THEATRE MUSEUM

The Theatre Museum carries on the theatre workshop resident design successfully created and implemented by The Broadway Theatre Institute, a precursor to TTM, since 1992. BTI had worked in public and private schools in the New York City area as well as in community-based programs such as Holland House and Single Parent Resource Center. Now The Theatre Museum continues this program.

The goal of the Theatre Workshop's long-term residency program is to allow students to actively engage in the processes that constitute the creation, production and performance of an original curriculum-based script that encompasses a theme of study such as one from the New York State and/or New York City social studies/history curriculum.

Our teaching artists-in-residence usually include a writer or composer along with a director, choreographer, set, costume and lighting designer and/or performer who work in partnership with the classroom teacher as well as with the students. The aim of this team is to guide students through the development of a story concept that moves through rehearsals and rewrites and finishes with a presentation that can be as modest as a staged reading or as elaborate as a fully-staged production. The show generally includes an integration of theatre disciplines: music, acting, dance and design around the curriculum theme.

The steps the professionals help the students take include:

· Creating a script with the writer
· Inspiring the music with the composer and writing song lyrics
· Working with a choreographer
· Consulting with a lighting designer
· Working with props and costumes with a costume designer
· Discussing set elements with a set designer
· Consulting a director on staging

When the production is mounted, the show is performed for the school, parents and community members. There are generally three or four performances. After the final performance, Achievement Awards are presented to all participants.

The Theatre Museum also offers shorter term residences focused on developing a particular skill set or concentrating on a specific curriculum. Examples are a lighting designer working with a physics teacher to explore the challenging concepts in this area and a composer/lyricist expanding on the possibilities of poetry in a literature class.

For pricing information contact:
The Theatre Museum: 212-764-4112 ext. 204.

Among the schools where this program has been successfully developed by the Broadway Theatre Institute since 1992 and now continues under the banner of The Theatre Museum include:

· Isaac Newton Jr. High School in East Harlem
· P.S. 5 in Washington Heights/Inwood (Manhattan)
· High School for Environmental Studies (Manhattan)
· Sunset Park Academy (Brooklyn)
· Public Schools 58, 10 and Middle School 48 (Brooklyn)
· Public School 80Q (Queens)
· JFK Intermediate School (Long Island)
· Bronx Dance Academy

Community-based programs include collaborations with Phoenix Academy, Holland House, The Police Athletic League and the Single Parent Resource Center.

Broadway Productions Participants Have Attended, Through                                             The Theatre Museum's education programs:

BARRYMORE
CATS
GOODBYE GIRL
FOOL MOON
BLOOD BROTHERS
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
JELLY'S LAST JAM
TOMMY
A LITTLE MORE MAGIC
THE SEAGULL
BIG
THE REHEARSAL
THE BIG APPLE CIRCUS
SCARLET PIMPERNEL
HONOUR
DIARY OF ANN FRANK
CAPEMAN
TITANIC
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
THE MUSIC MAN
TOM SAWYER

Selection of Broadway working professionals who have donated their time as teaching artists or guest artists to The Theatre Museum's education programs:

Martin Short, actor
Tyne Daly, actor
Leigh Rand, set designer
Ken Billington, lighting designer
Barbara Beccio, costume designer
Ben Pearcy, lighting designer
Linda Cholodenko, choreographer
Gail Brassard, costume designer
Sal Tagliarino, set designer
John Lofgren, stagehand
Caitlin Clarke, actor
Debra Dumas, lighting designer
Michael Roberts, playwright and lyricist
Craig Bierko, performer; acted in Broadway's The Music Man
Mike Ishii, musician; decided to get his teaching license after participating in the Theatre Museum's education program
Stewart Lane, Broadway producer
Bonnie Comley, actor and producer