Middle School students have been absorbed in reading William Shakespeare’s “ Macbeth” in their literature class with Ms. Arlene.  A complicated story of ambition gone wrong, “Macbeth” begins when the brave Scottish general falls under the spell of three witches who prophesy his rise in power.

After feeling the pull of power and being goaded on by his equally corrupt wife, Macbeth’s moral compass begins to dull and he enters into a juggernaut of ambition, murder, madness and death.

Inspired by this, middle school students are creating a performance this March called “Macbeth, The Musical Comedy” which is a lighthearted, musical play based upon Shakespeare’s Tragedy. Ms. Arlene and Ms. Erica are collaborating with Ms Dian to create this fun performance.  

In Performing Arts class, the emphasis is upon the songs, vocal techniques and exercises, and how the students portray their songs as their characters.  It has been really enlightening for Ms. Dian working with the students.

She looked at the very basics of how they feel about singing and found that some students were open and willing to jump in, while others needed some time to feel more comfortable.

As the process unfolded, Ms. Dian impressed upon all of her students that it’s not always about having a technical singing voice, but to work on acting the songs, understanding their characters, and letting their voice come from this place of empathy.

Once this groundwork was established, students looked at their characters more closely and explored how they felt in each of their songs (In some cases line by line) and we labelled the emotion. This seems to have helped them express themselves.

Ms. Dian is so proud of the transformation the students are having in their rehearsals.  They are open to direction, seem more confident, and are having fun.

“Macbeth The Musical Comedy” will be performed by the Middle School students for their parents during the month of March.