Bryant’s school play each spring is an exciting opportunity for our 4th and 5th graders to build confidence and self-esteem, make new friends, and explore their performance and artistic abilities! We have 2 casts with 2 productions from each cast, so up to 60 students can participate.
Adult volunteers are critical to the success of the show! There are opportunities for interests of all kinds.
Finding Nemo KIDS!
Key Dates:
Casting Workshops
Monday, December 11 and Wednesday, Dec 13 6:15-8:00pm
Mandatory Parent Meeting
Monday, December 11 6:15-7pm (Bryant Library)
Rehearsals Begin
Monday, January 9
Rehearsals are every Tuesday and Thursday 6:15-8:00pm
No rehearsals: Feb 20 and Feb 22
If there is no in-person school, there is no rehearsal (example: snow days)
Tech and Dress Rehearsals
Saturday Tech Rehearsals: March 16, 2024 1:00 -5:00pm
Final Dress Rehearsals: March 19 and 21 from 6:15-8:30pm
2024 Bryant Play Performance Dates (on the Bryant Stage):
Friday, March 22 at 7pm
Saturday, March 23 at 2pm
Saturday, March 23 at 7pm
Sunday, March 24 at 2pm
Email play@bryantschool.org with any questions.
More 2024 Play Information to come! Stay Tuned!
Hello Lion King Families!
We are looking forward to seeing all of you on Monday, December 5 at 6:15pm for the Student Casting Workshops and the mandatory Parent/Caregiver Meeting. Please read this entire email which includes important logistics information for Monday and a letter from Seattle’s Performers describing the casting workshop process and deadline for solo videos.
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Hello Bryant Play Families,
Seattle’s Performers is elated to be back in person directing the Bryant Play. We are very excited to be presenting Lion King KIDS this year! Our teaching team will include myself (Sandy Sonko) along with Danielle Rogers, Hannah Adams and Somto Mgbajiaka.
When directing a school play, we know that students will have various levels of experience in performing, and we want to make the casting process as fun and enjoyable as possible. We have been using our “Getting to Know You” style of auditions when we direct musicals at schools. In this style of auditions students get to play theatre games, learn songs and dances, without the pressure of a formal audition. During these auditions, we are looking for the students to have confidence when acting during the games and be able to be a team player and follow instructions.
If your performer is interested in singing a solo in the production, please send a video of your performer singing a 20-second portion of a song of their choice to play@bryantschool.org no later than Monday, December 12th by midnight.
During the auditions we are going to split the students into small group stations of 12-15 and rotate between each of the teachers doing Acting, Singing, Dancing and Theatre games.
December 5th Schedule
6:15-6:45pm- Teacher & Student introductions
6:45-7:00pm- 1st group rotation
7:00-7:15pm- 2nd group rotation
7:15-7:30pm- 3rd group rotation
7:30-7:45pm- 4th group rotation
7:45pm- Closing All Group Circle
December 12th Schedule
6:15pm-6:30pm- Welcome
6:30-6:50pm- 1st group rotation
6:50-7:10pm- 2nd group rotation
7:10-7:30pm- 3rd group rotation
7:30-7:50pm- 4th group rotation
7:50pm- Closing All Group Circle
Thank You,
Sandy Sonko
We are thrilled to announce the return of the Bryant Play which is open to all 4th and 5th grade student performers! The name of the show will be announced later this month. Watch for an information packet to come home with your student in early November.
The amazing team from Seattle’s Performers will join us again this year to work with our 4th and 5th graders to bring this musical to the stage for our entire Bryant community to enjoy.
As with previous shows, we are expecting a lot of interest and are again planning to have two casts with spots for 60 performers! Performers will be registered on a first come, first served basis (paperwork will be date-stamped when submitted).
* All dates and times are tentative, pending confirmation with Bryant and SPS
We are looking for more lead volunteers to organize teams of parent volunteers: Treasurer, Front-of-House (day of show), Back-of-House (day of show), Cast Party (last night), Costumes, Props, Set Design/Build, and Publicity/Promotions (posters, t-shirts & programs). Please email play@bryantschool.org to get more information on these roles.
We are so excited to get started!
Jennifer DuHamel, Play Producer & Bryant Parent
Bridgit Jacobsen, Volunteer Lead & Bryant Parent
Michelle Graf, Tech Lead & Bryant Parent
2020 COVID Challenges – Final Decision for Suessical Performances
Thank you for your swift and candid feedback on the modified performance schedule due to the emerging COVID pandemic. This situation is of course less than ideal. After careful consideration, we have decided to move forward with this modified performance schedule. Please note, some times are slightly different than originally proposed.
Friday, March 13
HATS – cast/crew call time 4:15, house opens 4:30, show starts at 5P
Saturday, March 14
CATS – cast/crew call time 4:15, house opens 4:30, show starts at 5P
Sunday, March 15
HATS – cast/crew call time 4:15, house opens 4:30, show starts at 5P
CATS – cast/crew call time 5:45, house opens 6:00, show starts at 6:30P
If you cannot make the performances for your performer because of the schedule change (we understand this sucks! one of us co-producers is missing the final performance for her kiddo), you can come to a dress rehearsal.
Tuesday, March 10 – 4P-6P Cats
Thursday, March 12 – 4P-6P Hats
How we arrived here
After weighing a myriad of options in the very short amount of time we had to make a decision, we think this is our best option to ensure that the kids get to perform while minimizing the risk of disease as much as possible. It’s not possible for us to wait and resume rehearsals and schedule new performances because the Bryant school calendar is filled with other events. We will be competing for space with existing scheduled events as well as everyone else trying to reschedule. Additionally, Seattle Performers will likely not be available as they have more shows coming up, and we cannot run the shows without them. What this means is that we were having to decide between allowing the kids to perform now or cancelling all together.
The vast majority of you shared little to no concern about moving forward with these performances. A few of you shared some concerns about gathering more than 100 people together for this event, and we share some of your concerns. As of yesterday, King County Public Health recommendations are as follows:
Public Health is aware that events are being postponed, employers are encouraging that employees work from home and many schools have chosen to temporarily close. Public Health supports these decisions. While evidence currently available is that the vast majority of children and most adults are not at risk for severe illness, we do know that some members of our community are at higher risk. These include:
People at higher risk should stay home and away from large groups of people as much as possible, including public places with lots of people and large gatherings where there will be close contact with others. More detail on these measures is available at www.kingcounty.gov/covid
King County is not mandating that events be cancelled. They support the decisions of those who are, but there is no directive to do so from them.
Jet City Improv is a very small theater and will accommodate fewer people than the Bryant lunchroom. This means that we will be restricting ticket sales to parents and siblings (six tickets per family total) in order to make sure that we all see our own kids perform. This also reduces the number of others from the community who could potentially bring in a germ. These kids are at school together all day and they bring their germs home. The vast majority of us in that theater together will already be exposed to whatever is going around Bryant, even if we were to cancel performances. Because of this, we feel the risk is lower than other community events that invite a wider range of the general public. That said, if you, your child, or a family member is in one of the high risk categories, we understand if you cannot participate. Theaters around Seattle are following protocol of refunding tickets to those who are sick, and doing a deeper clean between performances. Seattle Performers use this theater regularly for their student performances and have been sanitizing after each show. We will also be asking for volunteers to join us ahead of each rehearsal and performance to sanitize seats and door handles.
We are not promoting this event to the larger Bryant community or doing broad ticket sales. Students at Bryant may get to see a review of the show during school hours.
Stay tuned for more info about volunteer opportunities, rehearsals, costumes, tickets, and performances. Please let us know if you have questions or if your student won’t be able to participate. Thank you for your patience and kindness as we figure this out. See you at tech rehearsal tomorrow!
Traci & Liza
Please bring your child at the time listed below for their cast WITH THEIR COSTUME to the Seattle Performers Studio located at 5214 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105. We will have more costume bins there if you want to purchase. When in costume, they will be walked down to Jet City located at 5510 University Way NE to rehearse, and then walked back. THIS WILL BE PERFORMERS ONLY, CREW PARENTS, YOUR KIDS WILL NOT NEED TO COME TOMORROW.
CATS CAST: 12:30P – 2:30P
HATS CAST: 2P-4P
Performers will be picked up at the Studio.
With the fluid nature of this process, we would like to encourage families to come and watch a rough dress run-through of their casts show tomorrow.