Charleston Stage: Madeline’s Christmas Curriculum Guide Page 1

Madeline’s Christmas

Education Guide

Charleston Stage: Madeline’s Christmas Curriculum Guide Page 2

Setting The Stage

Credits

Original Book/Story written by Ludwig BemelmansBook and Lyrics by Jennifer KirkebyMusic by Shirley Mier

Directed by Marybeth ClarkSet Design by Ken BarnettCostume Design by Barbara YoungLighting Design by Paul Hartmann

Theatre EtiquetteDiscuss proper audience behavior with your students. While applause, laughter, andreaction, when appropriate, are appreciated and anticipated, unnecessary noise ormovement can distract the actors and audience members, while also affecting the qualityof the performance. It is very important that students understand how their behavior canaffect a live performance. You, the teacher, and other adult chaperones for your group areresponsible for your student’s behavior. We ask that the chaperones sit among thestudents rather than together in a group behind the students. Our ushers will react todisruptions and attempt to quell them. We reserve the right to remove any student causinga distraction from the theatre. When entering the theatre venue please make sure all ofyour students have name tags with their name and your school’s name.

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MEET THE CREATORS!

Playwright Jennifer Kirkebyhas worked at Stages Theatre Company for eight years.She wrote Dot and Tot of Merryland and Madeline’sChristmas which were both produced at Stages and havesince been published by Dramatic Publishing Co. She isalso an actor, director, choreographer and teacher.Kirkeby is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America,Inc., the Playwrights’ Center and American Federation ofTelevision and Radio Artists.

Shirley Mier has been a composer, music director andperformer in the Twin Cities for nearly two decades. Shecomposes music of all kinds, in the theatre, educationaland concert world. Theatre works include a musicaladaptation of "Madeline?s Christmas," which has beenperformed nationwide; text settings for Shakespeare?s"Much Ado About Nothing" and "Twelfth Night"; and"Alexander at Delphi," a one-act musical drama aboutAlexander the Great. Her concert music has won multiplehonors, including a performance at Carnegie Hall in May2004 of "Theme and Deviations for Band" (2003), as thewinner of the Fifth Annual H. Robert Reynolds NationalWind Ensemble Composers Competition. Herpedagogical piano duets are published by Alfred Music,and her recent work for young concert band, "MaidenVoyage," was a finalist in the 2006 Frank TicheliComposition Contest. She recently completed her firstscore for ballet, "Strange Attractor."Dr. Mier completedher Ph.D. in Composition at the University of Minnesota inMay 2005 (Doctoral Dissertation Fellow, 2004-05), whereshe also earned her M.A. in Composition in May 2002with a minor in Theatre Arts. She earned her B.A. in Musicfrom Grinnell College, IA, in 1988. She has taught musictheory and ear training at the University of Minnesota andthe University of Wisconsin, River Falls, and is a ResidentArtist at Stages Theatre Company in Hopkins, MN.

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CHARACTERS

MadelineMiss ClavelMonsieur Brun/HarshaMrs. Murphy

12 little girls all Simonein a line: Juliette

KateDominiqueAnneA m yDaphneIsabelleCamilleRegineMary

Synopsis of Madeline’s Christmas

It's the night before Christmas and everyone is sick in bed. All except braveMadeline, who is up and about and feeling just fine. Taking care of eleven littlegirls and Miss Clavel is hard work, but Madeline finds help from a magicalmerchant peddling flying carpets door-to-door. Now the girls are going on aChristmas journey that will surely make them forget their sniffles and sneezes!Song List:MadelineMadeline RepriseAchoo!ChillyAbracadabraAracadabra RepriseWe’re FlyingSomething isn’t Right/Joy of the SeasonBonne Annee (Happy New Year)Bonne Annee Curtain Call

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Curriculum Connections

LET’S SPEAK SOME FRENCH! OUI!

Merci beaucoup – thank you very much

Oui! Yes! (pronounced “wee!”)

Mousieur - Mister

Joyeux noel! – Merry Christmas

Que c’est merveillieux – That is marvelous

Baret: a floppy French hat

Bonne Annee: Happy New Year!

Commet ca va – how are you?

Ca va, et vous? – okay/alright, and you?

Au revior! – Goodbye!

S’il vous plait - please

Fun Facts about PARIS, FRANCE

• Capital: Paris• Largest City: Paris (2,175,200)• Language: French• Currency: Euro• Population: 60,180,529 (July 2003 est.)• Religions: Roman Catholic 85%, Muslim 10%, Protestant

2%, and Jewish 1%• Area more than 210,000 square miles includes the island of

Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea• Highest Mountain: Mont Blanc, in the Alps. It is the highest

mountain in Europe.• Longest River: River Loire

• Natural resources: coal, iron ore, bauxite, fish, timber, zinc, potash

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Weather

France generally has cool winters and mild summers. However, along the Mediterranean theyhave hot summers.

The north has cool weather. In the south it gets very hot in summer. Fruits such as orangesand lemons grow in the south.

Mountains

There are mountains in parts of France. Some mountains are snow-cappedall year round. France's highest mountains are the French Alps and Jura Mountains, borderingItaly and Switzerland, and the Pyrénées, along the frontier with Spain.

The highest mountain is Mont Blanc in the French Alps. It rises to 4,807m (15,771 ft). MountBlanc is also the highest peak in the whole of Europe.

French Cheeses

More than 350 kinds of cheese are made in France.

What is France Famous for?

France is famous for cheese (Camembert, Brie, Roquefort) wine, perfume(Chanel, Dior, Givenchy) and cars (Renault, Citroen, Peugeot).France is also famous for theTour de France and the Eiffel.

Famous Landmarks of Paris

Symbols such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter,Montmartre, and the Georges Pompidou Center make Paris one of the most visited places inthe world.

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True and FalseWrite T if the statement is True and F if the statement is False.

The little girls encounter and keep a Rat

Harsha is a merchant of curtains

Madeline has had an operation for her appendix

The magic word is allakazam

The girls fly around london

The girls name the mouse Marvin

For gifts, the girls receive angels

Mrs. Murphy’s first name is brigette

The last holiday that the girls celeb

Madeline reads aloud The Christmas Story

Matching

Isabelle her favorite animal is the monkey

Mrs murphy She is last in line

Gustave Eiffel catches a cold

Mousieur brun Watches over the girls

Madeline Architect

Miss clavel teaches French history

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Discussion before the Performance

All Language Arts completes the following standards:o Developing and using oral communicationo Understanding and reading literary textso Understanding and using informational textso Building Better vocabularyo Developing written communicationo Developing and using research strategies

All Social Studies meets the following standards:o Understanding of different life around them and across the worldo Understanding of different regions and human systems

All Theatre Activities meet the following standards:– Connecting ideas and action– Understanding characters

DISCUSSION PROMPTS

1. How many students have read any of the Madeline stories? Pick a Madeline bookdiscuss major plot points. How would you create scenes or stage pictures onstage foreach plot point?

2. What are some differences in French vs. American culture? Specifically focus onsystems of education or methods of teaching manners.

3. What are American boarding schools like? Has anyone been to a boarding school orvisited one?

Activities After the Performance

DISCUSSION PROMPTS

Discuss the “technical elements” you paid attention to during the show

1. The Set: Draw or discuss what you remember? What were the colors on the set? Werethere pieces that moved in and out or turned into another piece?

2. The costumes: How did the characters’ clothing help distinguish who they are?3. How did the lights set the mood of the play? Did they change?4. The Music or sound: did the music help set the mood, either dramatically or for comedic

purposes? How did sound effects help us believe the action?

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ACTIVITIES

1. Choose an event from the play – one scene or action. Change a couple of aspectsabout it and recruit classmates to act out your new scene!

2. Re-write the ending of the play. Could some new character come in? Could differentdecisions be made? Change a couple of aspects about it and recruit classmates to actout your new scene!

Resources

BOOKS

BY MADELINE AUTHOR, LUDWIG BEMELMANS

Madeline at the White House

Madeline and the Cats of Rome

Madeline

Mad about Madeline: The Complete Tales

Madeline’s Rescue

Madeline and the Bad Hat

Madeline’s Christmas

Madeline in London

Madeline and the Gypsies

FILMS

Madeline – 1998 – staring Hatty Jones as Madeline and Frances McDormand as Miss Clavel

WEB RESOURCES

http://www.madeline.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline

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