TheatreWorksS I L I C O N V A L L E Y

FOR SCHOOLS

SOMEWHEREBy Matthew Lopez

Our Partners in EducationTheatreWorks thanks our generous donors to the Education Department, whose financial support enables us to

provide in-depth arts education throughout Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. During the 2011/12

season alone, we served over 40,000 students, patients, and community members, making almost 114,000

educational interactions.

Foundations

Avant! Foundation

Crescent Porter Hale Foundation

The Leonard C. & Mildred F. Ferguson Foundation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The Kimball Foundation

Mission City Community Fund

Mission City Community Foundation

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Palo Alto Community Fund

Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund

Sand Hill Foundation

Corporate

Air Systems Foundation, Inc.

American Century Investments Foundation

Applied Materials, Inc.

Bank of America Foundation

Dodge & Cox Investment Managers

Intero Foundation

Lockheed Martin

Luther Burbank Savings

Microsoft

Morrison & Foerster LLP

SanDisk Corporation

Silicon Valley Bank Foundation

Stanford Federal Credit Union

Target

Union Bank

Wells Fargo Foundation

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Table of Contents

For Teachers and Students• For Teachers: Using this Study Guide 4• For Students: The Role of the Audience 5

About the Play • Somewhere Plot Summary 6• West Side Story 7–8

Context• New York City: Then and Now 9

Activity: Then and Now Venn Diagrams 10• Gentrification 11

Thematic Ties• Exploring Identity 12

Activity: Role on the Wall 13Activity: Bio Poems 14–15

• Taking Responsibility 16Activity: Circles of Responsibility 17

• The American Dream 18Readings: From The New York Times archives 19–26

Resources• STUDENT/Student Matinee Evaluation• TEACHER/Student Matinee Evaluation

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How to use this Study Guide

This guide is arranged in worksheets. Each worksheet or reading may be used independently or in conjunction

with others to serve your educational goals. Together, the worksheets prepare students for the workshops, as

well as seeing the student matinee of Somewhere produced by TheatreWorks, and for discussing the performance

afterwards.

Throughout the guide you will see several symbols:

Means “Photocopy Me!” Pages with this symbol are meant to be photocopied and handed directly to students.

Means “English Language Arts.” Pages with this symbol feature lessons that are catered toCalifornia State English Language Arts standards.

Means “Theatre Arts.” Pages with this symbol feature lessons that are catered to California State Theatre Arts standards.

Means “Social Studies.” Pages with this symbol feature lessons that are catered to California State Social Studies standards.

For TeachersThe student matinee performance of Somewhere will be held on February 7, 2013 at 11:00 am at the Mountain View

Center for Performing Arts. The production is approximately two and a half hours long, including intermission, and will

be followed by a discussion with actors from the show.

Student audiences are often the most rewarding and demanding audiences that an acting ensemble can face. Since we

hope every show at TheatreWorks will be a positive experience for both audience and cast, we ask you to familiarize

your students with the theatre etiquette described on the “For Students” pages.

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All the work that goes into a production would mean nothing if there wasn’t an audience for whom to perform. As the

audience, you are also a part of the production, helping the actors onstage tell the story.

When the performance is about to begin, the lights will dim. This is a signal for the actors and the audience to put aside

concerns and conversation and settle into the world of the play.

The performers expect the audience’s full attention and focus. Performance is a time to think inwardly, not a time

to share your thoughts aloud. Talking to neighbors (even in whispers) carries easily to others in the audience and to the

actors on stage. It is disruptive and distracting.

Food is not allowed in the theatre. Soda, candy, and other snacks are noisy and, therefore, distracting. Please keep

these items on the bus or throw them away before you enter the audience area. Backpacks are also not allowed in the

theatre.

Walking through the aisles during the performance is extremely disruptive. Actors occasionally use aisles and stairways

as exits and entrances. The actors will notice any movement in the performance space. Please use the restroom and

take care of all other concerns outside before the show.

Cell phones and other electronic devices must be turned off before the performance begins. Do not text during

the performance, as it is distracting to the audience members around you.

What to bring with you:

Introspection

Curiosity

Questions

Respect

An open mind

What to leave behind:

Judgements

Cell phones, etc.

Backpacks

Food

Attitude

The Role of the Audience

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Plot Summary

The Candelaria family migrated to New York City from Puerto Rico when their oldest child, Alejandro, was still small.

With their husband and father Pepe living far from home, mother Inez and her children Alejandro, Francisco, and

Rebecca live in a tenement apartment on 65th Street, scheduled for demolition. The children are talented dancers

and actors, but Alejandro has given up dance to help augment his mother’s income from ushering and various other

pursuits. Then word comes that there will be auditions for the movie of West Side Story. It is both the best and the

worst news the family could hear, igniting long held dreams and bringing with them Jamie McRae who used to dance

with Alejandro, as well as buried secrets.

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Michelle Cabinian, Michael Rosen, Eddie Gutierrez, & Priscilla Lopez / Photo by Tracy Martin

West Side StorySomewhere is set in New York City, beginning in 1959

as the Broadway production of West Side Story was in

full swing. West Side Story was not only a critical and

commercial success, it changed the face of American

musical theatre. But the road to Broadway wasn’t an

easy one. The development of the musical started

almost ten years before, when infamous choreographer

and director Jerome Robbins approached composer

Leonard Bernstein and playwright Arthur Laurents

about collaborating on a musical adaptation of Romeo

and Juliet. Originally, the musical was set in the Lower

East Side of Manhattan and called East Side Story.

Instead of warring gangs, the story was about star-

crossed lovers from different religious backgrounds—

a Jewish boy and an Irish Catholic girl. However, during

the development process, more and more stories of

teenage gang violence were being reported in the

news, a relatively new appearance in the media. To

bring the story up to date, Bernstein and Laurents

decided to move the story uptown to Manhattan’s

Upper West Side and the conflict between Jewish and

Catholic families became the conflict between Puerto

Rican and Polish-American gangs.

As Bernstein and Robbins worked on developing the

musical it became clear that Bernstein would not be

able to write both the music and the lyrics—he was

simultaneously working on Candide, an extremely

complicated operetta, and the music for West Side Story,

as Bernstein said, “turned out to be extraordinarily

balletic and there was tremendously more music—

symphonic and balletic music—than anything I had

anticipated. I realized that I couldn’t do all the lyrics and

do them well.” It was then that a relatively unknown

twenty-something composer and lyricist named

Stephen Sondheim joined the writing team, which

would later be termed “the big four.”

When rehearsals finally began for West Side Story

in 1957, Jerome Robbins was in complete control.

Robbins was both the choreographer and director and

the musical gained a greater dance focus as a result. As

a result, large parts of the story were told exclusively

through dance and movement, such as the wordless

prologue, something unheard of at the time. Reviewers

had a difficult time classifying what they’d just seen.

Walter Kerr of the New York Herald Tribune wrote:

The radioactive fallout from West Side Story must

still be descending on Broadway this morning.

Director, choreographer, and idea-man Jerome

Robbins has put together, and then blasted apart,

the most savage, restless, electrifying dance

patterns we've been exposed to in a dozen seasons

.... the show rides with a catastrophic roar over the

spider-web fire-escapes, the shadowed trestles,

and the plain dirt battlegrounds of a big city feud ...

there is fresh excitement in the next debacle, and

the next. When a gang leader advises his cohorts to

play it "Cool," the intolerable tension between an

effort at control and the instinctive drives of these

potential killers is stingingly graphic. When the

knives come out, and bodies begin to fly wildly

through space under buttermilk clouds, the sheer

visual excitement is breathtaking .... Mr. Bernstein

has permitted himself a few moments of graceful,

lingering melody: in a yearning "Maria," in the

hushed falling line of "Tonight," in the wistful

declaration of "I Have a Love." But for the most

part he has served the needs of the onstage

threshing machine ... When hero Larry Kert is

stomping out the visionary insistence of "Something's

Coming" both music and tumultuous story are

given their due. Otherwise it's the danced narrative

that takes urgent precedence...

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West Side Story Broadway production team in 1957: (l. to r.) lyricist Stephen Sondheim, scriptwriter Arthur Laurents, producers Hal Prince and Robert Griffith (seated), composer Leonard Bernstein and choreographer Jerome Robbins.

CONNECTION:

As a class or in pair-shares, discuss what stories (plays, movies, television shows, books, etc.) accurately reflect

the time and place you live in now or have lived in previously. What elements were authentic? What parts of

the story rang the truest? What parts of the story were inauthentic?

ACTIVITY:

Somewhere opens with a two-page description of the setting for the play. Individually or in pairs, write the

opening stage directions to a play that is set in your neighborhood or city. Include sights, smells, sounds, and

anything else that you feel is necessary to accurately describe the environment you currently live in—this can

be a house, a school, or anywhere else that captures the microcosm of your world.

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TIME magazine’s review of the production reveals more

of the cultural impact of the story, evident just weeks

after the production opened:

While critics speculated about the comic-tragic

darkness of the musical, audiences were captivated.

The story appealed to society's undercurrent of

rebellion from authority that surfaced in 1950s films

like Rebel Without a Cause. West Side Story took

this one step further by combining the classic and

the hip. Robbins' energetic choreography and

Bernstein's grand score accentuated the satiric,

hard-edged lyrics of Sondheim, and Laurents'

capture of the angry voice of urban youth. The

play was criticized for glamorizing gangs, and its

portrayal of Puerto Ricans and lack of authentic

Latin casting were weaknesses. Yet, the song

"America" shows the triumph of the spirit over the

obstacles often faced by immigrants. The musical

also made points in its description of troubled

youth and the devastating effects of poverty and

racism. Juvenile delinquency is seen as an ailment

of society: "No one wants a fella with a social

disease!" One writer summed up the reasons for

the show's popularity in these terms: "On the cusp

of the 1960s, American society, still recovering

from the enormous upheaval of World War II, was

seeking stability and control.”

Dance is an essential component to the storytelling in both West Side Story and Somewhere. Leo Ash Evens & Michael Rosen / Photo by Tracy Martin

West Side Story represented a change in American musical theatre, a blending of classic musical and ballet, a modern

concept at the time. However, beyond the artistic importance, the musical also represented a shift in musical story

telling, putting stories ripped from the headlines on the stage. In fact, just a month before West Side Story opened,

New York City was shocked by the brutal murder of a white teenager from Washington Heights by rival black and Puerto

Rican gang members. There were eleven gang related murders in New York City in the summer of 1957, as West Side

Story rehearsed in downtown studios, and these stories became fuel for Jerome Robbins’ storytelling. In fact, he would

post articles about New York City gang violence in the rehearsal room to give the actors more real-life background for

their characters.

The late 1950s were a time of change for New York City. After World War II, urban developer Robert Moses had

situated himself in the New York state government to allow him to develop New York City as a city. He built thousands

of apartments in high rise buildings (28,000 units by 1959), bridges (including the Henry Hudson and Varrazano Narrows

bridges), and cultural centers like Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Shea Stadium. However, as the Candelaria

family discovers in Somewhere, this development often meant the destruction of buildings that were home to thousands

of New Yorkers. The West Side Urban Renewal Project demolished dozens of buildings in the west 80s and 90s,

displacing thousands of families, most of them African American and Puerto Rican. Through urban renewal projects,

neighborhoods like the Upper West Side that were once home to ethnically and socioeconomically diverse communities

became too expensive for their original residents, and many of these families were forced into housing projects in the

outer boroughs of New York City.

Now, some 50 years later, the socioeconomic divide of the Upper West Side still seems to exist. Do some research on

the setting of Somewhere as well as the modern day Upper West Side. What has changed in the last 50 years? What

hasn’t? Write your findings in the venn diagram on the next page. Once you’ve researched, in small groups or pairs,

talk about the things that are most striking to you about the similarities or differences between the two time periods.

As a class, make a venn diagram of the two time periods.

Here are a few articles to start your research:

NPR on the 1957 murder of Michael Farmer:

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/

transcript.php?storyId=12350113

History of NYC’s Upper West Side:

http://www.ny.com/articles/upperwest.html

The Upper West Side Book:

http://www.thecityreview.com/uwsintro.html

History on Harlem:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/iraas/harlem/

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New York City: Then and Now

Then

Now

New

York City

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Gentrification is defined as “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or

affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents” (Mirriam-Webster).

In Somewhere, the Candelaria family feels the effects of gentrification when the Lincoln Square Renewal Project

destroys their apartment building, forcing them to relocate to the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Here’s a simple definition of gentrification from the Center for Urban Research and Learning at the Loyola University of

Chicago:

One way to think about gentrification is to play the game of Monopoly. In this game, the goal is to become the

wealthiest player through buying, renting, and selling property. In every game, there are winners and losers, and we

see parallels to everyday life. Sometimes the gains and losses involved affect the same person. For example, many

long-term homeowners consider their property to be a central investment for retirement and want their homes to

increase in value. When property values rise, the value of their home improves. So what is the problem? When the

value of a home increases, so does the property tax assessed. For retired senior citizens on fixed incomes, tax

increases can force them to leave their homes. Many working people with low to moderate-incomes find it harder

to purchase their own homes or cover the rent increases in developing neighborhoods.

Where you come from, where you are, and where you go is fueled by dreams, talent, and social circumstances. What are

the effects of gentrification on the Candelaria family?

After seeing the play, make a list of the effects of gentrification on each of the members of the Candelaria family, and

how each effect is manifested. How does each character deal with their changing living situation? Do the dreams of

each character change as the family is displaced from their home? Once you’ve made your list, break into pairs and

discuss your findings.

Gentrification affects the following characters by...

Gentrification

Inez

Alejandro

Francisco

Rebecca

Jamie

Time: 60 minutes (can be extended into two days)

Materials: Role on the Wall and Biopoem worksheets

1. Ask students to define the word “identity.” You might

ask the following questions:

• Who are YOU?

• What are the things that make up “you,”

inside and out?

• What things in your life, whether it be your

parents or a book or movie, influence you and

point you in a certain direction?

• Is there anything in your life that inspires you to act?

2. Hand out the Role on the Wall worksheet. Using the

answers to the questions above, have students fill in

words and pictures that describe them. Inside the body

outline, students should write internal information––

hopes, dreams, likes, dislikes, etc. Outside the body

outline, students should write external information––

where they live, who their family members are, etc.

Exploring IdentityIn Somewhere, Alejandro, Francisco, and Rebecca Candelaria wrestle with their identities. They are ethnically Puerto

Rican and often speak Spanish at home, but they are also being raised in New York City as Americans. These two

identities are often a topic of discussion in the family—Alejandro longs for the stability and simplicity of Puerto Rico,

Francisco loves the hustle and bustle of NYC. Each Candelaria child is in the midst of their own self-discovery, whether

they are looking for a new path, like Alejandro, or seizing a new opportunity, like Rebecca. This journey to self-discovery

is an important one and, as the Candelaria children discover, is not always easy or smooth.

Examine these characters using the “Role on the Wall” activity. For each character, describe internal characteristics, such

as likes/dislikes, dreams, etc., and external characteristics, like who their family is and where they live.

3. Once they complete the Role on the Wall worksheet,

have students take what they wrote/drew on this

worksheet and complete the Biopoem worksheet.

4. Have students present these poems and drawings to

the class.

EXTENTION: Do this for each character at the

beginning of the play and at the end of the play and

then compare/contrast the two. Who changes the

most? Who changes the least?

Leo Ash Evens, Eddie Gutierrez, Michelle Cabinian, Priscilla Lopez, and Michael Rosen / Photo by Tracy Martin

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External CharacteristicsExamples: Who are his/her family members?

Where does he/she live? What is his/her job?

Internal CharacteristicsExamples: What are his/her likes?

What are his/her dislikes? What are his/her hopes and dreams?

Role on the Wall

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Bio Poems1. List at least six adjectives that you would use to describe yourself.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. List 3 important relationships in your life (for example: friend, sister, brother, mother, daughter, nephew).

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. List 5 things you love.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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4. List 3 memories you have and describe how you felt at those times.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. List 5 of your fears.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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6. List 3 accomplishments.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. List 5 hopes or wishes.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Where do you live?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Bio Poem Using the answers to your previous questions, complete the following biopoem:

(Line 1) First and last name

(Line 2) Three or four adjectives that describe the person

(Line 3) Important relationship

(Line 4) Two or three things, people, or ideas that this person loves

(Line 5) Three feelings this person has experienced

(Line 6) Three fears this person has

(Line 7) Accomplishments

(Line 8) Two or three things this person wants to see happen or wants to experience

(Line 9) The residence of the person

(Line 10) First and last name

Example:

Alejandro Candelaria

Talented, Loyal, Hardworking

Brother to Francisco

Who loves his family and to dance

Who feels tired, lost, and responsible

Who fears what will happen if he chases his dreams of dancing

Who finds work to support his family and keep a home for them

Who hopes for his family to stay together

Lives in New York City

Alejandro Candelaria

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Taking ResponsibilityAs the eldest male child of the Candelaria family, Alejandro finds that a lot of the responsibility in the household falls to him. With their father gone, Alejandro must watch out for not only his two younger siblings but also his mother. Butthis responsibility takes a toll on him, and often makes him bitter and angry. Just as in real life, each character takes ondifferent responsibilities in different ways and these responsibilities define their role in the family.

As a class, examine the idea of responsibility, first by defining the word responsibility, then by defining the following categories: Self, Family, Friends, Groups (or Organizations), Religious or Ethnic Community, Neighborhood, Country, Humanity, Values.

You might want to use some of the following to guide the discussion:

• What do you think of when you think of “self ”? • How do you define “family”? Does “family” mean individual family members, the nuclear family, or extendedfamily and friends? What sorts of responsibilities go along with family?

• How are Groups defined? Do Groups include school groups, work groups, ethnic groups, peer groups, etc.? • What category is most related to your personal identity? Why? • How do you define an ethnic or religious community? • What is a neighborhood? Is it defined by streets or by something else? Why are neighborhoods important?• What is a Value? What is an example of a principle that would influence a person’s sense of personal responsibility?

As a class, determine 4 categories for which your students feel the strongest sense of responsibility. Once the class has chosen the four categories, have each student rank them from 1 to 4, 1 being the category for which they feel themost responsibility, 4 being the category for which they feel the least responsibility. Using the Responsibility Worksheeton the next page, place these 4 categories in the concentric circles. 1 should be in the smallest circle, 4 should be in thelargest circle. Next, have each student brainstorm and then fill in one or two specific examples that illustrate their senseof responsibility for each category. Some questions that might help students get started:

• Why did you choose the category you chose for the inner circle? • Why do you feel such a strong responsibility in that arena? • What is an example of an event that might force someone to show their sense of personal responsibility to:

Their family? Their neighborhood? Their religious or cultural community? Their country?

• How might a person show their sense of responsibility in that situation?

Once they have given specific answers, ask each student to write out the action they took that demonstrated their senseof responsibility (For example, if in the “Responsibility to Self” circle they put “stay healthy,” the action might be “go fora jog every other day.”)

Hand out three post-its and have each student write an example and action on each one (this should be anonymous).Then, on the board or around the room, designate a square or area for each category and have students place theirpost-its in the corresponding responsibility category. Break the class up into four groups and assign each group a category. They should look at the examples and discuss them. Are there any similarities? Any differences? Summarizethe examples and report back to the class on their category

EXTENTION: Do the same activity with the categories of responsibility, but give examples and actions for each of thecharacters in Somewhere. What do you notice about these actions and examples? For each character, which category is the most important (where they feel the most responsibility)? Would they rank the categories the same or is one category more important to one person than another?

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Circles of ResponsibilityIn the center circle, write the category for which you feel the most responsibility. In the remaining three circles, write

the additional categories you previously selected during class. As the circles move outward, the responsibility you feel

for the categories should decrease.

Once you’ve done this, fill in one or two specific examples that illustrate your sense of responsibility for each category.

The American DreamIn 1931, in his book The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams defined the American Dream:

That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity foreach according to ability or achievement... It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dreamof social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which theyare innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstancesof birth or position.

Somewhere explores how different characters identify and reach for the American Dream.

Before seeing the show: Break your class into three groups and have each group read one of the articles below. Each comes from The New York Times during the time period of Somewhere (late 1950s–1960s). In their groups, have students come up with a definition of the American Dream based on the article. Write these three definitions on the board or on large Post-Its or pieces of paper.

The following articles have been reprinted in this study guide from The New York Times archives:• The New York Times article from August 9, 1959: “Essence of America”�• The New York Times article from March 7, 1965: “The American Dream and the American Negro”�• The New York Times article from January 26, 1969: “Youth in Revolt”

After seeing the show: Return to your three definitions of the American Dream for the late 1950s–1960s. Which of these definitions did you seeonstage? Which characters embodied which definition? Based on the characters in the play, what were you missing fromyour definitions? Have each group reassess their definition, adjusting it based on your class conversation.

Now look at these three definitions through a modern lens—would they still apply if the story was set in the presentday? What is the present day definition of the American Dream? How has this definition changed since the 1960s, whenthe play is set?

If your students need extra information, have them read the 2009 article “What Happens to the American Dream in aRecession?” (Reprinted in this study guide as well.)

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CONNECTION:

Have each student write two journal entries as the character that most closely exemplified the definition fromtheir group about the American Dream, one from their perspective at the beginning of the play and whatfrom their perspective at the end of the play. What is different between the two? What is the same?

-OR-

What is your definition of the American Dream? Write your own definition and share it in small groups or witha partner. What are similarities between your definitions? What are differences?

19Reading #1: August 19, 1959

Reading #2: March 17, 1965

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Reading #3: January 26, 1969

Young “revolutionaries” marched in Washington in a “counter-inagural parade.”

Reading #4: May 7, 2009

What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession?By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

Given the battered economy, increasing joblessnessand collapse of the housing market, what is the state ofthe American dream?

Pollsters for The New York Times and CBS News setout last month to try to answer that question. And the results seemed somewhat contradictory.

Although the nation has plunged into its deepest recession since the Great Depression, 72 percent ofAmericans in this nationwide survey said they believed itis possible to start out poor in the United States, workhard and become rich — a classic definition of the American dream.

And yet only 44 percent said they had actuallyachieved the American dream, although 31 percent saidthey expect to attain it within their lifetime. Only 20 percent have given up on ever reaching it. Those 44 percent might not sound like much, but it is an increaseover the 32 percent who said they had achieved theAmerican dream four years ago, when the economy wasin much better shape.

Compared with four years ago, fewer people now saythey are better off than their parents were at their age orthat their children will be better off than they are.

So even though their economic outlook is worse,more people are saying they have either achieved thedream or expect to do so.

What gives?

We asked Barry Glassner, who is a professor of sociology at the University of Southern California andstudies contemporary culture and beliefs.

“You want to hold on to your dream even more whentimes are hard,” he said. “And if you want to hold on toit, then you better define it differently.”

In other words, people are shifting their definition ofthe American dream. And the poll — conducted on April1 to 5 with 998 adults, with a margin of sampling error ofplus or minus 3 percentage points— indicated just that.

The Times and CBS News asked this same open-ended question four years ago and again last month:“What does the phrase ‘The American dream’ mean toyou?”

Four years ago, 19 percent of those surveyed supplied answers that related to financial security and asteady job, and 20 percent gave answers that related tofreedom and opportunity.

Now, fewer people are pegging their dream to material success and more are pegging it to abstract values. Those citing financial security dropped to 11 percent, and those citing freedom and opportunity expanded to 27 percent.26

Here’s some respondents’ answers that were put inthe category of freedom and opportunity:

“Freedom to live our own life.”

“Created equal.”

“Someone could start from nothing.”

“That everybody has a fair chance to succeed.”

“To become whatever I want to be.”

“To be healthy and have nice family and friends.”

“More like Huck Finn; escape to the unknown; follow your dreams.”

Those who responded in material terms were hardlylavish. Here’s a sampling:

“Basically, have a roof over your head and put foodon the table.”

“Working at a secure job, being able to have ahome and live as happily as you can not spending toomuch money.”

“Just financial stability.”

“Owning own home, having civil liberties.”

Mr. Glassner said, “For the vast majority of Ameri-cans at every point in history, the prospect of achievingthe American dream has been slim but the promise hasbeen huge.”

“At its core, this notion that anyone can be presi-dent or anyone can be a billionaire is absurd,” he said.“A lot of Americans work hard, but they don’t becomepresident and they don’t become billionaires.”

Still, he said, Americans have always believed inpossibilities. And they have consistently said over timethat they can start poor in this country and become rich,regardless of the economy or their circumstances. The72 percent who feel that way today is down from the 81percent who felt that way in 2007, but 72 percent is stilla very high percentage, especially given the downwardeconomy.

“It would be hard to find another country where it’sas high,” Mr. Glassner said.

The percentage of people who say the Americandream does not exist or is only an illusion has remainedlow — 3 percent today and 2 percent four years ago. As one such person put it to our pollsters last month:“A bunch of hooey.”

Student Matinees/ STUDENT Feedback

Name____________________________________Grade_____________School_________________________________________

Performance Tasks based CA State theatre arts standards

Select and complete one of the following activities:

1. Rewrite the ending of the play. How would you like to see it end? Why?

2. Pick a moment in the play that affected you. Describe the stage elements that created that moment for you

(the script, acting, lighting, music, costumes, set design, sound design and/or direction).

3. Write a review of the play or an actor.

4. Describe something you would change in the production. Describe what benefit that change create in the

production and why.

5. Identify and describe how this production might affect the values and behavior of the audience members who

have seen it.

6. Write about any careers you learned about in attending this production. (example, stage hands, set designers,

actors, etc.)

Assessment Survey

No Maybe Yes Really Yes

I learned a lot from this experience 1 2 3 4

I would like to do this sort of project again 1 2 3 4

I will remember what I learned 1 2 3 4

STUDENT evaluation (cont)

Finish the following statements:

The most important thing I learned from this play was:

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Besides getting out of school, the best thing about attending this student matinee is:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Learning through the theatre is different from my regular class because:

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If I could change something about attending a student matinee, I would:

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I'm going to use what I learned, saw, or experienced by:

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Student Matinee/TEACHER Evaluation

Name_____________________________________________________________________School___________________________

Please rate your Student Matinee experience below:

Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

Planning

I received sufficient and timely information 1 2 3 4

from TheatreWorks before the matinee

TheatreWorks maintained communication with 1 2 3 4

me and/or involved administrators at my school

It was clear to me that the production and study 1 2 3 4

guide incorporated curriculum standards

Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

M atinee W orkshops

Supported other curriculum areas/subjects 1 2 3 4

Targeted students' educational needs 1 2 3 4

Provided a grade-appropriate experience 1 2 3 4

Engaged students' interest and attention 1 2 3 4

I would like to learn how to lead more of these 1 2 3 4

kinds of activities on my own in the classroom

Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

Post-M atinee

Students were engaged in this experience 1 2 3 4

The experience was valuable to my students' 1 2 3 4

education

The "Performance Tasks" were useful in helping 1 2 3 4

my students understand their experience

I would be interested in bringing more drama 1 2 3 4

related activities into my classroom

TEACHER Evaluation (cont)

For your classrooms please list the strengths of watching a student matinee:

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In terms of your teaching, did this particular Student Matinee give you any arts integration ideas foryour curriculum:_________________________________________________________________________________________

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We are very interested in your feedback, what worked for you about this experience? _________________________________________________________________________________________

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What did not work for you?_________________________________________________________________________________________

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Additional Comments:

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TheatreWorks student matinees tend to fill up quickly, so keep an eye out for next year's selections and book your tickets before it's too late! Information about next season will beavailable by March 1st. Keep us updated with your current contact information, and let usknow if you have friends who would like to be added to our mailing lists.