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"Mad-Lib-retto" brings the excitement of a live performance directly to your classroom - and YOU get to help create the show! Veteran performers John & Deanna Swanson lead the students in using their ... Read more

"Mad-Lib-retto" brings the excitement of a live performance directly to your classroom - and YOU get to help create the show! Veteran performers John & Deanna Swanson lead the students in using their knowledge of parts of speech to contribute appropriate words, Mad-Lib style, to complete the libretto of an opera. The activity integrates knowledge of the English language with the creation of an artistic work. The opera the students help create is performed live and presented to them for critical review, right in the classroom. An accompanying online booklet of classroom materials is provided to the teacher, who may select at their discretion worksheets that apply to their particular grade level. The booklet has information on opera as well as worksheets on parts of speech. Mad-Lib-retto is different from Lollipop Opera's other productions; it does not require a stage or auditorium setting, nor a piano and microphone, and does not rely on set pieces or costumes to deliver the story, which the students help to create. The resulting opera is sung to pre-recorded tracks played on a small sound system which the artists provide. If you would rather have the show in an auditorium setting, however, we can also do that. In that case we would bring some scenery to dress the stage and would need one working microphone.

We would like access to the classroom 20 minutes or so prior to the show for setup. We'll only need a few feet of space up in the front of the class for the performance, an electrical outlet to plug o... Read more

We would like access to the classroom 20 minutes or so prior to the show for setup. We'll only need a few feet of space up in the front of the class for the performance, an electrical outlet to plug our sound into, and use of the classroom door for the first entrance in the opera. Please advise neighboring classrooms of when the performance will be, as they will likely hear us through the walls. We wouldn't want to ruin anyone's concentration if they're taking a test next door.

If you would prefer us to give the opera to multiple classrooms in an auditorium, then we would need a performance space of approximately 14 ft wide and 12 ft depth to accommodate the scenery. We will also need an electrical outlet to plug in our speaker for the accompaniment.

This program best aligns to Reading: Literature, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, as students will be providing parts of speech, Mad-lib style, to complete the libretto, which we then sing back to them.