TIME TO CATCH UP!

Happy Easter/End of Spring Break!
I know I know I know! It's been AGES since the last update.  So now I'm going to attempt to catch you all up with what's been going on with this post. 

December-
December was a short, but fabulous month.  I think the highlight was the joint Glee Club and Band Performance.  They did a wonderful job!

Also, CONGRATULATIONS to Michael Daniels for winning the Roosevelt University Poetry Contest.  His submission was about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream about a Beloved Community.  He placed first over 200+ entries!  A lot of our students were also Finalists and Semi-Finalists.  

February/March-
During the months of February and March, we worked very hard on HAIRSPRAY! We collaborated with Ms. Fortner's dance class and learned how to sing and dance to "Welcome to the 60s" and "Run and Tell That."  We had so much fun learning Ms. Fortner's choreographed dance moves!

The MIT Logarhythms all the way from Boston, Massachusetts came to visit us and gave a wonderful performance, followed by a Q&A session afterward.  The scholars loved their a cappella tunes!

April-
We did a quick sample of Wicked and presented Powerpoint presentations on the story and how Wicked is a different point of view from The Wizard of Oz. 

We also did a trip to the City Lit Theatre up North in Andersonville!
Some of our scholars participated in the production for little kids! Everyone had a great time!

Till May,

Ms. Chen

November

November, like this whole year so far, has come and gone so quickly I forgot to blog about it!

The BIGGEST news is that my students from B5 were able to see Lyric Opera's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Mr. Muchin!  On November 6th, my B5 class walked over (WALKED OVER!) to Lyric Opera and watched the full production!
The Monday after that, the same students presented their observations in front of the education team at Lyric Opera and Mr. Muchin.  They did a fabulous job and I'm sure they learned a lot from this program.

We are currently working on West Side Story.  We've also been SINGING again! Videos and Pictures of that final project will definitely up in the near future!

My Monday office hours have turned into VOICE LESSONS so if anyone is interested, please come see me.  Also, hopefully, once I have more time, I will be able to start keyboard lessons as well afterschool!

Just a reminder that the Glee Club will be having a performance this coming Monday, December 13th, 6:30pm at the Multipurpose Room at Muchin.  Singing and dancing plus the band and dance team? I can't think of a better way to ring in the holidays.

I hope everyone is doing well. I know I'm exhausted and ready for Winter break! Just 9 more days to go!

-Ms. Chen

PS I'll leave you with some great photos from our Lyric Opera trip!

The view of the opera from our seats near the end of the 2nd Act!

B5 class outside of Lyric Opera before the show.

End of the Quarter/Steppenwolf Field Trip

I could not think of a better way to end the first quarter than with a trip to the Steppenwolf Theater!  17 members of the Performing Arts program at Muchin College Prep took a field trip on Saturday October 30th, to see a performance and play adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

We all had awesome seats of the show and enjoyed meeting the actors afterward! 
Below are some pictures of our fabulous trip.  Thank you so Ms. Mikolich and Mrs. Craft for providing us with this amazing opportunity!

All of us outside Steppenwolf Theater

Nicole and Casey waiting for the show to start

Sierra and Avendah being shy on camera

Representing Muchin!

Jennifer, Simonne and Ayanna enjoying their seats and view

Our view of the stage

Simonne, Jennifer, and Christian enjoying refreshments.

Muchin enjoying refreshments and waiting for the actors.

Other school representation, including Hyde Park Academy!

Whitney from Steppenwolf leading the group discussion.

Asking the actors some questions.

Participating in a discussion of the play with other schools.

All of the actors from the show!!!

First Day of Oedipus Rex Presentations!

Happy October!
For the past week, we have been reading Oedipus Rex by Sophocles!
As our final project, students have put together their own MODERN DAY rendition of the infamous Greek play. 
Yesterday and today were the first days of presentations and they were fabulous! Below are pictures of students acting out scripts that they have written themselves as a group. 

Hopefully Monday and Tuesday will bring more wonderful performances. Have a wonderful weekend!
-Ms. Chen

A5's version of Oedipus in Gotham City!

More of A5's version of Oedipus GOTHAM CITY!

A5's version of Oedipus Rex: JONAS G. REX.

More of A5's version of JONAS G. REX!

B2's Version of Oedipus Rex in a high school setting!

Darrius in B4 playing our favorite talk-show host!

A5's version of Oedipus Rex in a school setting.  Ricardo is inflicting injury upon Julian's ankles.

More of A5's rendition of Oedipus Rex in a school setting!

Jasmin using her lanyard to depict Iocasta hanging herself.

A4 giving their own updated rendition!

Bravo Period A5!

What a restful Labor Day weekend! Happy Tuesday to everybody!

 Today we started off the week with our very first performance.  I think Period A5 really took it all today. For their very first performance ever, I think this was superb! Cheers to Period A5!
And now I present to you....T.S. Eliot's "The Naming of Cats!" All MEMORIZED!

Let's see what will happen with my B-day classes.  Let's see who can be the best!
Till tomorrow!
-Ms. Chen

My Hopes for This Year in Performing Arts

Hi, my name is Destiney Montano, and I am in Ms. Chen's Performing Arts class: B3. We have been learning a lot of new and interesting things about performing in front of people and how to maintain focus on everything we are doing. It has been very fun so far, and now with even more students coming, it will be an adventure to get to know more people and work with them to create fun and exciting performances to show the class. We will be doing many different plays such as Cats, For Colored Girls, Dream Girls, West Side Story, and many others. There's no telling what confidence we will gain and what we will learn, but after the first year,  I am positive everyone will be able to face their fears and go for their dreams!
-Destiney

Performing Arts Class Day 1

 My name is Carina Chey Correa I am a student here at Muchin College Prep and I'm in Performing Arts Period A4. This is my first year in high school and I am loving every minute of it. I have tons of classes but one of my favorite class is Performing Arts. It is amazing. On my first day, Ms. Chen has already made me feel confident in what I am going to accomplish in this class. We are going to read popular books and some even have a musical based on that book. There are a variety  of books like Wicked, Hairspray, The West Side Story and many more. Her class room is so inspiring. Every time I walk into the class I have this feeling that I am already on stage. I guess it's because of the large Chicago sign hanging on her wall or the fact that we have our very own marquee in the classroom. How much more awesome can that get. If you're not wishing you're in my place right now, I don't know what else to tell you but I love Ms. Chen's class. Although at times it might not be easy, I know I am going to enjoy the feeling of performing on stage. 

-Carina

Although I have not seen the play I am excited to perform it on stage.