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2011 – 2012

Teacher’s Resource Guide

John Tartaglia’sImaginOcean

just imagine

ImaginOcean • njpac.org

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Arts Education Department presents the 15th season of the Verizon Passport to Culture SchoolTime Performance Series.

Teacher’s Resource GuideThis resource guide will help you prepare your class for an enriching experience at our SchoolTime Performance. The guide provides discussion ideas, activities and reading resources that can promote arts literacy in your classroom. Permission is granted to copy and distribute this guide to any class attending a 2011-2012 SchoolTime Performance (all other rights reserved). You can find additional resources online at tinyurl.com/njpac-org-teacherguide

NJPAC Arts EducationAt NJPAC, our mission is to join with parents, teachers and community to cultivate an appreciation of the arts in all children of New Jersey. We believe the arts provide an effective means of knowing and learning that helps children find the self-esteem, poise and confidence they need to succeed in every facet of life. Our innovative programs are designed to engage the artist in every child:

In-School Residencies Bring the joy of dance, music and theater directly into your classroom with teaching artists who create stimulating performing arts experiences that engage students’ imaginations and encourage their creative self-expression.

SchoolTime and FamilyTime Performances Open your students’ eyes to the worlds of music, dance, storytelling, theater, and puppetry through professional stage productions.

Arts Training Programs Students express themselves through after-school study of acting, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, and musical theater. Teaching artists with professional performing arts experience mentor the students at NJPAC’s Center for Arts Education.

CONTENTS

On StageImaginOcean is all aglow

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In the SpotlightMeet John Tartaglia

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Did You Know?Where light comes into play

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Theater TalkVocabulary for ImaginOcean

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In the ClassroomTeaching Science Through Theater and other activities

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More ResourcesRelated readings and other media

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FoundationKid Power!Through energy efficiency and conservation, kids can help preserve our planet’s rich natural resources and promote a healthy environment.

TIP OF THE DAY

A bright thing to do Most deep-sea creatures, such as the characters in ImaginOcean, have their own built-in illumination, known as bioluminescence. Humans can light their way and save energy by replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones. Not only do these bulbs create less heat, but they last up to10 times longer and can use a quarter of the energy. Made possible through the generosity of the PSEG Foundation.

visit NJPAC.ORGFind additional resources online at tinyurl.com/njpac-org-teacherguide

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As the hero of ImaginOcean, Dorsel the fish learns to conquer his fear of the unknown.

For more about ImaginOcean, go to imaginoceanthemusical.com.

On Stage

3ImaginOcean • njpac.org

ImaginOcean: Glow with the flow

“ImaginOcean is a terrific hook to show

kids entertainment that isn’t boxed in.”

— The Daily News

By Mark Mobley

ImaginOcean is a glow-in-the-dark puppet musical for kids and their families created by John Tartaglia, a Sesame Street veteran, creator and star of the Emmy-nominated children’s TV series Johnny and the Sprites and a Tony Award nominee for Broadway’s Avenue Q. The musical uses catchy songs in a variety of styles — from vintage swing to R&B — to tell a story of growing up, overcoming fears and making friends.

The hour-long show celebrates the importance of friendship as the cast sings, “whether you are young or old, or whether you are shy or bold, you’ll find that friends are the greatest treasure of all.”

The distinctive look of ImaginOcean comes from the use of fluorescent puppets under black light. An all-black background creates the illusion of a mysterious underwater world, inhabited by the following characters:

Dorsel is the star of the undersea tale. He is the youngest of the fish and is frightened by jellyfish, worms and germs. He wants everything to be very clean and is a huge fan of hand sanitizer.

Bubbles is one of Dorsel’s two best friends and loves him even when he’s scared. For her, life is an adventure. She faces her fears by dreaming oversized dreams.

Tank is the largest and oldest of the three best friends. He’s the muscle of the operation if not the brains. He’s big-hearted, brave and loyal.

Ripple is a seahorse who’s a stickler for the rules. He won’t give our fishy friends what they need until they demonstrate their powers of imagination.

Leonard is a very sweet octopus who is thrilled to find his first friend in Dorsel.

The other sea creatures include jellyfish and wiggleworms.

The songs are by composer and lyricist William Wade. The jazzy “Jellyfish Jive” has echoes of the big-band classic “Sing, Sing,

Sing (With a Swing),” and “Which Way To Turn” is a funky sample of gospel-flavored R&B. “Just a Stone’s Throw Away” has a cheeky nod to “The Peter Gunn Theme.”

Mark Mobley has written for MSN.com, NPR, The Star-Ledger, The Virginian-Pilot and many other newspapers, magazines, websites, and orchestras. He is a winner of the ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award for music journalism and was musical head of the public radio show “Performance Today.”

In the Spotlight

John Tartaglia thinks ‘deep’

ImaginOcean • njpac.org4

John Tartaglia relied on his know-how in puppetry, acting and music when creating ImaginOcean.

Inspiration strikes in the unlikeliest places — even underwater.

John Tartaglia, the creator, writer and producer of ImaginOcean, was asked to develop a show for a cruise line, but he had no idea what to do until he looked below sea level.

“I was on vacation,” he says, “snorkeling in St. John in the Virgin Islands. I call it heaven. It’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth — the undersea life, colors, brightness, how everything works together.”

For ImaginOcean, which traveled from its cruise ship to an off-Broadway run, Tartaglia and the creative team — director Donna Drake, scenic designer Robert Andrew Kovach and the puppet designers and fabricators of Puppet Kitchen — hit on the idea of using black light puppetry. This style has the advantage of combining eye-popping, kid-friendly colors on a black background that suggests the vastness and mystery of the sea.

Yet the show isn’t all about theatrical technique and catchy songs in a variety of styles.

“The overarching message is one of tolerance,” says Tartaglia, who is a star of TV’s Sesame Street and the Broadway musical Avenue Q. “I feel passionate about that. The other is the power of friendship. It’s really vital in our lives, and I am someone who is lucky enough to have some really great friends.”

Tartaglia, who was born in Maple Shade, N.J. and joined the cast of Sesame Street when he was just 16, says both ideas are reinforced by characters that may all be sea creatures, but are still diverse.

“Each character has strengths and weaknesses and character flaws,” he says. “They learn to appreciate each other.”

As an example, he cites the nervous first meeting of Dorsel the fish and Leonard the octopus. “It’s kind of a subtle way to show kids not to feel afraid of anyone who’s different than you.”

And it appears to work. The funniest thing that has happened during ImaginOcean, Tartaglia says, was during one performance at that very point in the show.

“They were saying, ‘I’m Dorsel!’ ‘I’m Leonard!’ and one little boy yelled out, ‘I’m Justin!’ with such passion and happiness. That’s the power of theater for kids.”

— M.M.

Did You Know?

Illumination sparks imagination

ImaginOcean • njpac.org 5

Colorful clues on a treasure map help guide the characters of ImaginOcean.

The distinctive look of ImaginOcean comes from a device associated with ‘60s dorm rooms — black light. When hit with black light, fluorescent materials that look drab in daylight come to vibrant life. That technique, which gives the undersea life in this puppet musical an eye-popping glow, also has a solid basis in nature.

While black light isn’t commonly used in American theater, it’s huge in the Czech Republic, where černé divadlo (black theater) has been performed for 50 years for audiences of all ages. It also gained some popularity in the U.S. in 2010 through performances by the black light dance troupe Fighting Gravity on America’s Got Talent. One of its routines has been viewed more than 7 million times on YouTube.

Black light is another name for ultraviolet (UV) light, consisting of light waves at and below the low end of the visible spectrum. We see it as a faint purple glow that does virtually nothing to black paper, fabric or paint. But certain minerals, dyes and organic compounds that may be dull in daylight scream with color under UV light.

In ImaginOcean, as in other black light theater, puppeteers are dressed head to toe in black and move across a black playing area. That way the glowing puppets and other props are the only items that grab the audience’s focus.

ImaginOcean creator John Tartaglia points out that one of the challenges of mounting this type of show is that the staging must be extremely flat and uncluttered. Anything the audience is meant to see has to be up front with nothing blocking the viewer’s line of sight. There’s also the behavior of the light itself. “Some things that are cool-looking in regular light look awful in black light,” Tartaglia says.

And, a school of fluorescent fish isn’t just a dramatic fantasy. Scientists have estimated that as many as 90 percent of crustaceans and fish in the waters between 300 and 3,000 feet below sea level have the capacity to produce their own light, through bioluminescence. These include creatures as large as jellyfish and as small as single-celled phytoplankton. The black dragonfish, an exceptionally toothy and unattractive specimen, generates its own red light to see by. Since red is a color other fish are unable to discern, it is a tactical advantage for the dragonfish.

Scientists are also experimenting with bioluminescence and fluorescence on dry land. In 2008, the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans introduced Mr. Green Genes, a glow-in-the-dark cat,

when researchers wanted to test their ability to implant foreign genetic material in an otherwise standard animal. They succeeded, so Mr. Green Genes glowed under UV light.

The same year, three scientists shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work with green fluorescent protein (GFP) harvested from jellyfish.

Researchers now have the ability to use fluorescent proteins in multiple colors within the same test subject. In 2007, researchers at Harvard Medical School created a “brainbow” by using different colors of the protein in the brain cells of a mouse. Employing about 90 different colors, they were able to map the circuitry of the brain in unprecedented detail.

— M.M.

climax — the crucial moment, turning point or dramatic high point in the action or plot, usually near the end of the story or play.

composer — the person who creates original musical themes for the scenes in a play or writes the play’s songs.

dialogue — conversation in a play.

finale — the last event in a dramatic sequence.

gospel — a form of vocal church music developed in the black Baptist churches of the southern United States that incorporates elements of African rhythm and music, choir music and instrumental accompaniment, such as an organ, drums, bass, or percussion.

jazz — a syncopated style of music developed in the United States in which improvisational skills and complex harmonic structures are explored.

lighting designer — the person who creates a visual concept for a production through the use of lighting.

lyrics — the words of a song.

musical theater — a type of theater that uses song and dance, in addition to dramatic action, to tell a story.

overture — the opening segment of music played before the opening curtain.

playwright — the person who writes a play.

puppet — a representation of a person, animal or other figure controlled by the puppeteer by means of wire, strings or hand.

puppeteer — a person who controls and animates puppets.

scene — a division of a play, often part of an act and usually played without changing the scenery.

script — the written text detailing what happens, including what is to be said, during a play or performance.

setting — the place or mood in which a play takes place.

stage lights — lights used to create mood, suggest time, illuminate all or highlight one or more actors, areas or items on stage.

An array of brightly lit puppets appears in the show’s finale.

ImaginOcean • njpac.org

Theater Talk

A list of terms for ImaginOcean

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ImaginOcean • njpac.org

Teaching Science Through Theater (K-6)By Sharon J. Sherman, Ed.D.

Integrating science and theater in the elementary grades not only enables students to connect these disciplines but provides a creative way to attain understanding through engagement.

In science class, children study matter and energy transformations. They learn that all organisms transfer matter and convert energy from one form to another.

Students usually observe a variety of plants and animals in natural settings — at a zoo or botanical garden — or use digital or video resources for these observations. As young scientists, they grow plants from seeds in their classrooms and record plant height, amount of leaves and conditions for growing. They keep these observations in science notebooks and carefully analyze the data (Science Standard 5.3.2.B.1). Next, students learn about animals and how creatures meet their needs for food and water. They identify animals’ characteristics, including the unique structures and behaviors that enable them to obtain food.

Theater is brought into the science classroom when students create and perform short plays. Tell them a local zoo is sponsoring a children’s series with the theme “Care and Feeding of Animals” and that they have been asked to participate by writing a play. As they write their plays, they should use voice, movement and facial expression to tell their stories.

Students in later grades continue to develop their understanding of matter and energy transformations. Now they identify sources of energy (food) in a variety of settings: farm, zoo, ocean, and forest. They learn that almost all energy and matter can be traced to the sun (Science Standard 5.3.4.B.1).

Once again, theater can be brought into the classroom by having the students write plays about different ecosystems. Divide students into groups and let them select one of these environments: marsh, pond, field, forest, farm, zoo, school, or backyard. Ask them to write about the organisms that live in the ecosystem and to describe the habitat and food chain. As a culminating activity, the entire class can compare and contrast life in each ecosystem.

Sharon J. Sherman, Ed.D., is Dean of the School of Education and Professor of Teacher Education at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J.

The Teaching Science Through the Arts content of this guide is made possible through the generous support of Roche.

After the Performance1. The following two activities are adapted from Thinkfinity.org in partnership with National Geographic. Have a student stand alongside a yardstick or meterstick. The deepest location in all the world’s oceans is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, east of China and the Philippines. Tell the class that there the ocean floor is 11,933 yardsticks (or 11,000 metersticks) below the surface. That’s almost 7 miles down, or select a similar distance between two local landmarks the students would know. Ask the class what the ocean depths might be like. Have they seen movies or TV shows about the sea? Is it light or dark, warm or cold? Is there any sound? (1.1, 1.3)

2. Have the students imagine they can venture deep into the sea in a submarine. Tell them that it would get darker the further down they go because sunlight can’t penetrate the deep water. At around 220 yards (200 meters), seeing would become a challenge. And at 1,100 yards (1,000 meters) sunlight would be completely absent. Have the students examine their surroundings and then turn off the lights and cover the windows if possible. Do things look different or the same? How does darkness change what they can and can’t do? Have the students experiment with fluorescent and non-fluorescent paints, paper or markers, and show how the materials behave under full-spectrum light and then black light in a darkened room. (1.1, 1.3)

* Number(s) indicate the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standard(s) supported by the activity.

Before the Performance1. Have children learn about puppetry by using their hands as puppets and opening or closing their hands to indicate “talking.” What is each student’s character’s name? Is the student portraying a boy, girl, man, woman, animal — or something else entirely? How do various voices make characters sound different? Older students may also add puppet “eyes” made of ping-pong balls, attached to the hand with elastic or rubber bands, with pupils drawn on with markers. (1.3) *

2. Have students discuss the nature and meaning of friends. How are friends and family alike and unalike? How do friends help each other? Have the students create and enact a story about friendship, especially among very diverse characters. (Free playscripts are available at kidsinco.com.) How do people get to know each other when they come from different backgrounds or speak different languages? (1.1)

visit NJPAC.ORGFind additional resources online at tinyurl.com/njpac-org-teacherguide

In the Classroom

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8 ImaginOcean • njpac.org

William J. Marino.……............................…………………………………………………………………….Chairman John Schreiber.............…....……..................…………………………………..President & Chief Executive Officer Sandra Bowie………….………........................……………………………………..Vice President of Arts Education Sanaz Hojreh.……………......................….……..………………………..Assistant Vice President of Arts Education Chamie Baldwin Graff.............….………............……………................…Director of Marketing, Arts Education Caitlin Evans Jones…………..........................……….………………………….…Director of In-School Programs Jeff Griglak......………......................……………….………………………………..……..Director of Arts Training Constance Collins........…….….........................Administrative Assistant and Office Manager for Arts EducationLaura Ingoglia…………........................….……………………....…………....Editor of Teacher’s Resource Guides Linda Fowler..…………........................…….…………………....…………....Editor of Teacher’s Resource Guides

Writer: Mark Mobley

Editor: Linda Fowler

Design: Pierre Sardain 66 Creative, Inc. 66Creative.com

NJPAC Guest Reader: Michael Scasserra

NJPAC Teacher’s Resource Guide Review Committee: Judith Israel Mary Lou Johnston Amy Tenzer

Copyright © 2012New Jersey Performing Arts CenterAll Rights Reserved

One Center Street Newark, New Jersey 07102Administration: 973 642-8989Arts Education Hotline: 973 353-8009artseducation@njpac.org

More Resources AcknowledgmentsBooks for Students

Carle, Eric. Mister Seahorse. Philomel, 2004.

Lionni, Leo. Swimmy. Dragonfly Books, 1973.

DVDs for Students

Elmo’s World: Let’s Play Music. Sesame Workshop, 2010.

Books for Teachers

Ganeri, Anita and Peter J. Herring. Creatures that Glow. Learning Horizons, 1999.

Kennedy, John. Puppet Mania! North Light Books, 2004.

—————— Puppet Planet: The Most Amazing Puppet-Making Book in the Universe. North Light Books, 2006.

Websites for Teachers

imaginoceanthemusical.com. Official website of ImaginOcean, with information about the production and the creative team that includes video clips and a teacher guide.

thinkfinity.org. Verizon Foundation website for classroom educational resource material.

cycleback.com/blacklight. “Ultraviolet Light and Black Light: A Beginner’s Guide” by David Rudd Cycleback.

CDs

John Tartaglia’s ImaginOcean: Off-Broadway Cast Album. Yellow Sound Label, 2010.

as of 9/22/11 NJPAC Arts Education programs are made possible by the generosity of: Bank of America, The Arts Education Endowment Fund in Honor of Raymond G. Chambers, Leon & Toby Cooperman, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Amy C. Liss, McCrane Foundation, Merck Company Foundation, Albert & Katharine Merck, The Prudential Foundation, PSEG Foundation, Marian & David Rocker, The Sagner Family Foundation, The Star-Ledger/Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Verizon, Victoria Foundation, Wells Fargo, John & Suzanne Willian / Goldman Sachs Gives and The Women’s Association of NJPAC.

Additional support is provided by: Advance Realty, C.R. Bard Foundation, Becton Dickinson and Company, The Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation, Allen & Joan Bildner, Bloomberg, Ann & Stan Borowiec, Jennifer Chalsty, Chase, Edison Properties, Veronica Goldberg Foundation, Meg & Howard Jacobs, Johnson & Johnson, The MCJ Amelior Foundation, The New Jersey Cultural Trust, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Novo Nordisk, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Pechter Foundation, PNC Foundation on behalf of the PNC Grow Up Great program, The Provident Bank Foundation, E. Franklin Robbins Charitable Trust, Roche, TD Charitable Foundation and The Blanche M. & George L. Watts Mountainside Community Foundation.

Find additional resources online at tinyurl.com/njpac-org-teacherguide or scan the QR code displayed here.

For even more arts integration resources, please go to Thinkfinity.org, the Verizon Foundation’s signature digital learning platform, designed to improve educational and literacy achievement.

visit NJPAC.ORG