Time-Filler Activity: Blank: The Musical

If you’ve ever wished that there were a musical about your favourite topics or random ideas, then this time-filler activity will be right up your alley. You can structure this activity in a variety of ways, depending on how much time you have to fill: as an opening bellwork prompt, as a playwriting starter, as a brainstorming activity, as a full-on assignment, or as an opportunity to make your students laugh! It can be done individually, in pairs or small groups, or as a full-class exercise.

The most basic version of this activity is to brainstorm as many ideas as possible to create titles of new musicals. The titles can be funny, dramatic, scary, serious, whatever you like, as long as it’s classroom appropriate. The words/phrases just have to fit into the title [Blank]: The Musical. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Kindergarten: The Musical
• My Missing Sock: The Musical
• The Year Was 2009, and I Was Just Born: The Musical
• Bridgerton in Space: The Musical
• Cake (But Not Ice Cream): The Musical
• Lionel Messi: The Musical
• Folding Chairs and Folding Tables: The Musical
• A Million, Billion Squishmallows: The Musical

If you’re doing the brainstorming version, be sure to have someone record all the ideas — you never know when someone’s suggestion will trigger a windfall of inspiration!

The next step of this activity is to choose one title for your musical from the suggestions, and then come up with a variety of ideas to further develop the musical. Choose as many as you wish your students to complete or as time permits:

• Three different possible storylines (for an added challenge, make all three storylines completely different)
• Three different possible secondary storylines (or “B-plots”)
• Three to five original song titles (for example, the opening introductory song, the “I want” song, a ballad, a comedic number, the villain song, an up-tempo dance number…) or a playlist of existing songs that could be used as numbers in a jukebox musical (remember that a jukebox musical uses well-known, previously-existing songs instead of original songs to further the action of the story)
• A list of scenes that create an overview of the action of the play
• A list of characters — names and a brief description of their role within the show
• A list of unique moments or special effects that could be included in the script (for example, in Bridgerton in Space: The Musical, perhaps the actors will be suspended above the stage on wires to evoke a “Queen’s ball in zero gravity” effect)

The third step of this activity is to choose one suggestion from the previous step (one storyline, one song title, one character, etc.) and further develop that. For example, take the storyline and write a show synopsis; take the song title, decide what character would sing it and why, and write lyrics for the song; or write a character analysis and/or a monologue for the character. You could also have students create a new technical aspect for the show, such as a set, costume, or prop design. For a full-class collaboration challenge, assign various students different aspects of the musical to develop, and see how they all fit together.