Co -creating Cinderella: Examining and documenting a collaboratory musical theatre process

In the project that formed the basis for this study, a group of college students, alumni and faculty, together with a facilitator/director who was also the researcher, met in workshop format to collaborate on a work of musical theatre, deconstructing the Cinderella story and re-authoring a new script, choreographing and staging an hour-long theatrical production. An original score was composed beforehand by the director as an outline for the work. The overall research question was: What were the critical pedagogical practices and experiences of the researcher and what were the experiences of the participants in this collaboratory process? Qualitative methods of participant observation, in-depth interviews and collected participant writings provided data.;Findings indicated that there are clear benefits for participants when a collaboratory approach to musical theatre is used in a college setting. The researcher's critical reflections focused on strategies to make aspects of the process run more smoothly: printouts of each day's work could facilitate script writing; during auditions more consideration might be given to people's personal qualities; suggested strategies for reducing absenteeism and improving efficiency included securing written commitments in advance and making adjustments in rehearsal schedules and crew responsibilities. The researcher as composer found music served as a cohesive force, and improvisation during rehearsals and performances made a positive contribution.;Findings presented as participants' themes indicated that during the collaborative script writing process the participants saw that the characters and story could be viewed in many different ways. They stated that as they brainstormed in writing groups they experienced freedom and felt they made real contributions to the play, but that when some members tried to dominate, others felt their voices weren't being heard. Participants expressed that the overall experience gave them a sense of self-confidence, "as though now I can do anything." They reported developing talents they did not know they had: the ability to sing, to contribute constructively in group efforts, to create a role and perform on stage, and to plan and carry out choreography and production of a cast CD. Music was found to provide insight into characters and heighten emotional intensity.