Mary:  Exactly what you would do for their singing voices.  The theatrical speaking voice uses the same techniques as the singing voice:  deep breaths, strong breath support, relaxed throat and tongue, and good focus.  And it has exactly the same pitfalls:  tension in the throat, trying to belt for projection, forcing and damaging the voice. 

 

I will never have a pretty voice, but I've studied with good teachers, and I have no problem projecting my speaking voice in a large lecture hall, while many professors try to use a conversational voice and can't be heard without a mic.

 

But when you say "little choir experience," that raises a red flag for me because of my own experiences.  Can they actually read music.  Can they learn HARMONY parts and not just the melodies?  Can they keep good time?  Those are often difficulties for kids with some acting experience but no choral experience.

 

All the best,

 

John

 

 

I'm retired, but was music director for many high school musicals, and they all turned out well.  The biggest problem I ran into was projection.  They had to be taught to project their voices to the back of the auditorium.  Be conscious of voiced vs. unvoiced consonants ("b" will sound like "p" if not voiced, "d" like "t," etc.).  We never used microphones, which was good training for them.  The delightful thing about working with young people is that they don't know the meaning of the word "can't."  Your own musical instincts (trust them) will tell you if they are doing something incorrectly.  Be prepared for a lot of rote learning, but I don't think you really need to "prepare" them.  Take them from where they are, expect something from them, and you're likely to get it - in spades.

 

One quick story:  I came across a high school athlete with tremendous dramatic flair and a wonderful natural bass voice but couldn't even match pitches.  He was willing to work at it, earned the role of Captain von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" and sang "Edelweiss."  He went to college on a drama scholarship and starred in football!

 

Good luck!

 

George

Dear Mary,

 

I just want to second John Howell's comment--with one proviso.

 

After having rehearsed dozens of musicals on and off Broadway in a previous career, I now rehearse the yearly musicals at my college, where none of the students are music majors, and few read music. It is not only possible but quite practical to teach harmony lines and notes to students who don't read music. It takes a lot of rote teaching, and regular brushing up every few days. Kids with an aptitude will learn the right parts, and at least some of the others will be okay because they will sing along with the kids who know what they're doing.

 

Sometimes students ask for a tape or CD of their parts, and if you have the time, that can be a big help too. It takes a lot of patience, but the results can be quite satisfactory.

 

Allen Cohen

A trick I've learned over the 20 yrs of teaching high school is that no matter how much I told students  to project their speaking or singing voices they didn't do it naturally in rehearsal.  I was constantly reminding them until I learned to regularly stand in the back of the rehearsal room.

The techniques above are spot on, but students have to practice them to build up the muscle memory and endurance to last the run of a show. 

 

Good luck

 

Phil