Unit Description

Musical Theater, Cinderella, and the Fairy Tale

Laurie Bailey

This unit has been designed to help students with severe and complex medical issues in upper elementary grades understand the basic elements of musical theater using the fairy tale of Cinderella by the Brothers Grimm and the musical variations of the story by Rodgers and Hammerstein II. Students will become familiar with Grimm’s version of Cinderella through hearing the story and identifying the essential storyline. Then students will be exposed to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s version of the story through video clips of the scenes that correspond to Grimm’s fairy tale. Students will be given the opportunity to compare identical songs between two versions of Cinderella. They will also have the opportunity to dramatize a scene. After listening to various selections of music which support selected scenes, the teacher will guide the students to make observations about the ways in which the music enhances the drama and emotions of the actors. Included in the paper is the history of musical theater in the United States, biographies of the Grimm brothers and Rodgers and Hammerstein II, and the purpose of fairy tales for young children.