SHOW DIRECTOR
2013-14

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
WELCOME
SHOW DIRECTOR BINDER
THE CAPPIES
The Cappies Mission Statement:
The New York Times
CAPPIES MUSICAL WRITING PROJECTS
Information about Edit:Undo and Senioritis
THE SHOW DIRECTOR
Getting Started
Selecting and Scheduling a Cappies Show
SHOW SELECTION
SHOW ELIGIBILITY
ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARD CATEGORIES
SHOW UPDATES AND SCHEDULE CHANGES
SHOW PUBLICITY
Presenting a Cappies Show
A CAPPIES SHOW
CAPPIES ROOM
CAPPIES TICKETS
CRITICS MATERIALS
CRITICS DECORUM AND SAFETY
Cappies Reviews
Critics' Choices
Participating in Awards
AWARD VOTING
AWARD CATEGORIES
COMMENDATIONS
NOMINATIONS AND AWARDS
Attending a Cappies Gala
LETTER FROM A SHOW DIRECTOR
SAMPLE REVIEWS
CriticismS IN CAPPIES REVIEWs
SAMPLE REVIEWS
Guide to Critics' Choices and Scoring
Scoring Issues
Critics' Choices: Q & A's
Lighting
Sets
Costumes
Make-Up
Stage Crew
Orchestra
Creativity (Play Writing)
Creativity (Musicianship)
Featured (Actress / Actor)
Dancer (Female / Male)
Rule:
Vocalist (Female / Male)
Comic (Actress / Actor — Play / Musical)
Supporting (Actress / Actor — Play / Musical)
Lead (Actress / Actor — Play / Musical)
Song
Play
Musical
AWARD VOTING
HOW CRITICS VOTE
HOW RESULTS ARE DECIDED
HOW CRITICS AWARDS ARE DECIDED
HOW A "SPECIAL AWARD" IS PROVIDED
HOW RESULTS ARE AUDITED
NEW RULES
CONSEQUENCES
SHOW DIRECTOR CHECKLIST
CAPPIES INTERNATIONAL THEATER
GOLDEN RULES OF THEATER REVIEWS

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WELCOME

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We welcome all the Lead Critics students, teachers and parents who are taking part in the Cappies.
We are immensely proud of what everyone has accomplished over our first eleven the years, from the excitement of Cappies Show nights, to the student-Critic bylines in major newspapers, to the drama and glamour of Cappies Galas.
The materials in this binder reflect our ongoing commitment to provide a learning program with very high standards, in theater and in writing. There's quite a bit of material here, only some of which you need to read carefully. The rest is for you to use for reference, when you're at Cappies Shows.
For those who are Mentors, and have been Mentors before, three points we're stressing this year are :

• The need for Critic discussions to be a little less critical, and reviews a little more so (within the usual rules), with published reviews more closely reflecting the consensus of Critic opinion,
• The prohibition against reviews including anything copied from the Internet. Note: A Critic will be removed from a Critics Team for an act of plagiarism within a submitted review.
• The responsibility of each Critic to keep everything said in discussions, including Critics' Choices, totally confidential. However, Critics Choices may be published online if the Cappies chapter has chosen this option.

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Now in its eleventh year, the Cappies is a nationwide learning program for theater and journalism students.
Students are trained as theater Critics and organized into Critics' teams. They attend other schools' plays and musicals, and write reviews. Mentors (teachers) Lead Critic discussions and select the most accurate and well-written reviews, which are forwarded to local newspapers for publication.
At the end of the year, Critics serve as award judges and vote for Cappie nominations and awards. Each program holds a Cappies Gala, where awards are presented.
The program is managed by a Governing Board, based in the National Capital Area. Each regional Cappies program is managed locally.

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The Cappies Mission Statement:

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Theater Students Get Their Share of the Limelight
WASHINGTON, June 22, 2002 - The packed concert hall at the Kennedy Center showcased tuxedos and evening gowns, slow ballads and fast-paced chorus lines, standing ovations and stomping feet. It was another night of glittering theater awards, punctuated with delighted gasps and heartfelt thank yous with all the reticence of the Tony Awards. But these winners were all students at local high schools, not Broadway stars.
The students clutching their "Cappies" awards were the most prominent feature of the Critics and Awards Program, founded three years ago in Northern Virginia to bring theater students the same recognition that accomplished high school athletes have long taken for granted.
The original program of 23 high schools has grown to include 60 schools in Virginia and the District of Columbia, and the idea has spread to Dallas, El Paso, Cincinnati, and other cities as well as Canada.
The inspiration grew from frustrations and the pall that fell over many schools after the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado.
After Columbine, it became particularly important to find ways to give teenagers positive reinforcement, said William Strauss, the author of several sociology books. But, he added, "You have to balance out the youth culture."
"This is the real youth culture," said Mr. Strauss, a founder of the Capitol Steps, the Washington political satire troupe.
Several years ago, Mr. Strauss was speaking at a high school award ceremony and said he was dismayed at the prevalence of honors for athletes and the lack of attention paid to theater students. A few years earlier, struck by the quality of Guys and Dolls at McLean High School in Virginia, Mr. Strauss called local Critics suggesting they review the play. There were no takers.
Motivated by a desire to promote positive aspects of high school after the Columbine shootings, Mr. Strauss, working with a local theater teacher, Judy Bowns, created a program that showers awards on high school theater and pushes local newspapers to run reviews of school shows.
The program also relies on developing theater Critics among the students.Each participating school chooses one play or musical for critical review. Theater directors and faculty Mentors organize discussions among the student Critics, edit the reviews and submit them to local newspapers, which commit to publish the best ones.
In three years, newspapers, including The Washington Post, have published 500 reviews by students.
"All over America, newspapers are taking note of high school theater," Mr. Strauss said at the Kennedy Center award ceremony last week.
"It's a brilliant program because it does so many simple things that should have been done for years now," said Matt Berger, a Cappies Critic and actor. Mr. Berger, a graduating senior at Lee High School in northern Virginia, said he always felt left out when classmates pulled out the All-Met sports section of The Post.
At the end of the theater season, which runs from October through May, more than 100 student Critics gathered to evaluate the shows using a point system to decide the award winners. Those names remained secret until presenters opened the envelopes at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where more than 2,000 students, teachers, school board members and family members applauded, cheered and exchanged hugs.
Also at the gala was Susan Grubbs, who started the Cincinnati Cappies in February and had 10 schools involved by the end of the year. Ms. Grubbs said the program garnered enough support for a gala attended by more than 700 parents, teachers and members of local arts institutions.
Though high school arts are suddenly getting more attention in Washington and other cities, for years the first cuts to school budgets have been in arts programs.
"It's no secret that when school systems have to make cuts they tend to preserve what is known as the basics - core subjects - and then everything beyond that is fair game," said Daniel Domenech, the school superintendent in Fairfax County, Virginia. "Sports and other curricular activities are up for grabs and it becomes political."
Dr. Domenech said he had seen athletes overshadow their talented theater counterparts for years. "It was very discouraging for very talented kids to see that athletes that were very talented in their particular sports getting all the accolades," he said. "Cappies puts this on par."
Much as it has done for student athletes for years, the recognition validates the students' talent and passion.
"Graduation is the end of something really important to you, and it occurred to me at that point that I had been in high school and that had been important to me, but right then I realized that the most important thing that I had done was theater," said Mr. Berger, who for two consecutive years won Cappies awards for his reviews and was also nominated for an award for his role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He plans to attend New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the fall.
Mr. Berger sat at the annual gala holding his gold Cappies trophy, more recognition for the nine reviews he has published in The Post over two years. "Drama," he said, "had been my life."

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CAPPIES MUSICAL WRITING PROJECTS

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The Cappies is a learning program, a writing program, and a celebration of the talents of creative teenagers. In 2006, the Cappies International Theater—the summer program featuring Lead Actor/Actress Cappie winners from across the U.S. and Canada—performed works by student playwrights and composers. These included monologues and comic sketches written by high school students from Cappies programs across the U.S. and Canada. In October 2005, the Cappies of the National Capital Area, a team a creative team of high school students was assembled to write a musical comedy about teenagers in the digital age. The result was…

Edit:Undo is a musical comedy about teen life and love in the digital age, conceived and written by teenagers, with an outstanding score written by teen composers and lyricists, songs about fresh topics, and a story that says something important about what it's like to be young in the 21^st Century.
It was performed at the Theater Lab of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by a cast featuring "Lead Actor/Actress" Cappie-winning high school students from across the U.S. and Canada. Edit:Undo was praised in The Washington Post as "teen savvy… not the time-worn story of high school crushes and clique wars,"… by Arch Campbell of NBC as "hilarious… a wonderful show,"… and by The Los Angeles Times as having "all the makings of a cult classic…"   
In October 2006, another creative team was assembled. The result of their work was…

Senioritis is a fresh and very funny musical comedy about all the well-known stresses and anxieties of senior year—college applications, teen couples worried about college separations, family issues, and general angst about the future. It has 18 original songs.
USA Today praised Senioritis as "satirical… a counterpunch to the Disney version of high school…. A biting farce—more Ferris Bueller's Day Off than Grease,…poking fun at nearly every pain point of modern teen life: helicopter parents, grade inflation, college applications, test-prep books, wealth, celebrity—even global warming, [with] the jokes clearly spring from the minds of teens.… They sing it like it is."
Keep an eye open for the feature-length Senioritis movie, starring the 2007 C.I.T. cast, to be ready in the spring of 2008.
We encourage Cappies schools, and others, to consider mounting a production of Edit:Undo or Senioritis (or both) this year. You'll not only be supporting the work of young playwrights and composers from Cappies schools—you'll be putting on a show that your students, parents, and people of all ages are sure to enjoy.

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This is a basic introduction to the Cappies for a Show Director.

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Getting Started

As your school's Show Director, you are responsible for making sure your school follows the rules for your Cappies Show.
Please read (and, when requested respond to) Cappies emails.
SHOW DIRECTOR CHECKLIST
As you plan a Cappies Show, you may wish to keep handy the two-page "Show Director Checklist." A copy is provided in this Mentor Binder. This is especially helpful when you are doing this for the first time.

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Selecting and Scheduling a Cappies Show

Depending on your Cappies program, your school will be allowed to have either one Cappies show (usually the case in large programs), or two Cappies shows (in smaller programs).

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SHOW SELECTION

The show you select is up to you, within the limits set by the rules and the calendar set by your program. If your school does two major shows per year, and are in a program that allows only one of them to be a Cappies show, you will have to choose between them. Some schools select the major show of the year. Others select the show that includes the most students.
The Cappies program gives equal attention to musicals and non-musical plays. If you do a play and a musical each year, you may wish to alternate your selections from one year to the next, to have your Cappies show be a play one year and a musical the next year.
In your school's application, you proposed a date and time for your Cappies show, and gave some alternative dates and times. Each program has outer calendar bounds for Cappies show dates, and each program has rules about the number of Cappies shows that can occur in the same time slot.
Saturday matinees and evenings are the best times for Cappies shows. Friday evenings are good also, but sometimes require critics to drive through heavy rush-hour traffic. Other weekday evenings may fall on school nights, when critics have other homework. Sunday matinee shows require critics to write reviews very quickly, and mentors to edit them late that same night.
If your school is distant from many other schools, or if transportation is a problem for any other reason, the best time slot for your Cappies show may be a Saturday matinee.
Some Show Directors prefer to schedule Cappies shows for nights when small (non-sellout) audiences are expected, to help fill otherwise empty seats. Others prefer to have Cappies shows on nights when they expect large, enthusiastic audiences, whose response to the show they hope will energize the cast and, perhaps, impress the critics. Some prefer opening night, while others prefer to wait a show or two to enable the cast and crew to become more comfortable with the show.
If you are planning to run a show over two weekends, it works best to schedule the Cappies show for the first weekend, to enable you to "ride the reviews" and generate extra audience—and excitement—during the second weekend of shows.
If another school in your program has a Cappies show the same as the one you wish to select (e.g., if you both are doing West Side Story), that is all right, but the critics from the two schools will not be allowed to review each others' shows.

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SHOW ELIGIBILITY

Your Cappies show must be at least 75 minutes long, of one scripted show—or two scripted shows with a similar theme. (No festival of one-acts, please.) If the show you're planning to do is quite lengthy, you may need to set an early start time. Under the rules, if a show has final bows that start after 10:30 PM, it can be disqualified from some awards. (The goal is to enable student critics to have a good post-show discussion and return home by midnight.) It helps to have an intermission of 15 minutes or more, to enable the critics to have a good mid-show discussion, but the rules allow exceptions to this.
The performing cast must be at least half drawn from students in grade 9 through 12. There can be younger or older cast members in the show, or helping with the orchestra or tech aspects, but this will affect qualification for awards.
If you would like to have your Cappies show reviewed but not considered for awards, the rules allow that. If you would like your school to have a critics team but no Cappies show, the rules allow that too.

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ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARD CATEGORIES

The Cappies have 33 award categories that are determined by the votes of the critics. Each of these categories has eligibility rules, along with guidelines for the critics to use when watching and scoring shows. Please read these pages carefully. If you wish, you are welcome to share them with your cast and crew, so they will know what critics are being encouraged to observe or hear.
Before starting work on your Cappies show, please consult the Award Category Guide. Note, for example, that if an adult sings a full song (or is otherwise in a featured role), the show cannot be considered in the "musical" (or "play") categories.
Pay particular attention to the eligibility rules for non-performing categories, like Costumes, Props & Effects, Costumes, Choreography, Orchestra, and Creativity. If you wish to qualify your students for award consideration in those categories, you must provide information prior to the show. For your students to be eligible for the tech award categories, it's important to take care not to have too much adult participation.
Please read carefully, and complete, the Award Category Eligibility form. You must give this form to the Editor Mentor not later than 30 minutes prior to curtain. On this form, note that any item marked with an asterisk (***) must be answered, prior to a show, for a student who does that work to be considered for award eligibility in that category. This is required for categories (i.e., Costumes, Props & Effects, Orchestra, Choreography, Creativity, Dancer) where it is helpful, and sometimes essential, for critics to know what to consider—and, especially—what is and is not the work of students—as they watch and listen to a show. If that information is provided after that, the Mentors will decide how necessary it was for critics to have it in advance, and whether the show should be declared eligible or ineligible in that category.
For each non-performing category that involves a group of more than four persons (like an orchestra), please provide a name for the group. You can list no more than four individual names in any one category.
If you wish, you may share the Award Criteria Guide with your cast and crew. That would enable them to see what the critics are being asked to keep in mind, look and listen for, and consider when scoring.
In preparing for a Cappies show, and in the show itself, a cast and crew can feel a (gentle) taste of what it feels like to prepare and perform a critically-reviewed show in a professional theater environment. Some directors use the prospect of Cappies reviews as a way of encouraging performers and tech workers to take direction and rehearse seriously—and to focus on aspects of their work that might be improved, as the date of the Cappies show approaches.

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SHOW UPDATES AND SCHEDULE CHANGES

If your school application did not list the name of a Cappies show, please alert program officials as soon as you know its name. If at any point you change the Cappies show you'll be doing, that's all right, but you need to alert program officials right away about that. If you need to change the show date or time (e.g., to change a matinee to an evening performance), you'll need advance approval from program officials. Usually, that can be arranged.
If, for any reason, including weather, your Cappies show is canceled—or if you learn that there is a substantial risk that your Cappies show may be canceled—you must inform the Program Director immediately.

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SHOW PUBLICITY

Your Program Director may ask you and your students to participate in pre-show publicity, or to provide JPG photos to accompany published reviews. The Program Director may also ask your school to assist in regional publicity campaigns, for the Cappies or high school theater in general. If so, please work with your school's Show Director (and, perhaps, critics) in providing what the Program Director may request.

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Presenting a Cappies Show

Please plan ahead for your Cappies show, and make sure you know what is expected. Each participating school is asked to designate a parent Booster, and that person can help—as can your school's critics team.

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A CAPPIES SHOW

If you and your students (and boosters) wish, you can treat your Cappies show as a major event, with decorations, hallway entertainment, alumni receptions, the presence of administrators and faculty—or you can treat it as just another show, except with Cappies critics present.
Don't forget to give your completed Award Category Eligibility form to the Editor Mentor, not later than 30 minutes before curtain.
If you "double cast"—and intend to do a show with different casts on different nights—you need to decide which cast will perform the Cappies show. You can do this any way you want—by drawing straws, going with seniors, using your strongest cast, or some other criterion, but no school's show will be reviewed, or considered for awards, more than once.
If you intend any post-show recognitions, please wait to start that until after the critics have left the theater. (You may want to make an announcement about that.) The critics may not take part in any post-show audience discussion of the Cappies show.
If you plan any other special recognitions, whether at the start of the show or before intermission, please excuse the critics from those, as well. (If possible, you may wish to schedule those for a performance other than the Cappies show.)

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CAPPIES ROOM

Please provide a "Cappies room" for critics and mentors. It can be a school room, chorus room, cafeteria, or something like that. You'll need to make that room available 45 minutes before curtain and up to 45 minutes after final bows. It probably won't take that long, but it might. Make sure your school's security force realizes this.
In the Cappies room, set the room up in a way that best promotes discussion between the critics, in a circle or all around one big table, depending on the number of critics expected.
Your school will need to provide free refreshments in the Cappies room—something to drink, perhaps some chips and cookies, something comparable to what the audience can buy at intermission. Your Booster can coordinate this, but please make sure it is done. If your boosters want to provide more than the minimum, that's fine, and (especially on week nights) it's often appreciated, but it's really not necessary—and, over the years, no one has ever felt that the quality of the food influences critics, one way or the other.
Whoever handles the food needs to know that they can't be in the room during intermission and after the show, when the critics are discussing anything. Those conversations are highly confidential, to ensure that nobody's feelings will be hurt. This means that parents will have to wait until the critics are finished before they can start cleaning up. (Critics are encouraged to help clean up the Cappies room.)
If more than 20 critics are on the attendance list, and if you have it available, please try to provide a simple microphone and speaker for the mentors to use. This aids greatly in discussions.
You'll need to provide at least one student usher, to stand outside the door of the Cappies room and escort the mentors and critics to their seats right before the show starts, and again after intermission. Please make sure your stage manager doesn't start the show, or resume after intermission, until you know that critics and mentors have been seated. It works well if they're the last ones seated, and then you start the show.
While the critics are in the Cappies room, the usher should stay by the door, in case there are any questions. It helps if the usher knows who's who on the cast. You, as Show Director, should be reachable, in case the mentors have any questions.
Please arrange for the Cappies room to be secure, and locked, during the performance. If this is not possible, please alert the mentors, so they can advise critics to keep all valuables with them at all times.

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CAPPIES TICKETS

Under the rules, your school is required to provide complimentary tickets to critics and mentors. You are encouraged, but not required, to provide excellent seats—preferably center section, about rows five to seven. Do not seat critics in the first row or two—that can distract your performers—but make sure they are where they can see and hear well (even if sound and light problems arise), appreciate the intensity of the performances, and feel the energy of the audience response. At a musical, try not to seat critics too close to the orchestra, to make sure they can hear the vocalists well.
If you seat the critics elsewhere—on the sides, in the back, or in a balcony—you run the risk that they may not see and hear well enough to give full credit to all aspects of the show.
Please rope off wherever the critics are going to sit, and make sure your ushers enforce this until the critics arrive. It can be quite awkward when critics enter the theater, right before curtain, and do not have enough seats, or have to sit around others in their seating area. Unless you have a full house and need every seat, it's a good idea not to have parents of students at your school, or anybody else, sitting next to critics. The critics like to write down notes during shows, and they don't like to do it when somebody from the school is sitting next to them, peering onto what they may be writing.
The number of critics who attend your show will depend on the size of your program, the week of your show, and other factors. In small programs, during busy periods, the number may be ten or fewer. In large programs, especially at year end and during weeks when not many schools have shows, the number of critics could swell to more than fifty.
It's true that these tickets are, in one sense, lost revenue to your school's theater program—especially if the show is a sellout. Over time, however, the Cappies will sell far more seats than you're being asked to provide. Many critics also bring parents and other friends (often to help with driving), and they must purchase tickets.
Two weeks, one week, and two days before the show, you'll get an email telling you how many tickets are being requested. The final count is usually (but not always) slightly smaller than the final ticket count. Please note that you will be asked to provide two tickets for Mentors (in unusual cases, three tickets for mentors) and two for Cappies officials. The officials' tickets may or may not be used.
Some Show Directors like to have as many critics attend their show as possible. Others would rather limit the number. You may do so, within limits—and those limits vary with each Cappies program. In no case may you request a critic limit of less than 30. (For most programs, the minimum limit will be 50.) If you think you might want to limit critic attendance, you should do so as soon as possible.
You can request that a limit be placed at the start of the year, or at any time during the year—but you may not ask that critics be removed from your show's attendance list. If you wait until 60 critics have signed up for your show to request a limit, the limit cannot be set any lower than 60.
When you consider the number of free tickets you are providing for your critics, please remember that other schools' Show Directors are providing free tickets to critics from your school.
Under no circumstances can you fail to provide tickets to all critics who are present and who were on the final (48-hour) attendance list, and to the designated mentors and program officials. Failure to do so can result in sanctions for your show, including possible disqualification from awards. If you are oversold, you will have to ask others to relinquish their seats.
You need hold tickets for critics only until five minutes prior to curtain. If you have a sellout, you can sell any tickets set aside for any critic who arrives later than five minutes before curtain.
If you anticipate that providing sufficient Cappies tickets could be a problem, you might think about adding an additional show, or scheduling a special critics' performance, perhaps a dress rehearsal. Those might not be ideal performances to schedule as your Cappies show, but this is allowable under the rules.

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CRITICS MATERIALS

You'll need to provide show programs to all mentors and critics. You can give them any other materials you'd like, about anything you think they should know about your show.
Make sure your show program spells all student and character names accurately—and spells them the same, every time they appear. Please proofread carefully, to prevent easily avoidable misspellings of names in published reviews. It helps critics reviewing your show if you post a board displaying the photographs and names of cast members. Your school's Booster and critics can help with these items.
If you wish, you can provide all critics with a copy of your Award Category Eligibility form. This is not required, but it is helpful.
You may not give critics any guidance on who to pick for the performing categories. That is for them to decide on their own.
If you wish, you may speak to the critics before the show. During and after the show, you can only speak to them if you're invited, to answer specific questions they might have.

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CRITICS DECORUM AND SAFETY

Please remind your cast and crew that, before or after the show, they may not socialize with any critic. Nor may they do so—including phoning or emailing—until the critic has submitted a review (or the final deadline has passed). Afterwards, they may have social contacts with a critic who may be a friend, but should never discuss anything said in the critics' discussion, including Critics' Choices and scores. Cast and crew must not inquire about Critics' Choices, which will be posted only after all Critics have voted for Cappie nominations and awards.
Critics may not openly discuss any aspect of the performance within earshot of any member of the audience. If you notice this occurring, please alert s mentor. And, of course, please do not allow any parent to ask any critic for his or her opinion of the show.
The safety of critics is of paramount concern. No critics may be left alone, late at night, at an unfamiliar school. Under the rules, one mentor is required to remain at a performing school until the last critic has left for home. If you see a critic left alone, waiting for a ride, with no mentor in sight, please remain with that critic until someone has arrived with a ride home.
Please remind your Booster to help you prevent flash photos during a Cappies Show, which can sometimes be a problem. You might want to make a pre-show announcement, and usher enforcement of the rule if anyone takes a flash photo. This is not a Cappies rule—just a strong suggestion. It is well-known to any theater director that flash photos can be very distracting to performers, causing them to break concentration and keeping them from doing their best onstage. Flashes can also interfere with the concentration of (and be annoying to) the audience—and critics. Video cameras can also distract performers and critics, and you might consider only allowing them in locations where they do not affect the performers' concentration and the audience's view of the show.

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Cappies Reviews

Program officials will forward reviews of your Cappies show directly to you, usually on the Sunday night or Monday after your show.
All critics who attend a show are required to submit a review. In most Cappies programs, somewhere between 90% and 95% of all critics who attend a show do submit a review before the final deadline (the Wednesday following a show—three days after the original deadline, which is Sunday).
It can be quite an exciting moment when the Cappies reviews arrive. Usually, it is also quite a happy moment for the cast and crew. Reading the reviews can also be a good learning experience for them, and a useful feedback mechanism for you, as the Show Director.
Cappies reviews are, on the whole, warmer than reviews of professional shows, and that is as it should be. Nearly always, there are many positive mentions of students. However, these are real reviews, and critics are told not write "rave" reviews only for rave-worthy shows. They are encouraged to make criticisms, and they usually do. Those criticisms must follow the rules, the key aspects of which are (1) no criticisms by name (or character name), and (2) no sarcasm or negative tone.
Also, critics are not allowed to praise or criticize adult theater directors, by name or by implication. They may not praise or criticize other adult by name. They may not criticize any work done by students younger than 9^th grade. They are encouraged to mention an adult playwright or composer, but their task is not to critique the work, but rather a school's production of that work.
To learn more about what is and is not allowable in Cappies reviews, you can see the rules—or look through the critics' training materials, which offer numerous examples.
You should expect that some student work will receive critical comments, some students will be praised more than others, and some students may be disappointed in not being praised or mentioned.
The spirit with which the reviews are received by a cast and crew can depend on how you present the reviews to them. Encourage them to take whatever useful things they can from the reviews, while keeping in mind that each review is one person's opinion, nothing more nor less.
By agreeing to host a Cappies show that will be reviewed, you are agreeing to post the reviews for your cast and crew to read, subject to this exception: You may choose to withhold a review for any reason—if, for example, you consider a comment to be blatantly unfair, or if you know a particular review will be received very poorly by one or more students—but you can do so for no more than one to three reviews. (See the rules.) Most Show Directors prefer to let their critics see all the reviews, regardless what they say.
You may, if you wish, share Cappies reviews with parents and others, but you are not required to do so. You may wish to select a few of them for that purpose.
You are welcome to use Cappies reviews for promotional purposes. You may quote any portion of any Cappies review, as long as you credit it to the critic and the Cappies.
The mentors will select the reviews to be published. In some programs, the reviews submitted to major newspapers will not be forwarded to the performing schools, because those reviews are likely to be edited further.
When selecting reviews for publication, mentors know they are determining which reviews will be "of record," and shared with the public. They are encouraged to give equal weight to their accuracy and the quality of the writing. Therefore, they have the responsibility of determining which reviews are the best-written descriptions of what did in fact happen on stage. It often happens that a mentor is a friend or professional colleague of the Show Director whose Cappies show is being reviewed. One of the reasons two mentors are scheduled for each show is to provide two professional judgments about which reviews should be published.
It is important, for many reasons, for Show Directors not to express any objection to the selections after they are published, to a cast or crew or anyone else.
It is against the rules for a Show Director, or any other teacher, parent, or student from the performing school, to discuss any review (published or not) with a critic.

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Critics' Choices

A Critics' Choice is not a nomination, but rather a decision to place a candidate on the year-end award ballot.
To be a Critics' Choice, a student (or group) must be eligible in an award category. For information about that, or to see what other guidelines the critics are following in selecting Critics' Choices, please see the Award Category Guide.
After a Cappies show, during their post-show discussion, the mentors determine the award categories for which a show qualifies. In the non-performing categories, they base this on information provided by the Show Director. The critics then determine who their "Critics' Choices" are for each award category for which the show qualifies. They do this by consensus, or if necessary by vote.
Critics' Choices are kept confidential. (No useful purpose would be served by informing a performing cast who the critics felt was the best ensemble, vocalist, or the like.) Critics are required not to reveal them, and you should ask your cast and crew not to try to find out what they were—or how candidates were scored by any critics.
Between 7 and 10 days prior to award voting, the Program Director will send you a confidential email, listing the Critics' Choices for that year's Cappies show (or shows). This is to confirm name spellings and correct obvious errors only. You will be asked to email any corrections, while maintaining the confidentiality of all information.
Critics' Choices will be made public after the last critic has voted, a day or two before nominations are posted.

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Participating in Awards

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AWARD VOTING

If your Cappies program includes awards, the critics will gather to vote online for "Cappie" nominations and awards, after the final shows have been reviewed. To qualify as an award voter, a critic must have submitted reviews for a minimum number of shows. That minimum can be between 3 and 5 reviews, depending on the program.
Also, under the rules, each school's critics team must meet a minimum standard to qualify its school's own Cappies show for awards. That standard may vary, for each Cappies program. Your Program Director will advise you what it is. It will be the responsibility of your school's Cappies Advisor, and Lead Critic, to make sure the team meets that minimum standard—but it will be the show you direct that is at risk of being disqualified if they do not, so you may wish to keep track of their performance, as well.
The critics vote through specially designed computer software, through which they give scores and points to individual candidates. No critic sees all shows (or anything close to that), of course, and the voting system has been designed to account for that.
The Cappies voting system has also been constructed to be totally evenhanded to all schools, regardless of the size of their own critics team or the number of critics who attended their own Cappies show, to identify (and, hence, discourage) "gaming" or strategic voting by individual critics or teams, and to provide Cappies officials with clear and fully auditable results.
The critics vote through a combination of evaluation scores, nomination and award points, and tie-breaks. A complete description of the Cappies voting system is in the rules, and a summary can be read on the Cappies web site, on the "Rules & Forms" page.

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AWARD CATEGORIES

The non-performing categories include sound, lighting, make-up, costumes, sets, props & effects, stage crew, choreography, orchestra, and creativity (which includes student directing, composing, playwriting, lyric-writing, and musicianship).
The performing categories include ensemble in a play, ensemble in a musical, featured actor and actress, male and female dancer, male and female vocalist—and comic, supporting, and lead actors and actresses for plays and musicals.
A student may only be nominated once (per show) in the non-performing categories, and once in the performing categories. If a program allows two shows per school, a student may be nominated once for each show in the non-performing categories, and once in the performing categories. (Critic awards are treated separately.)
There are four overall school awards: song, play, and musical.
Depending on the Cappies program, there can be from three to five critics' awards, including critics team, and individual critic awards determined by gender or year in school.

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COMMENDATIONS

As Show Director, you may, if you wish, name up to four students as Cappie Commendees. Their recognition (and award items) will depend on your Cappies program. Your Program Director will advise you about this. You should wait to name your Commendees until after nominations are announced. You are encouraged, but not required, to select Commendees who are not nominees.
You have wide latitude to select Commendees—or not to select them. They must be students in grade 9 to 12, who in your judgment have made a significant contribution to your school's theater program. They might be performers in a non-Cappies show, performers or tech workers in your Cappies show whom you feel the critics may not have sufficiently recognized, students who did work (designing programs and posters, doing publicity, or handling box office) that fits within no award category, or any other student you may wish to recognize.
The Program Director will set a deadline for you to name Commendees. Please do not miss that deadline.
Your Program Director may ask someone from your school to pick up awards items for your Nominees and Commendees. You may wish to ask for assistance you're your school's Booster with this task.

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NOMINATIONS AND AWARDS

Nominations are announced within one to two days after the voting. Most Cappies programs post the nominations online. Awards are announced at the Cappies Gala.
When you present your Cappies show, when nominations and awards are announced, and again at the Gala when awards are presented, you and your students should realize that, per the cliché, the chips will fall where they may. Your school may receive several nominations, or not many. (In large programs, some schools receive no nominations.) At a Gala, your students may win the awards for which they're nominated, or not. If they do, kudos to everybody. If not, hooray for whoever won, and it's on to summer (and next year).
Yes, it can be exciting, and feel rewarding, to your students (and to you) when your show receives multiple nominations and wins awards—but please do your best to encourage your students not to let it feel like a major disappointment if your show is not recognized as much as you expected.
As with reviews, a Show Director can greatly influence the attitude students take toward nominations and awards. Suggest that they treat it as a learning experience. Remind them that the competition was very tough, which is almost always the case. Reassure them that receiving nominations and awards (or not receiving them) doesn't make a show any better (or worse) than it was when the curtain came down.
No voting system is perfect, of course—and any outcome merely reflects the viewpoint of the judges, not any absolute truth—but great care is taken by program officials to make sure Cappies voting meets very high standards of fairness and integrity. If your students are disappointed in the results, it is important that you, as the Show Director, not give the students any reason to believe that the voting was in any way unfair or illegitimate.
If any person wishes to appeal any voting outcome, he or she may do so by contacting your Program Director. This will result in a careful audit of the results by the Steering Committee, with the outcome of that audit reviewed by the Cappies Governing Board. The decision of the Governing Board will be final. Under the rules, no one—including a person appealing a voting outcome—may see the raw voting data.
If you have concerns about letting your show be evaluated for awards by student critics trained by the Cappies, through a voting system managed by the Cappies, then the best plan is not to submit your show for awards evaluation.

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Attending a Cappies Gala

If your program has awards, the year will end with an awards ceremony, which may or may not be identified as a Cappies Gala.
A program may choose to distribute awards without a Gala, at a simple ceremony. Or a program may choose to present a Cappies Gala is a formal Tonys-style event that combines awards with select student performances. Some Cappies Galas are at high schools, and others are at high-profile theater venues.
Prior to a Cappies Gala, your Program Director may schedule photo sessions for Nominees, for whom the Cappies may not have email addresses or phone numbers. If so, please assist with this, to make sure your students can join in any pre-Gala publicity.
If your program is planning a Cappies Gala, your Program Director may invite students from your school to perform in it. In small programs, all schools may be invited to perform a song or sketch from a Cappies show. In large programs, the invitation may only go to those nominated in the Song, Play, and Musical categories.
If you are invited to perform at a Cappies Gala, the Gala Director will contact you in a timely manner about rehearsals, scores, and other issues. The timetable may be quite short, so please respond to a Gala Director's inquiries in a very timely manner.
Depending on your Cappies program, the Program Director may issue a request for students who may wish to audition for the select Gala student cast of vocalists, dancers, and musicians. Please assist the Program Director in spreading word to your students about any such opportunities.
Prior to a Cappies Gala, tickets will be made available for your school. The number of available tickets, per school, will depend on the size of your Cappies program and the size of the Gala venue. As the Show Director, you will be in charge of ticket purchases, pick-ups, and distributions, but you may wish to ask your school's Cappies Advisor (and Booster) to help with this.
Understandably, the size of each school's Gala ticket request may depend to some degree on the number of nominations that school has received and on any invitation for students from that school to perform at the Gala. Here again, a Show Director can greatly influence student decisions about whether to attend a Cappies Gala, even if some disappointment is felt about a school's list of nominations.
We encourage teachers and students from all participating schools to attend the Gala, cheer for students from all schools, and celebrate all the fine shows performed through the year.
No matter where the awards go, students at your school will have a wonderful time at the Cappies Gala. And then it's on to next year!

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LETTER FROM A SHOW DIRECTOR

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"So, what's the point?"
A colleague who was considering joining the Cappies program asked me that question. He wanted to know if it was all about who gets the Best Play or Best Musical trophy. Or who gets bragging rights over what school for the most nominations or awards. The politically correct answer: No, of course not. The truth: Some people (students and teachers alike) tended to think that way during the course of the first year. My view: It's nice to get that kind of attention (including from school administrators). It's nice that someone cares. But Cappies is about more than the trophies and glamour of the Gala night.
What's the point? Recognition for the students, for the local programs, and for theatrical education in general. If the best way to get this is to imitate the second most watched television show annually (the Oscars) and create an interest for people to root for a particular program as well as come to more productions, then I'll go for that. Awards, "best this and that," golden trinkets – for better or for worse, this is what raises the interest of our society. So we do that, and the result? Recognition for this year and sold-out shows for next year. The danger is when someone actually makes the mistake of attributing quality based on the number of trinkets won. If you are able to eliminate that thinking among your students and communities, then you have what the Cappies Gala should be: a celebration of the arts rather than a competition for gold-plated metal.
The point should be about giving high school students more journalistic experience and arts training than most so-called critics get before their 30s. The point should be everyone in the community recognizing the hard work and dedication put forth by the theater arts students of a particular high school. Work during the entire 180-day season as opposed to the 60- or 75-day season of most sports. The point should be recognition for a particular school's continual dedication to excellence in Theater Arts over several years. The point should be to get people in those seats that are perennially unfilled, so that the students feel their endeavors are worthwhile. The point should be to foster the growth of future actors, designers, directors, composers, and writers to interpret our society and an audience to support them.
The point is that the Cappies is the best idea to put that deserving spotlight on high school theater arts that I have ever experienced. It works – when you go about it with the correct philosophy.
I hope the Cappies brings your school's theater program all the recognition it richly deserves. I hope some administrators who always attend every sporting event tell you they actually read the review in the paper and are kicking themselves for not seeing your show. I hope your next show sells through the roof. I hope your kids are proud of who they are and what they can do. Because that is the point.
R.L. Mirabal
Theater Director, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, Virginia
Cappies of the National Capital Area

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SAMPLE REVIEWS

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These materials are provided to critics, in their binders. They are also provided to you, for reference, so you and your cast and crew can understand what the rules are.
Cappies reviews are real theater reviews. They can, and do, include criticisms, as long as the mentors consider them within the range of fair comment. Any criticisms must be written according to the rules.
When selecting reviews for publication, mentors are asked give equal weight to:

1. Accuracy and fairness, with honest descriptions of what actually happened on stage, proportionate praise and criticism within the range of fair comment, and solid analysis of theater;
2. Quality of writing, with an engaging and creative style, of interest to readers who did not see the Cappies Show, with a succinct background of the play, and a brief synopsis of the story;
3. A reflection of the overall Critic opinion of a Cappies Show, and various aspects of that Show, as expressed during discussions—while giving some deference to a Critic's own opinions, when they are reasonable and defensible.
4. Correct spelling of all cast, crew, character, and other names.

Critics are trained to write rave reviews for rave-worthy shows. Reviews for shows of different caliber should reflect those differences. At the same time, even the weakest of shows is being performed by high school students, and the purpose of reviewing their show is to provide a learning experience, not to demean anyone.

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CriticismS IN CAPPIES REVIEWs

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Mentors are required to edit all reviews for compliance with these rules.
If any reviews are forwarded to you that appear to violate any of these rules, you are encouraged not to share them with your cast. If they flagrantly violate the rules, please notify the Program Director of your Cappies program.

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SAMPLE REVIEWS

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SAMPLE #2: Review of A Piece of My Heart
The horrors of Vietnam are quickly fading into history. Young people today have no vivid memories of lost loved ones, and it is difficult to imagine America at a time of such crisis. But the atrocity of war came to chilling life on the stage at St. Ursula Academy's recent production of A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro.  The play chronicled the experiences of six women who each went into the war zone for different reasons and came out with memories that haunted them long after coming home. Dealing with the pain, confusion and even the love that was part of "the 'Nam" could be very difficult to handle, but the performers created characters that pulled the audience into their lives. Sissy (Rebecca Whatley) is a sweet girl, innocent of the horrors she will face when she stepped off the plane and signs up for field hospital duty. With a simple, traumatized glance, Whatley revealed the agony Sissy felt as she nursed mutilated soldiers. Whatley's performance contained the power and raw emotion of a woman who discovers what war is really like. Whitney (Allison Aiken) is a highly educated boarding school teacher who goes into Vietnam to work for the Red Cross and to find a little adventure. Aiken's portrayal of the sarcastic, bitter Whitney was brilliantly executed. With a simple toss of the head or sip of liquor, there was no doubt of the true feelings of the character. The show was comprised of monologues that flowed into dialogue with other characters and into the action during the war. The characters that entered the lives of the featured woman were portrayed by an ensemble which found specific actions and tones to differentiate between the numerous roles they conveyed. The energy of the entire cast charged the tension of the flashbacks and the frantic confusion of a hospital overwhelmed with victims of war.The set was simple and was used to illustrate the simple power of the stories being told by the characters. All props (accumulated by Claudia Feldhaus) and costumes (designed by Maria Reupert) were accurate to the time period and provided the perfect accompaniment to the stories being told.The experiences of the women in Vietnam may be far removed from the lives of the performers in this play, but each actor created characters that seemed to speak from these traumatic experiences. As the lights faded, the ensemble stared up at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, a powerful testament to the courage and strength of the women who gave everything for their country.
Matt Borths St. Xavier High School
Cappies of Greater Cincinnati
This review was published in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
SAMPLE #3: Review of Standing on My Knees
How does it feel to be stripped of your identity in order to cure a disease?  Are you really winning if you are losing the one thing that makes you who you are?  Plantation High School's presentation of Standing on My Knees, by John Olive, sets out to answer these questions. This intense drama depicted the touching story of Catherine, a schizophrenic young poet who is attempting to cope with her disease. The medication her doctor throws at her hinders her ability to write, which she feels to be the only thing that makes her life unique and meaningful. Katie Gemignani starred as Catherine, the passionate, yet unstable protagonist.  Gemignani flourished in an immensely difficult role.  She truly captured the sweet innocence of the character and admirably displayed the deterioration of the character into utter disarray.  Opposite Gemignani was Marco Zeno as Robert, her nerdy, yet charming love interest. Zeno did an excellent job illustrating his character's transformation from timid and lovable to frustrated and overwhelmed. The supporting cast consisted of Rachel Bahman as Catherine's best friend and boss, Alice, and L'Treasure Lunan as Joanne, the psychiatrist. Bahman brought a kooky, almost neurotic sense to her character that added a bit of comic relief to the emotional performance.  Lunan soothingly spit out monotonous clichés, convincingly maintaining the stereotypical nature the character is meant to possess. The set, though simple, did the show justice.  Catherine's apartment, placed on a steep angle, creatively demonstrated her mental instability. Also intriguing was the use of musical underscoring to effectively emphasize the emotions depicted on stage.  The lighting, though a bit dim on occasion, was sufficient and performed with nearly flawless execution. At times, some of the lines were rushed, reducing the credibility of the dialogue.  In addition, there were moments when the music was played too loudly, creating a distraction.  Perhaps the most memorable moment of the night, however, was the brilliant cover-up by Gemignani and Zeno after having difficulty opening a bottle of wine.  The two were able to maintain the flow of the performance, making it appear as if nothing went wrong.
Simply put, this was not your average high school material.  The piece was intense and difficult, and the cast did a sensational job in handling such a mature subject.  Profound and thought-provoking, Plantation High School's production of Standing on My Knees was truly noteworthy and commendable.
Bryan Jones
Piper High School
South Florida Cappies
This review was published in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
SAMPLE #4: Review of The Music Man
Smiling faces, colorful costumes, beautiful voices singing in perfect harmony, a vibrant orchestra and marching band. … Does this sound like a great Fourth of July celebration? Well, not quite! It's Northwood High School's production of Meredith Wilson's The Music Man.
This classic American musical is the story of the small and "stubborn" town of River City, Iowa in 1912 and its extraordinary visitor, Harold Hill, a man of many identities. Harold comes to the town to con the townspeople out of their money with his phony "boy's band." In the process, Harold finds himself falling in love with the town's uptight librarian, Marian Paroo, and River City itself.
Some very talented students brought this show's variety of lovable characters to life. Memorable performances included Tyler Alessi, who brought an endearing charm to Harold Hill's tricky character, and the comedic duo of Grant Scavello and Natalie Larriva as Mayor and Mrs. Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn. Erika Nafius as Mrs. Paroo showed a consistently impressive Irish accent, while Kiersten Regele's dance skills and smiling face added to the innocence of the Zaneeta Shinn character.
Another bright spot was the Barbershop Quartet, including Northwood students Robert Webb, Christopher Figueroa, Charley Cullen, and Eric Weigan (guest artist). Last but not least, Andrea Borden brought energy and charisma to Hill's love interest, librarian Marian Paroo.
The cast as a whole was focused and lively, while The River City Teens tackled amusing choreography with an air of excitement. The Residents of River City humorously captured the small town's "chip on the shoulder" attitude. The energy of the cast started low but built to the climactic closing number, "Seventy-Six Trombones" in which the entire Northwood Marching Band and Drill Team consumed the auditorium, almost overtaking the cast.
Northwood's student orchestra did a praiseworthy job with the show's difficult numbers, while the school's student-run sound and stage crew provided impressive support. Fun and creative crossovers ably covered lengthy scene changes. Cast members who did not wear body microphones were occasionally difficult to hear during solos, but the majority of the cast did a great job of projecting the lapses. A few backstage set changes disrupted quiet moments, but most of the scene shifts went quickly and without error.
Northwood High School's production of The Music Man was a fun, feel-good experience that captured the heart of small town America.
Nicole Weber
Huntington Beach Academy of Performing Arts
Orange County (CA) Cappies
This review was published in the Orange County Register.

SAMPLE #5: Review of Time After Time
A performance that combined Jack the Ripper, time travel and women's liberation was bound to be unconventional. J.E.B. Stuart High School's recent production of John Mattera's Time After Time, however, managed to blend these radically different themes into one interesting theater experience.
"Time After Time" fictionalizes the life of H.G. Wells, the renowned author of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who wrote the science-fiction classic "War of the Worlds." When Jack the Ripper uses Wells's time machine to catapult himself into 1979, Wells follows him to save the unsuspecting public. While in the future, Wells meets and falls in love with banker Amy Robins. Throughout the show, the couple relentlessly pursues Jack, despite such obstacles as uncooperative detectives, a time machine with functional problems and numerous gruesome murders. When Wells and Robins eventually catch Jack, they send him, via the time machine, into the inescapable vortex of infinity.
Stuart's cast was faced with the difficult task of creating a believable foundation for a wide variety of characters. To forge his character of Wells, Pedro Ribeiro combined charm, sensitivity and a dependable English accent. Ribeiro and Danielle Snyder, as Amy Robins, worked together well. Michael Wilmarth's stark portrayal of Jack the Ripper was wonderfully unsettling and disturbing. Though the lack of microphones hindered some performers, Wilmarth's vocal energy was consistently strong.
Two especially notable characters were Natalie Chami as a doomed prostitute and Helen Askale as a security guard. Though their appearances were brief, both displayed commanding stage presence and firm understanding of their characters.
The lighting design by Danny Olewine was effective, leaving no performers in the dark. Andrew Bell designed and edited a commendable time-travel video that was projected onto a screen at the climax of the performance. Though there were a number of technical mishaps, the cast covered for each and did not lose momentum.
Despite a rowdy audience and some small fumbles, Stuart's production of Time After Time was entertaining. Hey, when Jack the Ripper collides with women's lib, it's sure to be a good time.
Sam Willmott Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
National Capital Area Cappies
This review was published in The Washington Post.

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AWARD VOTING

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The Cappies digital voting system enables high school-age student Critics to serve as judges in a theater awards program in which (1) no Critic has seen all the shows being judged, (2) different numbers of Critics are judging each show, and (3) Critics are not eligible to judge their own school's shows as a part of the competition). These conditions require a voting system that provides the maximum possible fairness, objectivity, and integrity.
The Cappies voting system provided fairness, objectivity, and integrity by requiring all Critics to vote on the same day, at on-line computers, seated apart from other Critics from their own school, through a carefully designed set of checks and balances, reinforced by a mechanism for vote-by-vote review by program officials and auditors. Through this process:
(1)Critics score in ways that provide a fair evaluation for every show, even though each show is scored by a different set of Critics.
(2)No advantage goes to any show that was reviewed by a large (or small) number of Critics, or whose own school's Critics reviewed a large (or small) number of shows.
(3)Any possible outcome-swaying "gaming" or "strategic voting" by Critics is observable in the results, with program officials retaining the authority to disqualify any votes that they, the auditor, and an international Cappies official conclude were not cast objectively.
This voting system is part of the Cappies Information Services (C.I.S.), designed in 2002 by students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Annandale, Virginia. It is maintained by a team of students at that school, led by its original designers, Jeff Arnold (now at M.I.T.) and Samarth Keshava (now at Yale).
The Cappies digital voting system is a little complicated, here and there, but once you understand it, in the context of the goals of the Cappies program, you'll see how and why it makes sense.

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HOW CRITICS VOTE

Critics vote by evaluation scores, by "tie-break" rankings, and by nomination and award points. Each of these methods reveals an important aspect of Critic opinion while providing a check-and-balance against the others, to provide fairness and integrity to the results.
Evaluation scores use the familiar Cappies scoring range of from 1 (poor) to 10 (professional quality). From these scores, CIS computes a "mean evaluation score" for each candidate, from all the numbers received from Critics. The Critics base these scores, at least in part, on the post-show scores they gave each candidate on this same scale. On their ballot, they can "ink in" these original scores, or raise them or lower them, as desired.
To ensure fairness and consistency among voting Critics, while giving each Critic reasonable latitude to score every show accurately, each Critic is (1) encouraged to maintain a mean score of between 5 and 6, and (2) required to have a mean score not lower than 4 nor greater than 7.
Tie-breaks are comparative rankings. On their ballots, Critics must rank every candidate, including those to whom they give the same evaluation score. If a Critic gives three candidates a score of 6, that Critic must designate them as 6A, 6B, and 6C, with the "A" score being higher than B, and B higher than C. These rankings can then be used to compare scores given any two candidates.
Nomination and award points enable Critics to express whom s/he thinks is worthy enough to be nominated or win a "Cappie" award. Each Critic receives her/his own number of points to allocate as they choose to any candidates on the ballot. A Critic receives five nomination points, and one award point, for every show that Critic reviewed, which means that a Critic who reviewed ten shows would have twice as many points to distribute as a Critic who reviewed five shows. Critics must give all their points, and they cannot give any candidate more than one of each kind of point. All ballot candidates have an equal chance of receiving points from all the Critics who evaluated them.
After voting is completed, C.I.S. calculates a "nomination point score" for each candidate that is the number of nomination points s/he received, divided by the number of Critics who could have given them. It does the same for award points. A candidate who was seen by 20 Critics and given 8 nomination points and 2 award points will have a nomination point score of 0.40 and an award point score of 0.10.

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HOW RESULTS ARE DECIDED

Here's how the C.I.S. digital voting system determines nominees and "Cappie" winners.
Each program's Steering Committee determines the maximum number of nominations that can be given in each category and the minimum "mean evaluation score" a candidate must receive to be nominated.
Under the rules, no one can be nominated twice for the same show in non-performing categories, or in performing categories. When a candidate earns enough votes to merit more than one nomination, that candidate will be nominated in the more prestigious performing category—or, for tech, in any category where the candidate is listed alone. The same thing is done for awards. If a candidate earns the votes to win two performing Cappies for the same show, he or she wins the award is the more prestigious category.
Because no one can win more than one Cappie award, or be nominated in more than one performing or non-performing category, for any one Cappies Show, the C.I.S. computer must select the "Cappie" winner before it selects nominees. (The winner is, of course, a nominee.)
To select the "Cappie" winner, the C.I.S. computer finds the candidates with the highest mean evaluation score, and the candidate with the highest award point score. If the same candidate scores highest in both areas, s/he wins the Cappie. If one candidate has the highest mean evaluation score and another candidate the highest award point score, the C.I.S. computer checks for "tie-break" rankings. In effect, the computer takes a vote among all Critics who evaluated the two candidates, and whoever was ranked higher by a majority of candidates receives the award. If these "tie-breaks" fail to produce a result, the C.I.S. computer follows several other tie-breaking rules to produce the winner. (See the rules for a list of those.)
To select nominees, the C.I.S. computer nominates the award winner, and then nominates the candidates with the highest mean evaluation scores and nomination point scores, giving equal weight to both, applying tie-breaks where necessary.
The final nomination may come down to a choice between two candidates with (for example) the third-highest evaluation score and the third-highest nomination point score. To select this final nominee, the C.I.S. computer checks for "tie-break" rankings, and if these fail to produce a result, it follows other arithmetic rules to produce the final nominee.

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HOW CRITICS AWARDS ARE DECIDED

Each Cappies program can decide how many and what kind of awards to give individual Critics. These nominations and awards are determined by an objective score that is based half on level of participation (number of shows reviewed) and half on number of reviews selected (with extra credit given selection for the major newspaper). Any ties are decided by comparing the average selectivity of each critic's review rankings—for example, giving an edge to someone whose selected reviews were on average ranked higher.
For Critics' team awards, the scores of each school's six highest ranking Critics (including regional team Critics) are tallied and compared. As with individual awards, these scores are half based on participation and half on number of review selections. Any ties are decided by comparing the scores of the top-scoring Critics of contending teams.

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HOW A "SPECIAL AWARD" IS PROVIDED

The Steering Committee for any Cappies program, on its own initiative can give one "Cappie" award per year, as a Special Award for Service, for extraordinary service on behalf of the Cappies or High School Theater generally. There will be no nominees other than the winner named in this category.

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HOW RESULTS ARE AUDITED

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The complete Cappies Rules are not included in these materials. To see the Rules, and download them, please go to the "Rules & Forms" page at www.cappies.com.


Three new rules are worth noting.
1. The rules now explicitly forbid plagiarism, especially the copying of any items from the internet without attribution. Newspapers often spot-check for this. Mentors and Cappies program officials will occasionally do the same, especially for reviews selected for publication. Any Critic found to have plagiarized any part of a review will be removed from the roster.
2. The rules now require the suspension or roster removal of any Critic who is found to have shared information about Critics' Choices to the performing school. We are also requesting that the critics from a school that performed a Cappies show alert the cast and crew that Critics' Choices are confidential and will be disclosed only at the time of awards voting—and ask the cast and crew not to ask any critic for this information. (Please remember that all confidentiality rules also apply to the internet, including personal web pages, chat rooms, or blogs of any kind.)
3. Mentors are now instructed to apply a new fourth criterion when selecting reviews for publication: that a selected review reasonably reflect the consensus of critic opinion. While a Critic's review can and should reflect that Critic's own point of view about any aspect of a Cappies show, it should also take into account the overall judgment of Critics, as expressed during discussions.
The purpose of this change is to encourage critics to be honest and accurate in reviews, stating criticisms where warranted—and to encourage mentors to select reviews that are not overly generous in their praise of aspects of a show about which Critics may have been, in discussions, far more critical. That also means this: In discussions, Mentors and Critics need to make sure the tone remains fair to the show, does not become unduly negative, and allows all Critic points of view to be expressed.
The following have changes/additions have been made for 2010-11:

1. Critics must attend the school in order to vote with that school team. (If two schools, for example a boys and girls shared Catholic school) then they are either two separate teams or one combined team. The approved application determines which school or combined school a team represents

1. The Cappies reserves the right to review play content to maintain the integrity of the Program, and therefore supports the right for a chapter's steering committee to decline a show that is to be reviewed by the critics.

1. There will be a two week block on CIS so the critics cannot volunteer for a show after the show draft.  This will enable the admin to set up the team assignments fairly. 
   1. 1. This is to be put into practice this year, but cannot be done in CIS until next year.

1. For Ensemble, change "two" to "a minimum size of two".

1. No critic or team may review or vote for any Cappies show if any member of that team is a performer or crew member in the performing school.

1. FYI point of clarification: For Creativity, publicity is not part of the performance, so it is not eligible for an award

1. Reminder of Disqualification Rules and Sanctions

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1. The school and regional critic teams submit less than the required number of reviews by voting time (VI Schools, p. 17, K.5, a.1)

1. The school critic team has less than two qualified critics who vote (VI Schools, p.17, K.5, a.1)

1. The school critic team fail to submit the minimum number of reviews for two assigned shows (VI Schools, p.17, K.5, a.2)

1. 1. Each assigned Cappie show will be attended and reviewed by not less than two critics (if the Team has 3  or  4 critics) or less than three critics (if the Team has 5 or 6 critics).  (VI Schools, p.17, K.3)

1. If your show is less than 75 minutes running time (VII Shows, p.19, B.2)

1. If less than half of the cast are between grades 9 - 12. (VII Shows, p. 19, B.3)

1. A Critic or regional critic will be removed from the team if:
   1. 1. 1. 1. More than two assigned shows are declined (XII Critics, p.37, I.3)

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Violating any rule of confidentiality (XII Critics, U)

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Failing on two occasions to submit a review for the shows they have attended (XII Critics, p. 39, W.3)

7. Sanctions may apply if:

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. After 14 days before the show, the critic team wishes to reschedule its assigned Cappie show (VI Schools, p. 18, K.6, also see Summary of Changes number 2 above)

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. A school does not fulfill their mentor obligations for that year.  Extra shows will be added to the mentor's duties for the following year. (X Mentors, p. 27, A. 3 and X Mentors, p. 28, G. 4)

At any time during a Program Year, a Participating School may be removed from the Program, for substantial or recurrent Rule violations, by a two-thirds vote of the Steering committee. (VI Schools, O.3a)

Notice 2014
Cappies, Inc.
Cappies Governing Board
Published 09/09/2013
Cappies Rule Changes – 2014

1. Featured (Actress/Actor) p. 38.  "A Featured performer creates and defines a memorable character, in a role that may OR may not have significant stage time, character presentation, and involvement in the story line.  A role that is too small to qualify as Supporting will qualify as Featured.  Examples in a musical are:  Grandmother Berthe in "Pippin", Freddy in "My Fair Lady", and Marcellus in "The Music Man"."

1. 2013-14 REPLACEMENT PAGE FOR STAGE MANAGEMENT AND CREW

Stage Management & Crew refers to the speed, silence, invisibility, and/or entertainment aspects of scene, set, and furniture changes, and all other stage management, whether visible or not. Stage management & crew also may refer to the completeness & organization of the materials provided by the stage management & crew that were used during the rehearsal process. All work must be done by or under the direction of one student or a small group of students in grades 9 through 12, but adult guidance is permissible.
Keep in mind:
Stage crew work is very apparent in shows, and can be highly variable. Some shows have enormous moveable sets, while others have unitary sets. Some have frequent set changes, while others make changes only at intermission (or not at all). Some use the stage crew visibly, either in shadows or full light, dressed in black or in costume, perhaps as their own ensemble, while others use performers to move set pieces. In shows that close the curtain to make elaborate scene changes, some have action taking place downstage of the curtain, while others have a musical interlude. Some set changes are silent, while others are audible. Some move set pieces on rollers, while others involve stage rotation, or the flying in of large pieces. Every scene change has cues, at the start and end, and those cues should be promptly handled. In some shows, the best crew work is work you never notice. In other shows, the best work is something you very much do notice, and enjoy watching. Regardless of type of show stage management & crew are also responsible for being the king pin of communication during the rehearsal process, creating rehearsal reports, recording blocking, managing the schedule & keeping things running smoothly. When looking at the stage management and crew work in a show it is important to remember that the management of these components during the rehearsal will lead to a smooth run of the show. That work continues during the performance in every show, good stage crew work should contribute to the flow of the story, and not get in the way. If stage crew members are visible or audible when they should not be (for instance, making offstage noise), that should be considered. If a problem arises (for example, if the cast drops a prop, or if a set is damaged), see how that is handled by the crew. Consider any aspect of the show that is within the responsibility of the stage manager to prevent or control.
Look and listen for:
Execution. Does the crew do its work quickly and efficiently? Is the crew energetic and agile? Is the movement of large or cumbersome pieces as silent as can be reasonably expected? Are set pieces handled nimbly, without damage?
Cues. Do each scene change start briskly at the end of a scene, and does the next scene start briskly as soon as the last piece is moved?
Creativity. If the crew work is visible, is it entertaining to watch? Do the crew members function well as an on-stage ensemble? If performers are moving set pieces, do they move them in character?
Stagecraft. If the curtain closes to conceal crew work, does the show continue downstage of the curtain while the set pieces are changed? If so, does the work in any way distract attention from whatever is taking place downstage of the curtain?
Adjustments. If any problems arise with any set pieces, are they swiftly and effectively fixed?
Offstage comportment. During scenes, are cast and crew in the wings and upstage areas silent and out of sight, never distracting the audience's attention?
Rehearsal materials provided. Do the rehearsal reports contain detailed reports? Did the scene change plots have clear and detailed information on them? Did the prompt book have easy to follow and complete cues in it?
Consider the following examples to score this for presentation, originality, range, and difficulty.
8 or 9: The crew work is difficult, creative, and very well-executed, swift and silent, hitting all cues, causing no distractions, and significantly enhancing the show. Rehearsal documentation is provided to show clear, detailed & complete organization and communication from the Stage Management team.
6 or 7: The crew work is interestingly done and uniformly workmanlike, nicely complementing the show. Rehearsal documentation provided neatly compiled but perhaps few in number or lacking in detail or not clear or detailed.
4 or 5: The crew work is workmanlike, with a few noticeable flaws, neither enhancing nor detracting from the show. Rehearsal material provided is loosely organized but perhaps lacking in detail or not clear or detailed.
2 or 3: The crew work is not well done, with numerous noticeable problems, detracting from the show and no documentation is provided that the stage management & crew completed organized or clear assistance during rehearsal.

1. Importance of independent audit of awards voting

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CONSEQUENCES

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The Cappies program relies on all participants—Critics, Mentors, and Show Directors—to comply with rules. The integrity of the program requires that there be sanctions for certain rule violations. Some are mandatory, and others are at the discretion of a program's Steering Committee.
CRITICS
If a Critic does not submit at least the required minimum number of reviews (a number that varies from 3 to 5, depending on the program), that Critic will not be eligible to participate in awards voting.
If a Critics' Team submits no review to an assigned show twice, without having requested a change in assignment at least 14 days in advance, there may be sanctions, including disqualifying the school's own Cappies Show from awards.
If a Critic fails to attend a show at which he or she is on the final attendance list, or fails to submit a review within 24 hours of the initial deadline, or fails to submit a review by the final deadline (72 hours after the initial deadline), C.I.S. will automatically notify that Critic's Advisor and Lead Critic. (If the Advisor sends an email to the Program Director stating that the Critic had an illness or personal emergency, that final deadline may be extended.)
IN SOME (BUT NOT ALL) PROGRAMS: If a Critic fails to attend a Cappies show for which that Critic is on the final attendance list, or fails to submit a review for a show that Critic attended, the Critic's school's theater department will be charged $15 for the cost of the unused ticket and refreshments.
If a Critic submits a review outside C.I.S. when it is functioning, that review might not be accepted,
If a Critic submits a review of less than 200 words, or flagrantly violates the rules on criticism, that review will not be accepted, and the Critic's Cappies Advisor and Lead Critic will be notified.
If a Critic violates the rules on confidentiality (for example, by disclosing Critics' Choices), that Critic will face sanctions, which could include removal from the roster.
If a Critic engages in internet copying (plagiarism), that Critic will be removed from the roster, and if program officials determine that others on that Critic's Team were aware of this, sanctions will be imposed on that Team, including possible disqualification of the school's own Cappies Show from Cappie nominations and awards.
If a Critic declines shows without volunteering for a sufficient number of replacements, that Critic may be removed from the roster.
CRITICS TEAM
If fewer than half of Critics Team review an assigned show, one review will be added to the team's yearly minimum for each review they are short. (For example: If a six-member team submits only one review for an assigned show—two less than the required number of three—and if the yearly minimum is 15 for Critics Team in their program, then the yearly minimum will be raised from 15 to 17.)
If a Critics Team (including any regional team members from the same school) fails to provide the minimum yearly requirement for reviews (a number that varies from 9 to 15, three times the minimum for one critic, depending on the program), OR if the team fails to provide at least two critics who qualify for and take part in awards voting, then the school's own Cappies Shows will not qualify for any awards.
If a Lead Critic or others on a Critics Team are aware of major breaches in decorum, violation of rules on confidentiality, or plagiarism by any Critic on that Team, and if no action is taken to correct this, then that Team may face sanctions, and its own school show may be disqualified from Cappie nominations and awards.
MENTORS
If a school has no Mentor on its roster, the Steering Committee may impose sanctions, including removal of its Cappies Shows from the schedule, or removal of the school from the program.
If, more than once, a school's own Mentors are absent, or arrive at a Cappies Show after curtain, the Steering Committee may impose sanctions, including removal of its Cappies Shows from the schedule, disqualification of the shows from Award eligibility, or removal of the school from the program.
CAPPIES SHOWS
If a Cappies Show ends later than 10:30 PM but before 11:00 PM, critics will be allowed to consider the non-compliance with this rule when scoring it for the Play or Musical categories. If it ends later than 11:00 PM, it will be ineligible for the Play or Musical categories. Mentors may make allowance for any delay caused by the Cappies.
If the Mentors do not receive a completed Award Category Eligibility form 30 minutes before curtain, the Mentors may declare the show ineligible for any category for which the critics needed the requested information prior to the show to evaluate that category.
This isn't a rule violation, and your Show Director may want to use adults in a Cappies Show, but everyone should know that if adults take part in a Cappies Show, as performers, as orchestra musicians, or in any of the technical aspects, this can affect the show's eligibility for certain award categories. (See the Award Category Guide.)
If a Critics Team fails to meet its minimum requirements (see above), then a school's own Cappies Shows will be disqualified from all awards. A show's awards eligibility can also be affected by nonparticipation of Mentors (see above).
If any Critic engages in persistent or substantial misbehavior, and if the school's other Critics, Mentor, or Advisor are aware of this but do nothing to correct it, this can result in disqualification of their school's Cappies Shows from awards eligibility.

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SHOW DIRECTOR CHECKLIST

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This two-page Checklist is a partial guide only, covering the basics of what to do for a Cappies Show. See your Show Director Binder for more information.

PREPARATIONS FOR the CAPPIES SHOW
Set a time for the Cappies Show that will allow final bows to take place not later than 10:30 PM.
Decide whether to request a cap on Critic attendance—and, if so, email the Program Director.
Designate a Cappies Room, and confirm that it will be available from 45 minutes before curtain to 45 minutes after bows.
Ask Boosters to provide refreshments.
Select an Usher.
Use the 14-day advance notification of Cappies attendance to set aside tickets—recommended to be in the center, starting in the fifth row.
Carefully proofread all cast and crew names in the show program.
Use the 48-hour attendance notification to adjust the number of tickets.
Arrange for a microphone for the Mentors, if more than 20 Critics are on the Attendance List (and if a microphone is easily available).
Complete the Award Category Eligibility form.
AT THE CAPPIES SHOW
Place signs directing Critics to the Cappies Room.
Rope off the Cappies seating area, and ask a theater usher to prevent non-Cappies persons from sitting there.
Remind parents, students, and others from your school that they may not enter the Cappies Room during intermission or after the show.
Give show tickets, show programs, and other materials to Mentors.
Not later than 30 minutes before curtain, give the Award Category Eligibility form to the Mentors.
About 10 minutes before curtain, go to the Cappies Room to discuss the show briefly with Critics. (OPTIONAL)
Five minutes before curtain, ask the Usher to seat the Critics, and collect unclaimed Cappies tickets for resale.
Make sure the intermission lasts at least 15 minutes, enabling Mentors and Critics to have a 10-minute discussion.
During intermission—and again after the show—be available (or ask an Assistant Director or Stage Manager to be available) to answer any questions a Mentor may have.
If any post-show on-stage recognitions are planned, precede them with an announcement inviting Mentors and Critics to exit the theater first.
Remind your cast and crew not to greet any Critics after the show.
Check email for reviews, and share them with your cast and crew.
THANK YOU!
FORMS

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Your binder should contain each of the following forms, in the number indicated:

• Award Category Eligibility (2 copies of a 2-page form)
• Critics' Choice Sheet

If program officials do not provide these forms, you can download them from the "Rules" link under the "TRAINING" heading on your C.I.S. links page. These forms may also be downloaded from the "Rules & Forms" page of www.cappies.com.
Please make additional copies, as needed.









PARENTAL AUTHORIZATION IS MANDATORY.
No student may attend a Cappies Show as a Student Critic unless the Program Director has received a Parental Authorization form signed by a parent.
No exceptions.

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GOLDEN RULES OFTHEATER REVIEWS

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By Mario Iván Oña, Washington Post liaison of "Tomorrow's Critics" http://voices.washingtonpost.com/tomorrows-critics/

1. Describe! Describe the show in your review as if you were describing it to someone who is blind. Put the reader in the play! Describe costumes, colors, textures.

1. Context! Find a way to put the show, or an element of it, in context to what the reader has experienced or knows. Is there a back story? Was/is the show controversial? Is it a theme relevant today? Did a performer have to overcome an obstacle to perform in the show?

While you should not be getting quotes from performers, you should feel comfortable approaching the director and asking him/her a FACTUAL question about the performance. You should not quote the director, however. If the show director provides information about the historical background of the show or his/her "take" on the show, incorporate that information to help put the show into context. You may also include any factual information (but not opinion) that mentors share in the discussion.)
3. Show me, don't tell me! (This is not a rewording of rule #1.) Give evidence to your claim. "The performance was so powerful that the audience leapt to its feet in unison to applaud the final song! "It wasn't a set, it was a piece of Brooklyn itself resting on Bishop Ireton's stage." It is not enough to say something was good or it was bad. You need to let the readers come to their own conclusions by providing them the evidence. Give them the facts on what you saw or noticed.
Words to Avoid in Your Reviews
Wonderful, Amazing, Great, Really Nice, Beautiful
Interesting, Very Good, Bad, Terrible, Comedic-Timing, Great Energy!
Don't "TELL" your readers by writing these overused adjectives or phrases, instead "SHOW" them by writing specific example. Don't say someone had great energy, instead describe their performance and convey HOW they showed energy.
Final Thoughts
1. Emulate Professional Writers. Read theater reviews by professional critics in The Washington Post and other newspapers. Notice how reviewers describe technical elements and performances, how they give evidence to their claim, how they put the story in context to what the reader might know or experience. Go to "tinyurl.com/post-theatre" for a quick link to theater reviews at The Post.
2. Fact Check! It is YOUR responsibility to ensure every name (fiction and non-fiction) is spelled correctly. It is YOUR responsibility to check your history about other noteworthy productions of the show (awards, production dates, stars, etc.)
3. Familiarize yourself with AP (Associated Press) Style of punctuation and grammar preferences. It is a handy reference to have as a journalistic resource!
Check it out on Amazon:
{+}http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ap+stylebook+2010&sprefix=ap+st+ at $11.37.