ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY - SCHOOL MATINEE PERFORMANCES
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Performing Arts Center
OUTREACH SERVICES
SCHOOL MATINEE PERFORMANCES
2013-2014 Season
_______________________________________________
ALEXANDER
AND THE TERRIBLE,
HORRIBLE, NO GOOD,
VERY BAD DAY
STUDY GUIDE
April 24, 2014 @ 11am – Cohan Center
1
Synopsis
When six-year-old Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair, then trips on a skateboard, and then
accidentally dries his wet face on his sweater rather than this towel, he can tell: it’s going to be a
terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day! In the following scene, the day gets progressively
worse as his teacher doesn’t like his drawing of an invisible castle, his lunchbox doesn’t have
any dessert, and his best friend Paul declares that Alexander is only his third best friend. It’s
enough to make Alexander wish he could move to Australia! After school, the dentist finds a
cavity in Alexander’s tooth, the shoe store is out of the shoes he wants, and he makes a big mess
at his father’s office. It really has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, but Alexander
learns that some days are like that. Even in Australia.
Book into Musical
The Two Beans’
Theatreworks musical,
Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very
Bad Day, is very closely
based on the classic
children’s book by Judith
Viorst. In fact, Ms. Viorst
adapted her own story,
writing the lyrics (words
to the songs) and book
(dialogue and story
structure) for this
musical. She worked
very closely with her
collaborator, composer
Shelly Markham, to create the
songs that you’ll hear in the production.
Theatre is a Two-Way Exchange
Actors are thrilled when the audience is engaged and responsive. They want you to laugh, cheer,
clap and really enjoy your time at the theatre. However, please be considerate audience
members. Talking, whispering and excessive movement during a live performance is distracting
for the actors and disruptive for other audience members.
Encourage your students to look at different aspects of the production. Before the show, identify
tasks for your class. Have one group of students focus on the set, another listening for the music
and sound effects, a third watching the lighting and a fourth, the costumes. Compare notes after
the show about what they observed. Your students will be more informed and they’ll be
surprised by how much they noticed. Ask them to prepare one question to ask the actors after the
show in case there is time for a post-show Q&A.
2
Vocabulary Connection
In the title of the book and show, the words and phrases “terrible,”
“horrible,” “no good” and “very bad” are synonyms – words that have
similar meaning. If we were to turn Alexander’s bad day completely around,
we might use antonyms (words that mean the opposite) of the title words to describe a
different type of day for Alexander: instead of “terrible,” we could use an opposite, “incredible;”
instead of “horrible,” “wonderful;” and instead of “no good” or “very bad,” we could use “very
good.” Sometimes one of the best ways to understand the correct usage and meanings of words
is to find their opposites.
Discuss the concept of synonyms and antonyms and have your students use the following list of
words as a starting point to creatively explore the idea of opposites.
Bad, Weak, Scared, Tired, Dirty, Nasty, Hard, Mean, Wet, Difficult…
Encourage students to add to the word list and continue finding opposites.
Pre-Performance Discussion Questions
Compare and Contrast predictions of book vs. musical:
Read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day with your students, and
explain that they will see a musical based on this book. Then use the following questions to
predict how the musical will compare/contrast with the book:
• In musicals, songs frequently punctuate the action of the drama. What scenes in the book
do you think will be turned into songs?
• To what degree will the set and costumes reflect the illustrations in the book? (For
example: During the musical, do you expect to see a real car, copy machine, and live cat
on stage? Will the actor who plays Alexander actually have red hair?)
• What other expectations do you have of the live show?
Character portrayal in theatre:
In the musical, there are fewer characters than
actors. In fact, Alexander is the only actor
who plays just one role.
• Watch closely to see if you can
identify which roles each actor plays in
the musical. (For example:
Alexander’s father also plays the
dentist and the shoe salesman).
• Discuss what the actors might change
in order to distinguish their different
roles (hint: think about their
appearance, costume, voice,
movement, props, etc).
3
Can you personally relate to the main character?
Thinking about Alexander and his bad day, attempt to understand and relate to what he is going
through by answering the following questions:
• Have you ever had a really rotten day? What made your day so awful?
• How did you deal with your emotions? If your bad day put you in a grumpy mood, how
long did that grumpy mood last? What got you out of your grumpy mood?
• Is there anything you could’ve done to avoid the bad day?
• Was the next day better for you?
Pre-Performance Activities
Story Re-write using Opposites
In the book and show, Alexander has a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Taking the
above vocabulary activity a step further, have your students re-imagine Alexander’s story as the
opposite: Alexander and the Incredible, Wonderful, Marvelous, Very Good Day. You may
choose to do this as an individual writing assignment or a class/small group discussion, going
around a circle and having each student name one more great thing that happens to Alexander.
Take this activity even further and have students act out their new storyline!
Letter to Alexander
Have students write a letter or postcard to Alexander. Review proper letter formatting, including
date, salutation, body and closing. Encourage students to think about and address the following
questions in their letter:
• What do you want to say to Alexander? Offer him sympathy for his bad day? Tell him
about your own terrible day?
• What advice would you give Alexander on how to have a better day?
“I want to go to Australia!”
Alexander often says during the course of his day, “I want to go to Australia!” Have your
students locate Australia on a map or globe and (depending on skill level) research and/or
discuss various aspects of the country/region/culture:
• In which hemisphere is Australia?
• How does the weather in Australia
compare to California weather? When it
is cold in North America, what is the
weather like in Australia? What months
in Australia are cold vs. warm?
• What kind of animals live in Australia?
• What are Australia’s major cities?
• What languages are spoken in Australia?
• What are some things Australia is known
for?
4Post-Performance Discussion & Reflection
Discussion about the Alexander… Performance
Have students share in groups or as a class what they thought of Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. As a part of the discussion, encourage students to think about
and respond to the following:
• What did I love about the Alexander… performance?
• Describe some of the performers’ most memorable actions onstage. How did the
performers go about telling a story?
• What were your feelings as you
watched the performers navigate
through sets, move to the music,
and interact with each other?
• Were you sympathetic to
Alexander’s plight? Is there
anything he could have done to
make his day better? Did he
deserve to have such an awful
day?
• Alexander’s brothers and
classmates tease him throughout
the musical. How did Alexander
feel about being teased? How
do you feel when someone
teases you? Have you ever
made fun of someone? How
did you feel afterward? Did
you apologize? Why or why
not? Is teasing always malicious?
Can you think of any examples when teasing is meant purely in jest?
• When Alexander’s brothers make fun of him, he winds up getting into a fight when them.
How could he have better resolved this conflict?
• Alexander’s father warns him not to touch the copier and to be careful around the stack of
books. Why did he give Alexander these instructions? What were the consequences of
ignoring his father? Have you ever failed to follow instructions? What happened as a
result? Discuss as a class or in small groups the concept of action and consequence or “if-
then” statements. (For example: IF you complete your assignment early in class, THEN
you can have silent reading time.)
• After seeing the performance, what message(s) did you walk away with?
Reflection Writing Activities *
Following the group discussion of the Alexander… performance, have the students write a
personal reflection on one or more of the ideas they discussed.
*If possible, please share one or more of these written reflections with Performing Arts Center Outreach Services
Specialist, Melody Klemin at mrklemin@calpoly.edu or 1 Grand Avenue, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0441.
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