Challenging musicals for high schools

[defygravity24]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 8:37pm

I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas for a show for kids around high school age. We're doing Once on this Island now (which I love!!!) but our director wants our input on shows. Does anyone have any ideas, maybe something newer or more modern (like spelling bee) but nothing inappropriate (like Spring Awakening), and definately challenging.

[binau]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 8:43pm

It is a pet peeve to see the word 'inappropriate' thrown around to mean 'profanity, sexual references, adult themes' or whatever - Spring Awakening is extremely appropriate for a high school audience.

If 'inappropriate' means "parents and overjealous catholic school teachers would complain because it doesn't follow the teachings of their very old book" then yes, I guess it would be inappropriate.

(Even though this is irrelevant because Spring Awakening doesn't have amateur rights yet, does it?)

[Patash]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 10:02pm

The challenge is to do any musical really well.
Can anyone name a musical that wouldn't be a challenge to do well, for high school students or anyone else?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 3/25/10 at 10:43pm

Cabaret
Pippin (if done correctly)
Company
Sweeney Todd
A Chorus Line
Rent

[tazber]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 9:49am

Well, if you do "Oh Calcutta!" I bet you'd get the Pope's blessing.

[defygravity24]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 4:11pm

thanks! those are all great ideas

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 4:23pm

I don't know if we should include Sondheim not because he's inappropriate but because his music is so difficult to learn.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 4:59pm

Follies
70, Girls, 70
Naked Boys Singing
Starlight Express
The Black Crook

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 5:46pm

qolbinau, while Spring Awakening seems to be fine for high school students to see, that doesn't mean they should perform it. It would actually be illegal to do the sex scene at the end of Act I. Jennifer Damiano was set to understudy the role of Wendla in the original cast, but they had to change it when they realized she was only fifteen years old. Also, two high school actors would probably be extremely uncomfortable being intimate in that scene.

[greensgreens]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 6:03pm

If only the rights to Starlight Express were available. I'd pay serious cash to see a high school do this one.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 6:43pm

A nearby school is doing Ragtime this spring.

[Taryn]

Posted: 3/26/10 at 7:14pm

My high school did Into the Woods my senior year. I think it's a great show that's just on the edge of challenging, mature material that high schoolers can still perform.

[gcontini2]

Posted: 3/27/10 at 2:46pm

Newintown - I don't know if you were being serious (because they would be challenging), but those choices are absolutely hilarious...! :)

btw, does The Black Crook even exist in any form still?

[junkyard]

Posted: 3/27/10 at 7:32pm

advice from an old actor, who has paid off his mortgage and still loves his old west village neighborhood......you sound very angry,,,,,lighten up

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/27/10 at 8:16pm

Define: Challenging

But here are some of the more successful and enjoyable musicals I've directed recently...all with their own challenges.

Thoroughly Modern Millie (set/costume challenges)
Sweeney Todd-School Edition (music)
West Side Story (music, choreography)
Urinetown (publicity, awareness, style)
Les Miz School Edition (sets, music)

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 3/27/10 at 10:13pm

I've seen a very good high school production of Urinetown. It's definitely challenging, but it's very rewarding to do well. Audiences usually love it too, and many haven't seen it.

[MissVelmaKelly25]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 5:01pm

haha, i think my school has the same criteria. except i don't know if they care whether it's appropriate. they just did a chorus line, so i don't know.

i don't know how appropriate your school wants the musical to be, so i'll just give you a list of complicated musicals and you can decide for yourself.

-a chorus line
-city of angels
-west side story
-sunday in the park with george
-company (the cast is a little small, so it might not work out)
-into the woods (no chorus, but lots of difficult yet singable music, and lots of good parts)
-sweeney todd (i'm still waiting for this one to come to my school)
-damn yankees (not so sure about this one since it's very dated, but lots of dancing, and you have to be pretty athletic to be in it)
-chicago!!!! (i hope you have the rights)
-cabaret (i saw this one at hunter high school and i can say it's hard and very mature but still possible to pull off)
basically, almost anything by stephen sondheim, cy coleman, or kander and ebb is complicated enough.

i don't quite know what you mean by complicated, but i'm doing my best, so don't blame me if your school doesn't like these.

[JRybka]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 5:10pm

Actually the Pope is going to be allowing productions of Naked Boys Singing at all the Catholic Boy Schools this year.

[ActingIsLovee]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 5:13pm

Carousel perhaps? We just did it and it was pretty challenging.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 5:19pm

My school this past year put on Smokey Joe's Cafe, and it was definitely the most challenging show we've ever done, at least musically. 42 songs, most of which are group numbers with a lot of harmony and choreography. Fortunately, it turned out very well, but it took a lot of work.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 5:50pm

Last year, my high school did Company, and it turned out very well, but only because there was a phenomenal actor playing Bobby. It's important when choosing a show to play to your school's talent. If you have a very good soprano who is a great actress and singer and can command the stage well, you should do Candide for the leading soprano as opposed to Evita, in which the star is a belter who also sings down to a low E. If you have a lot of good dancers, you might do West Side Story instead of Les Miz to showcase this. To do a challenging musical well, you need to make sure that you are strong in the areas of complication that the musical has. I'm not saying it should practically be cast before auditions, but you need to play to your strengths in order to make your show look good. So, to better answer the question of a what musical your school should do, we would need to know the following:

What areas do your productions usually excel in? (Singing, dancing, acting, sets, costumes, etc.)
What are the limits that students would feel comfortable singing within? (Basically, don't do shows where the leads are high tenors if nobody can hit the high notes)
What areas of your productions are weaker? (Don't do West Side Story or A Chorus Line if most people are weaker dancers. These dance-heavy shows usually require an entire company to be very good at dancing)
How big of a cast do you want? (Most schools like doing shows with big ensembles so many people can be in the show. In this case, you wouldn't do a show that generally has a small cast with few ensemble numbers)
How many shows does your school do each year? (It's more acceptable to do a show with a smaller cast if you do another show with a big cast. Last year, when my school did Company in the fall, they did Once on this Island in the spring to give more people performance opportunities)
What are the content limits at your school? (As I said before, my school was able to do Company last year without any problems. I'm sure that some other schools might not be okay with students performing this musical and would rather stick with G-rated material. What shows has your school chosen in the past?)

There are many more questions to ask yourself, but these were the ones that came to my head quickly.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 7:01pm

Sideshow

[craig238]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 10:41pm

How about EASY musicals with minimal set construction and a cast of not more than 8-10 ??

[Madcap Maisie]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 10:48pm

Updated On: 7/8/14 at 10:48 PM

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 4/6/10 at 10:52pm

...or ANY production of Grease.