Weirdest Show ever done by a high school

[the-one-you-want]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 3:29am

Hey all
Just wondering--whats the weirdest (As in most adult, most sexual, most politcal, etc) show that you've either been in or seen done by a high school?
My school did brillant, weird art by Sondheim "Sunday in the park", "The Laramie Project",which I directed, not to stroke the ego...) and a string of one anti-war one acts two years ago. The year before we did "Master Harold and the boys", "A Shayna Madel" and "White Rose."
I just wonder because now, as a collegic theatrical (I love that term) I've meet tons of people who gasp at the idea of doing anything above "Guys and Dolls" (As much as I think it's adorable.) The most outrageous production I heard was my across the dorm hall homie; she was chorus for Lippa's version of "The Wild Party" as a senior. Wow.
Now, as a young artist, I think encouraging young students to reach for high forms of drama is very, very good for a community. I think by tackling some Sondheim, Miller and some Albee is a great way for young actors and directors to discover things about theatre. Sure, it can get bad ("City of Angels" by a junior high. Eeeeck.) but I've also expiernced wonderful, supeior productions of several plays by high schools.
Thoughts?
Gimme your thoughts!

[Guido Contini]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 3:38am

we did a production of the Lysistrata in high school...not a musical, i know...but for a small town of about 11000 it was a bit risky.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 9:22am

When I was in High School, I saw a production of CABARET done by another school at our state competition. I remember it quite well because it was very dark and disturbing, maybe even moreso than Mendes' version. During "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" an enormous picture of Hitler was projected on stage and the aisles were lined with guys dressed as Nazi Soldiers holding flags and, being Jewish, I was extremely uncomfortable sitting there.

[dancinfan]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 9:35am

How about the original "Beowulf: The Musical" done by my husband's Buffalo high school? Pretty out there, if you ask me.

[lc1965]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 12:17pm

I always thinks it's weird when schools do Little Shop -- I mean it's sort of dark & the whole beating-up-your-girldfriend-as-good-fun thing is an odd choice for teens.

[aspiringguy715]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 12:19pm

My high school did a great job with Sweeney Todd a few years back, as well as LSOH. Sweeney seems a little strange because of the difficulty and the subject matter.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 12:28pm

A friend of mine went to a high school where she performed the mother in The Who's Tommy. I don't know how they got away with the "Fiddle About" number.

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 12:36pm

Return to the Forbidden Planet.
I did this show in grade 10, and not even the CAST knew what it was about!

[NativeNewYorker]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 12:38pm

A weird, weird choice...

My mom's ALL-GIRL high school put on Oliver!

Which makes a lot of sense, considering there's about three girls in the show.

My mom played Bett :)

[the-one-you-want]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 12:59pm

Feel free to post non musicals, too.
Lysistrata in a high school? Hahaha, oh my. How did they do the nudity at the end?
And Aspiringguy, ANY high school that does Sweeny gets my praise. Wow. Not only is it difficult vocally but I imagine it's very hard for a few people to sit through (What with the bloodshed, and the murder, and the limbs flying, and the knives, and the throat slitting, and....yeah.)

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:01pm

rocky horror has to be about the weirdest show any high school could even dare to put on......

[aspiringguy715]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:05pm

I heard GREAT things about my high school's Sweeney, the-one-you-want. I was too young at the time to see it, but I would have loved to now. We're not the type of school to do fluff, we usually put on shows that have some substance. I'm hearing "Man of La Mancha" this year or "Evita." We did "H2$" this past year, yes sort of fluffy, but very satirical.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:06pm

CANDIDE............I'm not making this up

[aspiringguy715]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:07pm

Wow, Candide? Talk about hard music. How was "Glitter and Be Gay" pulled off?

[BT]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:11pm

Candide? Oh why on earth?? Next you'll tell me they followed it up with Naked Boys Singing...

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:13pm

We had two gals who actually could have pulled it off, and it was (OMG)amazing.....

[NuggetMonkeys]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:15pm

A high school nearby here in PA did COMPANY last year.
i was so upset.
-d.b.j-

[Roxie]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:16pm

This isn't well known but it is weird. We did this stupid show when I was in grade 9 called Rock 'n' Roll Santa and I had to be a reindeer. I was dancer the reindeer, oh yes. It was only our third year open as a school and this was before we had done any mainstage musicals. It was horrible. It was like 3 hours of Christmas carols tured "rock songs" Horrible writing. Has anyone else had the misfortune of doing this "show"

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:18pm

I can do you one better Nugget --

A friend told me that her daughter's school was doing FOLLIES, of all things. FOLLIES???? Can you imagine the confusion you'd have with a bunch of 16 year olds playing 50-somethings going through mid-life crises and then the 20-something versions of the same characters? A 17 year old singing "I'm Still Here?"

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:27pm

MargoChanning - "A 17 year old singing 'I'm Still Here?'"

A la the film, "Camp".

How could anyone think of doing Return to the Forbidden Planet at a high school? The show is a camp sendup of 60s science fiction films and Shakespeare in which the cast is the band that exchange musical instruments from number to number. Unless the director had seen the show and knew how it should be staged (incorporating the musical instruments and microphones as props and one character breathing fire onstage), it is no wonder you were confused. It is actually a brilliant and hilarious show. I saw the revival in London and was overwhelmed with the amount of talent required to pull it off. Every actor must act, sing, dance, and play 3-4 musical instruments in addition to one who does the fire-breathing. The blocking and movement was meticulously staged in order to effectively use hand-held microphones as well as body mics and incorporate them as well as the musical instruments into every scene as if they all were parts of the ship and crew. It was genius.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:33pm

I did "That Championship Season" in high school. The language makes most of David Mamets plays look tame. Updated On: 8/31/04 at 01:33 PM

[gustof777]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:37pm

the school in the town over from me did an almost all white version of porgy and bess and it was very very weird!!!

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:38pm

My high school (which is 80% Jewish, I grew up in a Jewish neighbourhood) did Cabaret.

Updated On: 8/31/04 at 01:38 PM

[dry2olives]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 1:52pm

Weird, but in an interesting way...

About 5 years ago I went to see a friend's son in a high school production of West Side Story in the South Bronx. (For those who don't live in the New York area, the South Bronx is an extremely tough neighborhood and the kids in this school mostly live in housing projects.) The school population is nearly 100% black, latino and mixed race, so the Jets and Sharks were both mixed-race gangs. The Sharks were played with Spanish accents, but there was no obvious skin color difference between the two gangs. They did not change any of the dialogue, which made some of the racial slurs a little weird, but having the gangs of mixed race made the show seem more accurate with the world these kids know.

[Jo Jo Mandingo]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 2:00pm

Thoughts? Thoughts??? You make me fear for the future of the art.

"as a collegic theatrical (I love that term) I've meet tons of people who gasp at the idea of doing anything above "Guys and Dolls" (As much as I think it's adorable.)"

... huh?

You are a "collegic theatrical"? "tons of people"? "gasp at the idea?" Do you have any idea how difficult/painful it is to read your post?

Mixed metaphores, split-infinitives, more misspellings than I could count ... weirdest, brillant, expiernced, supeior ..

Dear God ... child, please take a break from the stage and concentrate on your introductory freshman grammar text. Try proof reading. Take an oration class.

And what exactly did you mean by "anything above Guys and Dolls?" You consider Guys and Dolls beneath your directorial genius? G&D has been described by some of the greatest thespian pundits as "The Perfect Musical" - i.e., without a flawed, extraneous or superfluous musical, script, or plot point. That means every word, phrase and dramatic moment was carefully, meticulously and masterfully placed, by a great man of words and music. Think about that, before you, your "across the dorm hall homie", and the tons of your drama club mousketeer pals consider your next production.

I Music-Directed G&D as a senior at Harvard University in 1987 with an orchestra of 12 and a brilliant, enthusiastic, hillarious cast. The challenge was NOT to put on the same show every high-shool across the country revives every few years or so. I wrote a jazz-infused Overture; Sky's "How Do I Feel" swung like Sinatra; "If I Were A Bell" had a red-hot scat interlude, and "Sit Down your Rocking the Boat" never rocked so hard. We brought down the house.

Not to stroke my own horn ... I mean toot my own ego.

It's not the material, honey. Do Oedipus, Nicholas Nickelby, hell, do Wagner's Ring Cycle, all 15 hours. Whatever. It's not the material - it's the creativity of the director's vision.