Help a young director pick a musical to put on!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/15/10 at 2:22pm

Hey fellow up and comers! I'm a 19 year old student at Emerson College. I've been acting with a community theatre for about three years now. I've always had ambition to be a director rather than an actor, and I talked to the producer of the company and he agreed to let me direct a production of The Last Five Years this summer. It's my second head-directing job (I've been an assistant director to three other projects, in which the director I worked with was very well respected and I've learned so much from him).

I'm already looking to my next project that I want to direct, and I'm trying to get some good suggestions. Now, here are some of the things to help narrow down suggestions:

-The cast has to be relatively small. Between 2-12 main roles would be lovely. If I could have 20 total (including chorus, maybe a little bigger would be okay), that would be great (smaller is good too!)
-I live in a community that's not exactly theatre savvy. It's a little small-town in Massachusetts. So I want something that's going to appeal to a decently wide-group of people... cause I'd like people to see my work.
-I'd like to really showcase a few specific actors. A couple of men and woman.

So you guys can get a better feel for what I'm looking at... here's what I came up with so far:
-Sweeney Todd
-Thoroughly Modern Millie (though the more I think, the less realistic this is seeming.)
-Chicago
-The Light in the Piazza**
-Curtains
-Assassins
-She Loves Me

**Leading candidate so far.

So if you could either supporting one (or two) of the shows I picked, or provide a new suggestion... that would be amazing. Thank you.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 5/16/10 at 5:37pm

I support Piazza and add You're a Good Man' Charlie Brown!

[ggersten]

Posted: 5/17/10 at 11:15pm

Baby
Working (My someday to be done concert version where the actors double or triple up the roles)

[slmlbl]

Posted: 5/19/10 at 11:04pm

As a fellow small town in MA director, i thought i'd just emntion that everyone seems to be doing Curtains and She Loves ME and Chicago in the past year/ next year.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/20/10 at 2:33pm

@slmlbl - Really? I had no idea. What area of MA are you from? I'm from the South Coast area and I haven't heard of any of those being done around these parts. I really appreciate you telling me that though!

[slmlbl]

Posted: 5/20/10 at 3:48pm

ah. im on the north shore, must be a localized epidemic

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 1:29am

Of the ones you posted, my pick would be Sweeney. It's a recognized name, thanks both to the movie and its history, and it's the perfect show for featuring a few actors: mostly Sweeney, Mrs. Lovett, Toby, Anthony, and Johanna, but also a few others.