Some musicals not "mature" enough for college?

I've been interested in this for a while: Why many musicals are considered too "immature" or "shallow" to be produced at a college level - that faculty choose shows where the subject matter is more risque and in-your-face. For example:

Red Flag: Honk!, Annie, Sound of Music, Cinderella

Pushing it: Guys and Dolls, Seussical, Little Shop of Horrors

Just Right: Sweeney Todd, The Wild Party, Urinetown

Word spread that my college was thinking about doing 42nd Street (After a string of complex and sexy shows: Sweeney Todd, Cabaret, Chicago, Into the Woods), and the students rebelled. The choice seemed proposterous, and the faculty wound up choosing Urinetown instead.

Is it like this anywhere else? Does anyone believe that "fluffy" musicals have no place on a college stage?

---

Updated On: 12/4/05 at 07:26 PM

I agree...I was just pointing out that it seems to me that colleges are more interested in pushing the envelope and catering to the interests of a younger crowd than re-introducing classic material. I recently went to a production of "She Loves Me" at a local college and was blown away by how much the cast and production team made the material resonate. I'm just as intrigued by new and fresh ways productions and scripts from 20, 30, 40 years ago can be reborn into today's society. I just think they are ignored by so many colleges because of the risk involved (how crazy that a production of "Candide" can be considered more of a 'risk' by a faculty panel than "The Wild Party"...a dilemma I recently witnessed). I know I've been referring to musicals mostly, but the same goes for plays. Moliere, Shaw, and greek dramas are often cast aside to let "The Laramie Project" and "Suburbia" be produced. Not that these aren't exceptional shows, but I worry about how much longer aged scripts will remain familiar to a surrent society.

---

The key is balance. You'll find that the 'best' college programs do a variety of types of shows. Finding that balance and exposing their students to performance opportunities in a variety of different types of roles is the sign of a good program. Also keep in mind that there is more to a college program than its mainstage shows. Opportunities in class, in studio, in student run, in scene study, etc. all expose students to different types of shows.

my college does operas and musicals. well the musicals are more scarce here. last year we did Carousel, this year we are going to do Hair. (yea not alot of the faves, but o well)

Flowery Friend- That seems like a nice balance, a slightly sexier show and a more freindly but equally brilliant one.
And two of my faves!

---

I think the reason that many colleges choose to do some of the more controversial or "adult" shows is because these shows are usually different from the kinds of things that students would have had the opportunity to perform in in high school. College is about experimenting with your limits on stage and pushing yourself to new extremes which, though possible in shows such as "The Sound of Music" and "Annie", is easier to do in shows that are sometimes outside of a student's comfort zone. If colleges train students to perform in what is usually considered more difficult or, at least, different from the norm then students will be able to handle themselves in any of the more common or more frequently performed shows.

I agree. I definately think that once a show is chosen the students should accept it, whether they like it or not. There should be no rebellions. I think that the challenge is for schools to find the right balance between the more experimental shows and the well-known ones. Each show presents challenges in its own right.

Yea, some of my friends from other schools say they are doing GREASE and The Wizard of OZ. Definitely two shows that colleges shouldn't do in my opinion unless there is something in their season for younger audiences where as Wizard of Oz is concerned. My School (Point Park) did HAIR this past fall and in the spring will be doing CONTACT. Some Musical Theatre majors are upset since they are putting on CONTACT. It requires Acting and Dancing...not singing. It is considered a Musical Theater Piece. Although some Dance majors are cast in it...seeing we are a Dance School as well! My school has a Playhouse Jr. season which is geared for little kids...exposing them to live theatre.

Because OCU is methodist-endorsed and has a huge family audience, most of our shows are family-friendly. This year, our musical season is "Guys & Dolls," "Lucky Stiff," and "Parade." Our operas for the season are "La Sonnambula," "Pirates of Penzance," and "La Boheme."

In response to Lilprima2b
"Some colleges are probably worried about their reputations. I mean, which school would you respect more, the one doing Rodgers & Hammerstein or the one doing Sondheim?"

Any respectable musical theatre buff, performer, scholar, etc. would respect them just the same.

Both are just as important in the world of musical theatre. You wouldn't have Sondheim if it wasn't for R&H.. Oscar Hammerstein II was the mentor of Stephen Sondheim.. and I'm sure if you asked Sondheim himself, he would say that Hammerstein's works are equally important and respectable as his own.

Updated On: 12/13/05 at 09:17 PM

"Some colleges are probably worried about their reputations. I mean, which school would you respect more, the one doing Rodgers & Hammerstein or the one doing Sondheim?"

That's a bullsh*t excuse. My university has an excellent theater program and had no qualms about doing a Rodgers & Hammerstein show. And if you can't respect a great quality performance just because it's not Sondheim, I wouldn't trust your taste anyway.

And a very good program attracts a much wider audience than just the other students, so it doesn't have to be new and risque just for the sake of attracting an audience.

---

We're doing HONK at my school this year after having done Anything Goes last year. The years before we did Secret Garden and Titanic. I think it's more looking for something with a large enough cast to include anyone.

Of course, I go to a private predominately Christian college in the midwest. Our director is increadible, but the school would never let us do risque shows. It's kind of like high school all over again...only this year my old high school did Urinetown. When my choir sang a song from Urinetown two years ago, the director wouldn't put the name of the show in the program. So there you have it.

---