9 to 5 At a High School

My school's director has been deeply considering this for our spring musical. We both love the show and the story but the one big thing that might be seen as inappropriate is the scene where the three WOMEN W-O-M-Y-N get stoned. Obviously this is played for laughs but drugs are still a touchy subject for some people today. I was curious to any thoughts you guys might have. Or if any of you have seen/participated in a High School production of this show. Keep in mind our High School is located in Crestwood Kentucky.

Sorry slipped right by me.

Updated On: 10/1/13 at 08:08 PM

Diva, I have heard that same sentiment from many school educators and directors and I'm always baffled by it. Am I missing something? What else is inappropriate? Asking sincerely, as I saw the show on Broadway but cannot recall...

...Or just make sure the clips do not exceed a total of 30 seconds and for promotional use only, as that is permitted by most - if not all - major dramatic licensing agencies.

I know there is some sex stuff but I think words for some scenes could be cut out or edited but you can't really cut that scene because it inspires 3 musical numbers. Our school has never really had a problem with sexual jokes/humor. Last spring we did Little Shop of Horrors which has it's fair share of sexual jokes and language and everyone enjoyed that. We ere thinking of maybe changing it from pot to alcohol. This would most likely be permitted but I feel like it would not be as funny.

My high school in Nashville, Tennessee did the show last year. From what I have heard, there were no cuts to the script, however it is a fairly liberal school.

^^^^^

I agree. I feel that there aught not to be a blanket rule on what a high school should or shouldn't do when it comes to shows. What could work for a high school in a fairly liberal community someplace in the suburbs of NYC might not work for a more conservative town in the south.

On a totally different note, whenever I stumble across threads like this, ones that talk about if a particular show is appropriate for a high school to do, I feel that there is always one poster who says that the school in question shouldn't do whatever show is in question because they are kids and don't have the real life experience. In this case, someone said of 9 to 5 that high schoolers do not know what it is like to go to work every day and therefor shouldn't do the show. But, isn't it why it's called acting? I find it odd that someone would think that someone needs to experience verbatim that which the characters experience in order to do the show. That's why it's called acting.

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Yeah, my high school couldn't do Bye Bye Birdie because no one had ever been a songwriter, singing idol, or a clinging mother in a fur coat. We can only all play teenagers, apparently.

One of the schools I sub in did the show last Spring. I didn't see it because I'd endured a summer stock production of it and HATED the show so much I wasn't about to sit through it again. From the chatter in the faculty room, there was no outrage over the show. The school did SWEET CHARITY the previous year without any reprecussions.

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Guess I'm becoming more conservative in some ways, but there are so many appropriate shows for high schoolers to do, why choose ANY show that is questionable. The audiences for the most part are there to see the cast (family, classmates) and not to have a sophisticated Broadway experience. And since the audience is made up of a group that changes at least every few years as the kids graduate, a standard list could easily be repeated every few years. The Rogers and Hammerstein musicals, Birdie, The Boy Friend, Guys and Dolls, etc etc never fail to please ( I know lots of yawns out there) . If that is tedious for the director, he/she needs to put the students above his urge to do something new or jeez- controversial. This is supposed to be a great theatrical experience for the kids isn't that who it is really for? -These are probably introductions to shows they've never seen.

Isn't going to school 5 days a week for 8 hours a lot like working a regular 9 to 5? I don't see why high school kids couldn't possibly fathom what it's like to have a job.

Having said that, it sounds like the show would not be appropriate for this particular high school.

There is also a difference between your teen WATCHING material and them PERFORMING it.

Funny thing: no one complains about the violence in Shakespeare. Ever.

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Dramamamma - no one used the word "nice" or "family entertainment" which apparently you find condescending or noneducational. I guess your shows then are not "nice" (whatever that means) or family entertainment, even though your audience is probably almost entirely family and classmates. Your job, you say, is not to entertain the audience,but to "educate" the cast. I guess they can't be educated by the theatrical experience itself. Obviously if one lives in a community where one cannot do "Birdie" because "kids don't listen to their parents" is offensive, you're not going to be doing "9 to 5". Obviously one has to adjust to the community where one lives. I find nothing wrong with "new material". - but would love to hear the examples of the "edgy" you have produced where you teach. I still maintain there are far too many examples of high school appropriate musicals, to have to attempt anything which is offensive to that school's community. I will walk back my comment about repeating yourself after a few years, although I don't find anything wrong with doing "Annie" and then doing it again 10 years later when the first cast and audience is long gone - but I can sympathize with the director who never wants to redo what he/she has done. However the "same type of matrial" is a broad statement of generalization which need not exclude the wide range of material that would entertain your audience and still educate the students. "My Fair Lady" is certainly different enough from "South Pacific" or "Annie Get Your Gun" or "Oliver!" to not feel there is a monotony in the show choices, and that your cast is not being educated - and the leading lady's ten year old sister in the audience is not seeing material that is offensive. I think if you don't care about the audience for whom your students are performing you are misguided. Part of the audience you are "educating" are the high school kids who see your shows, many of whom will probably never see musicals again in their lifetime. I did not mean to suggest in my post that exciting and educational material is not available from recent shows, and that only the old war horses are your only options. However I do think there is no reason to have 15 to 18 year olds performing material that every member of the audience cannot see without being told to leave "the younger members of the family at home as it is inappropriate". Your grandstanding about "your job is to educate your cast, and not worry about entertaining the audience" or providing " family entertainment" even though your audiences ARE the families of the cast seems arrogant and more about director's ego than concerns about your students.

gleek4114, you're aware that you can't just arbitrarily choose to change the scene from the characters smoking pot to them drinking, right? That's a direct violation of the licensing agreement because you're quite literally changing the author's script.

That's not even mentioning the fact that, since hallucination is not a side effect of alcohol consumption, making a choice like that would make zero sense within the context of the scene.

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Updated On: 10/6/13 at 04:14 PM