9 to 5 At a High School — Page 2

Dramamamma - clearly you teach in a more liberal community than most.. I still question how much the positives of students performing these shows outweighs the negatives - excluding many who want to see family members on stage. If they can perform these shows, why can't they simply read and study them in class? Students are indeed sophisticated, (and today, so are many ten year olds) but frankly always want to be more adult than they actually are. I see your point, but philosophically, I just disagree with instructors who want their students all to be as grown as the most mature in the cast. "Sweeney Todd"? Great show and an example of newer material that is cool, if dark, even for a younger set. Congratulations on having the kind of singing and orchestral talent that could pull off that demanding a show. "The Laramie Project" Wonderful However, I can't agree that there is not enough variance of material out there in the history of theatre to be able to include all audiences for high school musical performances. And perhaps I weaken my argument here, but I tend to think straight plays are more apt an arena for the kind of more mature material than the big annual musical (well, in most schools it is only one a year) which involves more students - larger casts, chorus, and all those kids in the orchestra.

gleek -- I don't think it's too far off, to be honest -- I just think it crosses a line, from what I read/listened. And a line that isn't worth crossing due to the lack of artistic value the show/music hold. (IMHO)

Jemjeb -- don't get me wrong, we do all sorts of stuff.
Our Musicals have included: Birdie, Millie, Fiddler, 42nd Street, Anything Goes and plenty of classics. Our straight plays have included: 12th Night, Our Town, The Crucible, Midsummers, and The Real Inspector Hound.

My point is: to only do ONE type of musical, or play is doing the kids a disservice. Some ARE only interested in new spiffy shows (I had record numbers audition for Blonde, but a much smaller turn out for Drood.), some are only into Shakespeare. To give them a well rounded education, they need to experience many different things.

We do three mainstage shows a year, all of which are highly competitive. Heck, we can't even always use everyone that signs up for crew. And there are lots of other opportunities as well. (student directed, children's theater, class projects, improv troupe, etc)

Is my community and administration more liberal than the average bear? Yes, I suppose so, but that is largely because of how I approach the material and I've taken years to prove that everything I do is in the best interest of the students' learning.

There are certainly a number of things I would NOT ask my students to undertake, for any number of reasons. When casting a show where there would be a same sex kiss, not only did the parents have to sign off on the possibility, but students had the opportunity to tell me that they did not want to be considered for those roles. That kept no one from being considered for other roles, and in fact, nearly everyone that said "no thank you" was cast. (only about 15% of the kids said no.)

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