My drama club advisor is taking suggestions for our fall play. Does anyone know of any good straight plays with a large cast so she can put more people in the show? She would prefer it to be a comedy, but drama is fine too. Thanks!
You Can't Take It With You
WELL, an obvious one to me would be Fame. It's sorta a comedy, but with a definate serious side. It's quite dated though, so some of the jokes are extremely lame.
Grease is another good one. I mean, who doesn't know Grease?
High School Musical is a possibility. It's good for a high school coz there's plenty of parts, it's a comedy to a certain degree, and your students will most probably know it and like it.
All three of these shows are available off MTI.
Swing Joined: 8/10/07
Are there straight play versions of Fame, Grease and HSM?
I second You Can't Take It With You. One of the greatest comedies ever written. Another show that's loads of fun is Dirty Work at the Crossroads. When I was in high school the musicals we did were Of Thee I Sing, Camelot and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella.
Inherit the Wind could be a good large cast drama, and many high schools do To Kill a Mockingbird or Up the Down Staircase.
Check the Samuel French, Dramatists Play Service or Dramatic Publishing Company websites for more titles.
The Man Who Came To Dinner
You could do what my sons school did this year.. they did 2 plays actually. The Curious Savage and part 2 the Savage Dilemma. They are all set in the Coisters, a home for mental patients. Its both funny (never distasteful) and a drama. Each play can stand on their own or you can watch them back to back, or even as one longer play. When doing both plays you can have at least 25 total actors. They are wonderful
My high school did Once In a Lifetime by Moss Hart and George S. Kauffman my freshman year, and there were a LOT of parts.
Harvey
Arsenic and Old Lace
Idiot's Delight
You Can't Take It With You
The Man Who Came To Dinner
You Can't Take it With You is an awesome show
Harvey is good
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Importance of Being Earnest
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/23/05
How large of a cast do you want?
The Adding Machine has a bigger sized cast,
Curious savage is a great choice.
Dark of the Moon
Polish Joke (look at everything david ives)
do a search, i know there have been a lot of similar topics with good replies.
Broadway Star Joined: 12/31/69
Don't do Arsenic and Old Lace. Small, small cast. We had to double cast the female roles and change Witherspoon to a girl just so the roles would be equal.
WHAT SHOW DID YOUR SCHOOL DECIDE ON?
High School Musical.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
If you can get the right leading man, The Man Who Came to Dinner is a great choice. I speak from experience -- I did it when I was in the 10th grade and everyone loved it. Might also consider You Can't Take It With You -- they're old, but they're funny.
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