I haven't done or seen one in quite some time, but at the time the R&H versions were NO where as well planned or edited as the Junior series, which I found to be superior in every way.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
It’s been a little while since I’ve used a G2K show, but my last one was a positive experience. MTI’s Junior shows are the best produced, but I find their selection a bit too childish. There are some great classics on their, but Magic Treehouse and Madagascar aren’t ones I’m planning on doing.
There are also a few other companies who are branching into the shows for young people. Tams-Witmark has Young Performer’s Editions which is essentially the same thing as the others. They have Bye Bye Birdie, Anything Goes, and a few others. I just didn’t find their company as easy to deal with. My most positive experience recently was Theatrical Rights Worldwide on their Young@Part Addams Family. Easy to deal with and helpful. The instrumental tracks were a bit complicated, but with practice, one of my stage managers had it figured out. And people loved the shortened version - very funny! They also have All Shook Up and one or two others.
With the exception of the Theatrical Rights Worldwide Young@Part shows, Tim MacDonald's iTheatrics, itself a spin-off of the MTI Jr series, has done the current adaptation/packages for MTI, Sam French, Tams, and R and H, so your experience working with any of these should be similar. For reference, iTheatrics took over the Getting to Know series in 2012, and from there redesigned the kits.
The reason that I didn't love Tams-Witmark was because since I was used to working with MTI, I didn't realize that I had to return the CDs and a couple of other things from my Bye Bye Birdie package. They charged a late fee on top of the returned items. Just something to keep in mind.
I have dealt with Tams-Witmark in the past, and I know how uneasy they can be. I mean, are that many people hounding fort the script of "Wildcat"? I don't think so.
My daughter was in a junior version of The King And I for middle school kids. The cut down script is dramatically different. Tuptim has every song cut, other than Small House of Uncle Thomas. Basically, the entire Tuptim story line is so cut down that it barely makes sense. Which of course makes the whole King's breakdown even less understandable. And the show is now narrated by Princess Yaowlak.
