HS edition of Les miserables

[zzannahk]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:39am

I there a high school edition of les miserables? if so, how is it different?? Would you think it appropriate for a teens to put on?

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:42am

http://www.mtishows.com/show_home.asp?id=000226

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:42am

Yes.

Very.

NO.
http://www.josef-weinberger.com/weinberger/lesmizframes.html

Updated On: 9/18/05 at 12:42 AM

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:43am

My High School did it, and yes, there is a Student Edition available. It's around a half hour shorter. It's very appropriate for High Schoolers.

[zzannahk]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:44am

how are the prostitutes portrayed? is says it's rated PG

Updated On: 9/18/05 at 12:44 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:46am

It depends on the director.

I've seen two different groups do the LMSE, and each did "Lovely Ladies" differently. The first one I saw rewrote the lyrics (not just to that scene), and I e-mailed MTI about it once I got home. I'm not sure what happened after that...

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:48am

My director took advantage of the lovely ladies and made them look ugly and a bit slutty, but also somewhat intriguing and colorful. He did a splendid job with them. I agree, it depends on the director/how he or she wants them to look.

[boytobroadway]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:57am

I saw a highschool do it, and this school had MONEY!!! The sets were amazing, so was the lighting, and the singers blew me away. I wasn't expecting that. I think the one I saw was worse that pg....it was at least pg-13. They had the Lovely Ladies doing sex dances on the guys, and the parts with Fantine and the Foreman were very riske. The actors weren't afraid to touch eachother, that is for sure. All the cuss words were in it and everything. I still cannot get over the ladies doing sex dances on stage and hanging all over the men. JEEZ!!! The kids weren't shy about saying the bad words either. Madame Thenardier belted those things out.

I think I was quite lucky with the one I saw. The singers were AWESOME!! you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it, really.

The effects were awesome. For the cannons, they set firework things off on the stage, so that when they went off sparks and fire stuff flew up from behind the barricade.

OK, I am done rambling,
B2B

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 4:09am

i saw the WORST school edition of les mis... an organization called Broadwaybound Youth or something in San Diego did it a two months ago about and it was AWWWWWFUL... AWWWWWFUL... they practically had no set, no staging (couldn't tell if it was a concert of not), no nothing... Valjean cracked his voice like twice... Javert overacted to the point the audience was laughing at him... it was a sad production... so very sad

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 4:14am

I feel you. Sounds like a combination of the ones I saw!

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 9:32am

Here's a link to some pictures from our cast of "Les Miserables: School Edition", performed in the summer: http://photobucket.com/albums/y163/Candleshoe07/Les%20Mis/

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 9:44am

LizzieCurry--You emailed MTI about the lyric changes in "Lovely Ladies?" Who the hell are you, Inspector Javert? It's a friggin' HIGH SCHOOL production, and I can fully understand them changing the lyrics to make it more appropriate. You could get those people in a lot of trouble for doing something pretty harmless (not to mention well-intentioned). You should be ashamed of yourself.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 9:51am

I agree, you need to find better things to do.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:13pm

<>

While I do agree that contacting MTI was a bit out of line, I think that changing lyrics or dialogus is unacceptable (outside of one or two lines) and if there are portions of a show that are not appropriate for a theater's specific setting then they need to choose a different show.

[Forester]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 12:16pm

If you can't do the musical without changing the lyrics, pick another show.

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 1:18pm

"LizzieCurry--You emailed MTI about the lyric changes in "Lovely Ladies?" Who the hell are you, Inspector Javert? It's a friggin' HIGH SCHOOL production, and I can fully understand them changing the lyrics to make it more appropriate. You could get those people in a lot of trouble for doing something pretty harmless (not to mention well-intentioned). You should be ashamed of yourself"

I completely disagree. Imagine if we were all to freely change whatever we wanted from the shows we put on. High school or not, changing lyrics is unacceptable and wrong, not to mention illegal.
You wouldn't tell young people that it is ok to steal chocolate from a store because they're just kids and it's harmless, would you?

P.S. Ignorance makes me so mad...

Updated On: 9/18/05 at 01:18 PM

[QOM]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 1:39pm

I am a high school music teacher and I have musically directed the school edition version. The answer to whether or not high schoolers can do this show depends upon the level of talent you have at the school. In my opinion, this show should only be attempted if the talent that year is extraordinary. Otherwise your are doing a disservice to the students, the audience and the show itself. The show is pretty much kept in tact but several of the songs do not contain as many verses and there are cuts to incidental/orchestral parts. This is what makes the show shorter. Some of the cuts were done purposely to remove some of the questionable things that probably shouldn't be done by schools. For example: Lovely Ladies has most of the "bad" lyrics removed and what is left is enough to convey what is needed in that scene without being totally inappapropriate. I agree that how far the envelope is pushed depends on the director. As for changing lyrics and making cuts, I don't think it's necessary, but if it is only a word here and there (not excessive) and keeps the integrity of the author/composer's intent it is ok. Otherwise, another show should be chosen. Also, schools could always advertise the show as being PG or PG13 so people won't bring very young kids and be shocked.
Updated On: 9/18/05 at 01:39 PM

[EganFan2]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 2:47pm

>>>In my opinion, this show should only be attempted if the talent that year is extraordinary. Otherwise your are doing a disservice to the students, the audience and the show itself.

Oh, if only countless high school productions of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" had heeded this advice.

Posted: 9/18/05 at 2:50pm

I was in it.

I hated it.

But then again, I hate my musical director. He is perverted and a prick.

Too many bad memories from this musical.

My school illegally recorded our show and sold it to our students... I did not purchase one.

Trying to forget that I was ever a part of this show.

The leads were not talented, he was political about choosing the leads, and the chorus was not good either.

People think our school is good at musicals... there are MUCH better around our area.

Wasn't appropriate for younger kids to see.

[nodaybut2day2007]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 2:51pm

I was under the impretion that 'Lovely Ladies' was changed for the HS version and MANY schools just changed it right back.

[QOM]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 5:17pm

The S.E. version of Lovely Ladies is written like this:

First verse by the sailors is kept the same as original.
Ladies singing chorus first time is the same.
Then there is a cut from the old woman wanting to buy the trinket/bagatelle all the way to the old woman wanting to buy the hair. So the part where the Ladies sing "ready for a thick one or a quick one in the park" is cut. The rest of the song is exactly the same. This song is, of course, the most racy song to worry about with schools. If a school thinks they can do this one song/scene without trouble (i.e. parents/administration, etc) then the rest of the show should be no trouble.

[blaxx]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 6:00pm

"As for changing lyrics and making cuts, I don't think it's necessary, but if it is only a word here and there (not excessive) and keeps the integrity of the author/composer's intent it is ok."

More ignorance... I can't believe people are actually posting things like this.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 6:57pm

"If you can't do the musical without changing the lyrics, pick another show. "

Damn, you beat me to it! I don't think it is out of line at all to contact MTI. It is one thing if a performer forgets his/her line and ad-libs, quite another to change a line entirely. It is a violation of copyright law and the contract the school signed with MTI. It isn't unheard of for these licensing agencies to send out "spies" and have them shut down productions of shows. They actually have employees who scower newspapers and the internet for their shows to see if any articles or reviews mention any illegal changes (for popular works, most assuredly a reviewer would mention them). An email is harmless. The school may have received permission to change the lines or their may have been a few options when licensing the show. I personally don't see anything wrong with a theater fan trying to maintain a work's integrity, no matter what one thinks of the material.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 10:40pm

"LizzieCurry--You emailed MTI about the lyric changes in "Lovely Ladies?" Who the hell are you, Inspector Javert? It's a friggin' HIGH SCHOOL production, and I can fully understand them changing the lyrics to make it more appropriate. You could get those people in a lot of trouble for doing something pretty harmless (not to mention well-intentioned). You should be ashamed of yourself."

Actually (if it matters), it wasn't even a high school. It was a summer theatre camp at a semi-Equity regional house. Of all people, THEY should've known better. If they didn't think the kids, the audience, or the community could handle watching their precious yuppie larvae selling themselves on stage, it's time to pick another show.

That wasn't the only song where they changed the lyrics. I wrote notes down when I got home, but I do remember they changed some of the foreman's lines in At the End of the Day, re-inserted something that'd been cut from the LMSE, and reassigned lines from one supporting character to another.

So, no, I don't feel ashamed of myself. At all. Even three years later.

[loudasthehelliwant]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 10:50pm

I saw a super awesome high school production that was mind-blowing.

It depends on the school. It's really easy to do a horrible production. But there are some really amazing ones out there. (I've still to find a Thenardier I liked as much as the high schooler I saw.)