Hardest show for high school to pull off?- Page 2

[dancinfan]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 8:09pm

I think that most sondheim is tough for high schools to do well, but I also hate seeing high schools doing shows that are largely about age and wisdom, like A Little Night Music. A high schooler has no right to be playing Desiree or Madame Armfeldt!

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 8:15pm

This summer, I participated in a high school cast of "Chicago" and it was a phenominal production! We sold out every night!

[lvpblues]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 8:45pm

I think "Sunday in the Park With George" is out of the high school league. I could understand arguments for other Sondheims, though I've seen high schools do "Into the Woods" up the wazoo.

[misterchoi]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 8:55pm

Actually, My summer camp has done a lot of these shows.
We did A Little Night Music, and though altogether it wasn't incredible, our Desiree and Madame Armfeldt were impeccable. Desiree(I think I am spelling wrong) was probably as good as in any college production, if not professional. Armfeldt was also incredible, and did an interpretation which I have good feeling has not been seen in the theatre before.
We also did Sweeny Todd, and that was altogether absolutely wonderful. We had an actor capable of acting and singing every role. But at my camp we have a higher concentration of talented children than at school. At my school we did Ragtime, with a local high school, and it turned out pretty good. Not a high school show.

[OhSoWicked]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 8:55pm

I did Pirates of Penzance as a sophomore. Very very very hard vocally.

[meagan9848]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 9:02pm

When I was in High School we did 2 easy shows and 2 more difficult shows and the more difficult shows turned out better. My freshman year we did High Society which didn't have many big chorus numbers and was pretty easy music, most of us were just bored with it...Sophomore year we did George M! which was equally as bad. My junior year we did The Scarlet Pimpernel which was AMAZING...we got a letter from NSMT telling us it was the best thing they'd seen at a high school which gave us the confidence to do Sweeney Todd my senior year...it was even more amazing than the SP...so I'd say it depends on the school but Sweeney is one of the most difficult shows I can think of...

[K8eeyore]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 9:13pm

My HS musical theater class did 'Hair'. We had to cut all of the drug and sex references, which left. . .um. . .not much!

I'd go with 'Sunday in the Park', just because of the set and costume requirements alone.

[Jus B]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 9:20pm

My highschool has a tendancy to do shows that are difficult from some aspect or another. Les Miz, The Civil War, Tommy (from a technical aspect), Chorus Line, and this year its Big River (I dont know if that one will be difficult to pull off, but it should be fun) So far, it seems the Civil War and Les Miz were the hardest to do vocally. Tommy was difficult, mainly because of the lights and spinning pinball machines and pyrotechnics.
There was once rumors of Phantom, but I don't think it's even released to the public yet, and its one of those that has to have mature voices.

[musicalmjk]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 9:29pm

i'd say Nine. i dont think any high school student could carry an entire show vocally and because its about a midlife crisis.

[saddle shoe side kick]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 9:35pm

My school is doing "Merrily We Roll Along" for the musical this year and people ae saying it is quite ambitious of the director.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 10:12pm

Anything by sondheim, and even though forum can be pulled off, high school kids rarely have the fast paced comic timing to pull such a show off.
Sweeney Todd wins the award for being the hardest...the leads are some of the most complex and vocally challenging roles in the musical theatre canon, and the chorus i would have to say is even harder. THe baritone part alone requires a baritone who can sing up to an a flat (i had to get my score out...that was from a quick glance through...it is possible that the baritone part goes even higher)...and that is the baritone part...the tenor is even higher (shock horror!). Now i dont know many high school baritones with that sort of range at their disposal. And this is saying nothing of the difficulty of the work, just that the notes are required. I find it very difficult to believe a school could pull off a true production of Sweeney without at least sacrificing the the quality of the chorus numbers...a production would require an immensely gifted chorus. And this is just the music alone...then we have some of the most difficult roles ever to grace the stage...

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 10:17pm

My school did A CHORUS LINE a few years back and it was phenomenal. It was sold out and it was really really worth it.

Another tough one to pull off would be WEST SIDE STORY...but WICKED will take the cake once its right's are released...how can you do Defying Gravity, anyway? It would be so hard and vocally (and dramatically) strenuous for everyone in the cast especially Elphie and Galinda (of course.)

[etheb]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 10:34pm

bdwybelle--nope, this was in MI. incidentally, they're doing Beauty & the Beast this year, and i'm going home specifically to see it. I'm excited!

[BlueEyedKate]

Posted: 11/3/04 at 11:20pm

Wicked, I believe, would be impossible for any high school to do even if the rights were available - primarily because the budget concerns would prohibit the different things that the play would require (I also believe that the same would apply to Miss Saigon).

The problem with high school shows is that by and large, they are not that great. Acting is often predicated on having life experience; so while breaking up with your HS sweetheart may be difficult at the age of 16, in the grand scheme of life, the breakup and subsequent emotional drama is really rather insignificant. I can't imagine a high school doing Les Miz successfully - they deal with the issues of class struggle and revolution, death and redemption, sin and righteneous, love and loss...things (and furthermore, questions) that people at the age of 50 struggle in answering. I know the rights are not available, but I would imagine doing RENT and Avenue Q for a high school would not be acceptable (nor really plausible) due to content matter appropriateness. Something like Phatnom of the Opera (though the rights are not obtainable) would also be very impossible to pull off at a high school level due to the vocal requirements of the part.

I also believe that by and large, the hardest show that a high school could pull off would be a Shakespearean comedy - the language is difficult and something that many scholars have debated about, and the questions are complex yet universal enough in nature...

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 11/4/04 at 3:18am

Anything that requires actual talent. And wow, what a shocker - the first response was...WICKED. I think shows like WEST SIDE STORY and A CHORUS LINE should never, ever be done in high schools - there's no way there are that many amazing dancers in one high school (unless it's specialized,) and dumbing down the dancing and making it look amateur completely ruins the integrity of the show. I also think high schools should never ever do shows like CABARET that contains material questionable for high school and family audiences - you cannot simply cut the "bad stuff out" - like Sally having an abortion and all the sex in the show - it ruins it. One of my biggest pet peeves is when high schools do THE SOUND OF MUSIC and have absolutely no swastikas ANYWHERE in the Nazi scenes - they're afraid of upsetting people and offending them (from what I've encountered,) but GUESS WHAT - that's why they're supposed to be in the show - nothing evokes a stronger reaction from anyone than a blatant, giant black and red swastika. And as far as plays, ANGELS IN AMERICA. Well, atleast in my HS, people were far to stupid to even understand the play.

[TheatreRatinBlue]

Posted: 11/4/04 at 4:05am

I have this broke down into a couple different slots.
1. too damn hard
2. to adult for high school
3. not all together impossible but a very hard show to do right.

First off some to most of Sondheim his music is very hard to play and very hard to sing while the whole orchestra is playing along.

*****1*****
Phantom of the Opera
Les Miz
Miss Saigon
Wicked
Evita
Aida
Lion King
Beauty and the Beast
Cats

*****2*****
RENT.....DUH!
Sweet Charity
Chicago
Cabaret
Gipsy...although now that i'm thinking about it...not so much but **shrugs**eh
sunset Boulevard
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Pageant....although it is never told that the girls are dressed as guys in the show...but it's very f*****g obvious

*****3*****
My Fair Lady...it's all the scenes that get me the scenery and costuming is a big issue
Annie Get Your Gun...not that it's hard it's just freaking long
Jekyll and Hyde-tech all around
Pirates of Penzance...opera...nuf said
Porgy and Bess...see above
Titanic...tech and also really no book to speak of so it's kinda boring really...good music though i love the music.

there that's what i think

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 11/4/04 at 7:08am

We just applied for the rights to Jekyll and Hyde.
I don't see it being that hard besides the 3 main actors. There is really no set, moderately difficult lighting, and an ensemble that can play multiple parts.