What shows have you guys done at your high schools? Is there anyone else out there that is sick of there school doing bad productions of: Grease, Guys and Dolls, Bye Bye Birdie, ect.?
We're doing Hello Dolly in the spring.
I'd kill to do Urinetown instead.
I know what you mean....but as you know...the rights have to go through....
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/4/03
les mis, bat boy, and oklahoma.
The high school and middle school in my area don't have good productions. There is no talent. You can't really expect much from a religious Jewish day school but they're just horrible. The high school did Rumours this year, which wasn't HORRIBLE (two really good people in the cast) and Joseph (the narrarator was good) which wasn't too good. The middle school shows leave me close to tears. I blew everyone away at my audition for Seussical but the director gave me a Who because I'd only been with the show one year and he thought I was arrogant (well, maybe a little). The show ended up being horrible. The Cat in the Hat couldn't act or sing, Mayzie couldn't sing, Gertrude couldn't act, Horton couldn't do anything and the Sour Kangaroo was terrible. The only good part of the show was Jojo. Everything else was eitehr horrible or mediocre. The Music Man was last year and their singing left me nearly in tears. Mayzie from Seussical was Marion and she couldn't reach the notes in Goodnight My Someone. I am so sick of the horrible shows my school turns out! And that was my long and pointless thread.
I'll be sophomore this September and so far we've done:
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
The Mousetrap
Lend Me a Tenor
Potential musicals for this fall:
Man of La Mancha
Evita
Lil Abner
I've had enough of Grease, High Schools have killed it IMO.
Guys & Dolls, then How To Succeed, then Anything Goes. They did Hello Dolly the year after I graduated. Needless to say, the director at my high school is unaware that any musicals were written after 1980. And y'know, she may be better off for it.
"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers
Broadway Star Joined: 8/20/04
Well i'm only gonna be a junior is high school, but i've been in school shows since 5th grade...
5th- Annie Jr.
6th- Guys and Dolls Jr.
7th- Annie (again.. kill me now!)
8th- The Boyfriend
9th- State Fair
10th- Guys and Dolls
this year- Damn Yankees
My highschool in the year b4 i was there did Hello Dolly, Me and My Girl, Some Like It Hot, and Once Upon a Mattress (that's all I rememeber)
Our highschool normally is pretty good.. But definately NOT the best.. Especially our choreogrophy (sp).. It's horrible...
Since I went to my school, they have done Sugar, Singin' in the Rain, and H2$. The last two the predetermined star of the play picked because he got special treatment. The director was biased because everyone she cast took her classes before and was pretty much guaranteed a spot. This year we get a new director so I don't know what to expect. I hate most choices for high schools. There isn't anything unique about them because they, or at least mine, don't take chances on something a little more daring. What I would do for my school to do Gypsy. . .
Guess what? Our school is cheap!
9th Grade - Fools
10th Grade - Murder's in the Heir
11th Grade - Arsenic and Old Lace
Anyone ever hear of "Fools" and "Murder's in the Heir"? I wish we could do a musical. This year, we lost a lot of the good talent (they graduated). I don't even think our school has done drama in awhile...they started up again when I was in 9th, I believe. But they had done musicals/plays before. Not sure.
I can understand why though, even though it doesn't make me happy. It's not just the money.
I go to a private prep school that is based on "instilling Christain values". Our drama club also had an "unspeakable incident" (teacher/student relationship ending in an arrest) about five years ago which is still fresh in the board of trustees minds.
Even though we have a new drama teacher (who is a goddess, I may add) Hello Dolly will mark the second musical we've done in ten years. For risky &/or avante guard theatre, we're gonna need a lot more time. Even though the show Urinetown itself is really not bad at all (as far as risky goes, I mean, really it's just the title) I know they wouldn't allow it anyway. Not this soon anyway, which is a shame for me because it's my last year.
However, I honestly believe that Urinetown would make a fantastic high school musical. Just not in my lifetime.
Well, there's always college, yeah?
What happened with the teacher/student relationship thing, if you are allowed to share? If not, it's okay.
Anyways, the middle school in my area did three musicals; I only saw one:
Guys and Dolls Jr.
Tiny Tim's Christmas
Grease - I saw this one. For a middle school production, it was okay, but I want to see the pros do it (but I have to give credit to the students for their energy, enthusiasm and commitment - I wouldn't be able to get on a stage and sing!).
My local highschool and middle school in the past 2 years have done:
Last year (or 2 years ago, however you want to look at it):
HS-Working
MS- Sugar
This year (or last year):
HS- How To Succeed
MS- Fiddler on the Roof
Where is the variety in the selections? Grrrr.
Broadway Star Joined: 7/18/04
Pirates of Penzance
The Music Man
The Wiz
Bye Bye Birdie
Footloose
Right now I'm in a revue, of which I'm in:
Brand New Day (The Wiz)
Time Warp (Rocky Horror)
Summer Nights (Grease)
Skid Row (LSOH)
Sincere (Bye Bye Birdie)
All That Jazz
Amen. Good news for the high school world though. There is this high school by me that a few of my friends went to so I saw there shows for the last few years.
Some of theres include
Once upon a mattress (ok not THAT original but it ain't grease)
Smile
Zombie Prom :)
ect. Now they pulled them off well and when it came to high school awards at least there weren't 7 other casts of zombie prom they were competeing with
My school's doing Seussical in November. I'm uber excited.
Featured Actor Joined: 12/31/69
music man jr. i was the lead, harold! 5th grade
music man high school this year, i know, cheap.
annie jr. when i was in 3rd grade the 5th graders did it
joseph
guys and dolls
south pacific
alice in wonderland
godspell
schoolhouse rock
fiddler on the roof
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
My high school-
Little Shop of Horrors
Anything Goes
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The Pajama Game
My sister's high school (over the past few years)-
Steel Pier
Anything Goes
Follies
Company
Sweet Charity
Yes, my sister's high school has a better theater program, though mine wasn't bad.
And no, I didn't participate in any of these- there were no viola parts in the orchestral arrangements we got until my senior year, and seniors can't play in pit in my high school.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/04
My high school does a mixture, I guess, overdone and not too overdone (at least in this area). These are the four my school did whil I was there (I performed in the last two)
2004: Fiddler (usually one a year in the area)
2003: Guys and Dolls (ditto)
2002: Camelot (I didnt see this one, but I haven't heard of another prodcuction in this area)
2001: Cinderella (saw it, but see second part of Camelot)
A student in our school started up his own theater group, and he's done (I think this is the complete list, but I'm not 100% sure):
2005: (as of now, changes often lol) Fame
2004: Copacabana
2003: LSOH
2002: Footloose
2001: Annie
2000: Godspell
1999: You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Musicals
'Damn Yankees'
'Joseph...'
'Annie Get Your Gun'
Possibly 'Lucky Stuff' next year...
Plays
'Harvey'
'Rumors'
'Bad Seed'
Possibly 'Plaza Suite' or 'Inspecting Carol' next year...
Ah I forgot plays! Besides the yearly Spring Musical, there would be a Fall Play. They were:
9th grade- HARVEY (had conflicts, didn't see it)
10th grade- HAPPY DAZE (was in it, not a good show)
11th grade- MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (was in it, amazing show)
12th grade- MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (was in it, great play but a bad choice for most high school audiences because the humor is mostly textual)
"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers
Awhile ago that I heard about:
- Bye Bye Birdie (overdone but I think it's absolutely adorable)
- Brigadoon
My 6th, 7th 8th Grade year: Once Upon a Mattress, Into the Woods and Kiss Me Kate
My time at HS:
- Schoolhouse Rock Live (eww)
- Little Shop of Horrors
- Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
- this year - Applause
Our Teacher loves doing obscure shows recently, thus us doing "Applause" this fall. I appreciate doing an unknown, but couldn't it be a WELL WRITTEN unknown? Oh well, it's not great but it looks like cheesy fun.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
My high school has done:
9th grade- A Funny Thing... Forum (i wasn't here to audition... i ahd just moved from cali 2 months after)
10th grade- Guys & Dolls
11th- The Pajama Game
next year- Grease
We did "Meet Me in St. Louis," "Bye Bye Birdie" and "The Music Man." I was only in the last two, but all three were very good productions, by high school standards. Some of our leads couldn't sing well and our Harold Hill was really boring, but luckily, we have some really great character actors who steal the show and make people forget about the bad stuff.
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