High School Theatre - What's appropriate and what isnt't?

Well, as president of my school's (private as well) drama club I can tell you from my experience people will nearly always find something "inappropriate" in a show, unless you're doing Disney. It also depends on your school, is it conservative? Is it a little more liberal? Over the years we have covered pretty much the whole Disney Princesses catalogue, Grease, Hairspray, Bible stories, we almost presented Cabaret and Cats, but most of our shows are revues. Our last big controversy was a number I choreographed from Burlesque which had the more conservative teachers, including the drama teacher, raging. The administration still keeps a close eye on us, but we manage to get away with most things.

I don't think high school productions should be censored, I believe in creative freedom and I'm always looking for opportunities to showcase it. Of course, this attitude has gotten me into a LOT of trouble, but I'm wiling to take risks for my art.

Well they have high school versions of shows like Spring Awakening, Rent, Avenue Q, etc.

But I agree with you Yankee that they really shouldn't be done. Not because high school students can't handle the thematic material, but because there are so many great shows that can be done without any edits why settle for an abridged or censored version of a show?

If Legally Blonde can cause a ruckus, I can't imagine what Spring Awakening would reap.

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It really does depend on your community.

There are things I would never consider (Spring Awakening, Ave Q) and other things I think are worth fighting for.

I agree that if you can't do a show without editing it, then don't do the show. I've done a number of shows that have raised eyebrows within my community, but have always had the support of my admin and parents. (Well, the vast majority of the parents.)

There is no blanket statement that covers every school/every community.

(But if I ever direct Guys and Dolls again, I'm likely going to retire.)

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And only producing the classics doesn't teach them anything.

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How so? I would think it would teach them more than anything else.

I mean, wouldn't having young people read Madame Bovary be more educational and enriching than having them read something like Game of Thrones?

I went to a performing arts high school as well. While I was there we did Hello Dolly, Me and My Girl, The Crucible, The Runner Stumbles, Twelfth Night, The Civil War, Metamorphoses, and more- pretty diverse and relatively mature without being inappropriate.

Since I left they have done Streetcar and Sweeney. Not appropriate, in my opinion, for many reasons- content being one of them. The situations are just so out of a high schooler's depth, and what the roles demand just aren't present in young actors.

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"but basically every R&H show is appropriate for HS so I don't know how helpful that would be"

The Getting to Know You and Broadway Junior collections are not intended for high schools to be performing. They were created for middle school and younger where many of the edits are done to bring the show to a more manageable length for young performers (as well as their audiences).

I disagree that only doing the classics won't teach them anything. It will teach them a lot. The students would actually have to act and sing. R&H, Lerner and Lowe, and Bernstein have some solid musicals. However, only do classics will not keep your students excited about the program and won't add variety.

I recently saw a high school do In the Heights. They kept the language in. The kids loved doing it. It was hip hop, got to dress cool, but I did feel the some of the content was a little mature. But this was at a public school, veteran teacher with an established program.

I was just talking to a friend about a school district in her area doing Parade as their summer show and I was thinking that that seems like a great show to choose to stretch talents and abilities of performers without going too far. It's certainly a challenging show, but I don't think it's beyond the scope and talent of actors that age.

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My school has even had trouble putting on Little Shop. We had to fight to keep in the handcuff references.

The Head of School trusts us to choose the show, but if a parent complains, all hell breaks loose. They freaked out over Wedding Singer. It makes me a little upset, because there are shows that aren't even THAT bad, but we still have trouble with them. We are doing Brighton Beach Memoirs, and I'm sure that someone will complain.

Well, since most shows are pretty caucasion, that isn't really a big deal. (Sure, it does take some shows off your list...but not really all that many.)

Given what you just said, it does sound like you really do have to stick with the classics -- but without men, you are pretty well sunk. This, however, has nothing to do with 'appropriate'.

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Shows aren't 'rated'. And yes, doing a predominantly male show, when you have almost no males is a recipe for disaster.

I am lucky that my program attracts a good number of boys, so I have more freedom than many HS programs. Are these also student directed? Do you have no faculty member providing input? Or a parent that knows anything about theater?

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