Ideas: shows for high schools

[kangaroo]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 7:36pm

What would be a good show for two strong female singers and aroudn 2 boy lead potentials and maybe 2 extra girls/boys that could handle solo lines?

We have already done:
Pirates of Penzance
Annie Get Your Gun
Oklahoma!
The Music Man
The King and I
How to succeed...
... Forum
Guys and Dolls
Hello Dolly
and more
[I wasn't in most of these, but we were very well known for them and pulled them off very well before my grade came to the high school]

Thanks for all your help... kangaroo

Updated On: 2/23/05 at 07:36 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 7:38pm

Maybe THE PAJAMA GAME or THE SOUND OF MUSIC?

[kangaroo]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 7:39pm

I don't know anything about PAJAMA GAME, but here are some shows my director would never do:
Cats
Grease
Sound of Music

And please add descriptions... if you can
And we will probably be doing a more well-known show, because this year we did Les Mis
Thanks again!

Updated On: 2/23/05 at 07:39 PM

[kangaroo]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 10:20pm

[bump]
Actually... my first one too

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 10:29pm

try titanic

[charliebrownkid]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 10:50pm

you're a good man charlie brown...

[timote316]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 10:50pm

Probably too hard for a high school, but Gypsy? If you did Les Mis...

[Cassie2]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 10:58pm

We did Man of La Mancha last year and it turned out really well..I do have a little bit of bias because I played Aldonza, but you would need a larger chorus for that one

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 11:08pm

Coming off of Les Mis, you should probably pick something more lighthearted.

The Pajama Game is GREAT for high schools. It's a really funny and cute show about a relationship that comes under fire in the middle of a strike at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory over a 7 1/2 cent raise. REALLY funny, lots of funny character roles, and a GREAT SCORE (Hey There, Hernando's Hideaway, Steam Heat, There Once Was a Man, Think of The Time I Save, I'll Never Be Jealous Again, Her Is, Once-A-Year Day). I was in it, if you can't tell, i played Hines.

Kiss Me Kate also sounds really good for you guys. If you have the vocals to pull off Les Mis, you could sing this score too. It's a big name, known really well, and a ton of great Cole Porter songs that range from opera to jazz, INGENIOUS book, and all-around great fun.

Godspell has very flexbile cast requirements, you could have anywhere from three to three hundred people do that show, just so long as one's jesus, one's a guy, and the other's a girl. I was in this too. Awesome score, easy set, easy costumes, easy pit, easy appeal.

Charlie Brown, same as above, only you need at least six people who can carry a song.

Li'l Abner, but there's a truckload of guys.

And if you can dance well, don't be afraid to craxk out Anything Goes, No No Nanette, 42nd Street, or Crazy For You (All are good for high schools, especially No No Nanette.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 11:10pm

Crazy for You is a fantastic show and seems to fit both your casting requirements and the style of shows you've done in the past. It has a starring male and female, supporting male and female, with lots of featured singers, dancers and actors. And it's like a best-of Gershwin show.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 11:19pm

Oh, and i better mention, of those a talked about, I'd go with Kiss Me Kate.
It's about a troupe of Shakespeare players that get involed with everything from rekindiling ex-lovers, to a heartbroken diva, to a gambling addict, to a real whore of a co-star, to the threat of gangsters. It's essentially a play within a play, "The Taming of the Shrew" being within "Kiss Me, Kate". and there are scenes in the Shakespeare world, and those in the real world.

Two starring singing roles, two supporting comedic song and dance roles, a deadpan comedic duo of gangsters, and a lot of other features speaking, singing, and dancing roles. The score has real awesome songs like So In Love, Too Darn Hot, I Hate Men, Where Is The Life That Late I Led?, Always True To You In My Fashion, Wunderbar, and Tom Dick or Harry.

[Barnaby12345]

Posted: 2/23/05 at 11:42pm

TOMMY is actually an awesome show with 2 strong girl leads (+1 Acid Queen) and about 2 strong guy leads. There are also a few other solos thrown in there. My High School did it last year and it was awesome! I suggest it!

Also, West Side Story would be fun!

[LightMyCandle125]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 1:48am

we did "the mystery of edwin drood" at my high school this year and it was an amazing experience! two of the main roles are played by girls (edwin drood w/ a strong belt and rosa bud, a soprano) and there are two large male roles (jasper and the chairman). there are also a few other roles with solos/duets for girls and guys. great show w/ great music! pm me w/ questions.

[musicman117]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 2:09am

"Once Upon a Mattress" would be a great one too (this is the "true" story of the princess and the pea. Its a lot of fun)

The 1960's version of "Anything Goes" is a great production that fits your criteria and seems to fit in well with the other shows your school has done

If your director wants to try something a bit more comtemporary or darker...
"Blood Brothers" could work well. This show is about a woman who gives one of her twins to another woman who cannot have children. It also deals with the superstition that if these twins, secretly parted at birth, were to meet and find out their twins, that they would both die. Its a really fun show to do!

"Merrily We Roll Along" is a Sondheim show that you could probably take on. (this show shows how a friendship between three people came to be and how it fell apart from the end of the friendship backwards to the beginning of it)

These are just some ideas.... of course i dont know the people at your school, so i cant say that any of these fit for sure. Hope this was helpful though! and good luck finding a show!

[Falsettoland]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 6:20am

As a newbie I'm not sure if you're an Aussie or just love Hugh Kangaroo...if you are an aussie I'd recommend you check out "The Sentimental Bloke" a great musical based on the writings of CJ Dennis. 2 strong female leads, one romantic male lead who needs to sing and a great male comic role as well as lot's of smaller parts and chorus work. Easy to stage too.
P.S This isn't meant to sound exclusive, just that it's so "Old fashioned Australian" that it'd most likely be lost on any other audience :)

[phantom_tenor]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 7:00am

Jesus Christ Superstar
Joseph and his amazing...etc (can't go wrong in school with this one)
Kismet (although you would need advanced singers for this)
City of Angels
A Chorus Line

[kangaroo]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 1:43pm

Thanks for all your help...

I hope that we really do a light-hearted fun show. I'm not much of a dancer, but I think it would be fun to do a show like Kiss Me Kate. Unfortunately, the rest of my school is also incapable of dance, so I doubt we would ever do anything like 42nd street... but I love the music.

I hope my choir director knows what he is doing, but from previous years... I personally don't like him, and a lot of other people don't like him too, but I love to do musicals so I tolerate him

Thanks again... Kangaroo

[BWAYboi_yes]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 1:53pm

Do the RH Cinderella. It's very good, and is whimsical and lighthearted, but can be serious too. Good roles for men and women- good for people who can't dance, and budget-wise, has got potential to be anything from the Ritz to the Shi... you know.

[kangaroo]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 2:09pm

about Cinderella... who are the lead roles? And who is the larger female role? the stepmother? one of the stepsisters? the godmother? I've only ever seen the movie version, and I can't really figure out who the 2nd biggest lead is after Cinderella.

Thanks, bwayboi... and I love your pic avatar

[BWAYboi_yes]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 3:02pm

Cinderella may be the lead, but it's not the best role. I would say that the most soulful role could be that of the Godmother. She sings the show's most famous song. The Stepsisters are good for the funny, and the Stepmother is a good role for someone who doesn't really sing well. However, my personal favorite, provided that they produce the show the way it's written, is the role of the Queen. The often cut her song and many lines, but she and the King steal the show.

[La Vie Boheme]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 3:34pm

Beauty and the Beast, Suessical(?) and maybe School House Rock Live!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 3:38pm

Or the always good BYE BYE BIRDIE.

[La Vie Boheme]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 3:40pm

AHHHHHHHHHH

*throws his computer*

Updated On: 2/24/05 at 03:40 PM

[stylinbohemian]

Posted: 2/24/05 at 11:56pm

hmmm what about Anything Goes or West Side Story they;re good high school musicals with wss has about 2 strong girl leads adn there are 2 strong male vocal leads

[Sant]

Posted: 2/25/05 at 6:06am

FAME
MAN OF LA MANCHA
URINETOWN