Musicals that SHOULDN"T be done in high schools...but have...

Everytime I see a high school doing Cabaret, I get a little queasy.

Hopefully, there will never be a Miss Saigon: School Edition.

---

Follies. And yes, it's been done.

Sweeney Todd.

and this is one that I've often seen done but shouldnt. "Fiddler on the Roof"...for one reason only. There is no teenage boy that can play Tevya. Without a good Tevya that shopw just doesnt work.

Les Miserables. (Whoever came up with that school version idea...i have a bone to pick with you.)

COMPANY seems like a tough sell for a high school, though I can just hear the drama teacher making his case to the school board -- "But they're are lots of parts!"

"In the end, though, it's better to expose kids to really great theater this way than to restrict them to the Guys and Dolls of the world."

Yes, god forbid they be forced to do "Guys and Dolls"-- one of the greatest shows ever written. They will learn a lot more doing "Taboo" I'm sure.

I think what is meant by "The Guys and Dolls of the world" is that teens are being subjected to doing the same kinds of shows. For example: Grease, Bye Bye Birdie, Guys and Dolls, How to Suceed, etc. I dont think it was an attack on the show.

I've also see a HORRIBLE high school production of A CHORUS LINE, where they cut all the language, changed the lyrics of "T&A" to "Boobs and Buns" added three characters to the line, and cut Paul's references to being gay.

Now really, why do the show, if you have to make such cuts?

I saw Godspell at my alma mater. But, last year I heard they did Cabaret. This is a Catholic High School. I did not go but cannot imagine how they pulled it off.

---

We did
One Flew Over the Cockoos Nest at a Jesuit High school.
I thought that was risky!

That stinks.

Our Sweeney was a high school cast, actually some of the chorus as well as our Toby and Judge were in 7th and 8th grade. Believe it or not it actually worked (aside from some of the chorus parts getting loss).

If you're going do do the show, do the show. We didn't change anything, including all the "split me muff mister, we'll go jig jig a little." It was all there. Mea Culpa was there too. Our judge was in 8th grade (mature for his age, but still) and he was actually great. He could sing Bass just fine.

Well we had a director who liked to challege us. When I was in 9th grade we did West Side Story at my school.

Now my Sweeney is at Tisch, so we know at least he didn't suck:)

I went to a very small private school, not a performing arts school, but they were very supportive of the theater department there. I think as long as you have the right cast, the show can really be done well.

---

Wow, I was going to say CAROUSEL until I saw that someone mentioned CABARET! I thought the former was kind of dark for a school show. More importantly for me, I doubt high schoolers could do justice to the demands of the music. CAROUSEL requires trained voices in my opinion to do it justice, and I've never heard better than Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae in those roles.

I've seen a kick ass version of Carousel done by a High School. But only really talented groups can do it well.

Miss Saigon was done at a youth theater near were I live. I was too terified to see it. I have no idea how it went.