TG2, I saw an AMAZING Tevye two years ago. He was nominated for a CAPPIE (an HS version of the Tonys). The show was very mediocre and subpar, but he was fabulous, and made the show great.
I think, MANY shows are usually crap at HS, but there is often the exception.
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Everytime I see a high school doing Cabaret, I get a little queasy. My dad's high school did Cabaret, back in the early 70s. It caused this huge controversy, but the school's drama department was insistent that this was the show they were doing. I've always thought it was awesome that they were willing to take on a more risque show, regardless of what the community thought.
annie- with a warbucks who could have very well been an alto and an annie only about 3 inchs shorter than miss hannigan Heh. My best friend played Warbucks in 8th grade and he had one of those pre-pubescent-head-voices. Loved him to death, but that was poor casting.
My former high school has done Joseph, Wizard of Oz, Godspell, Seussical, and next year Beauty and the Beast. These shows wrote the book on fluff. I wish they would take a "risk" and do something beyond G-rated.
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I definitely think that the audience needs to be taken into consideration, too. I'm not big on seeing ninth graders prancing around the stage in fishnets and corsets -- it's weird and uncomfortable.
I think if a school is known for their theatre program and can pull off a difficult show well, that's fine... But I think the show needs to be chosen accordingly, for the students auditioning, the budget and the venue. No use putting Beauty and the Beast on in a tiny black box theatre if you can't afford decent sets and costumes. There are so many shows that can tailor to stuff like that (ie, Godspell, The Fantasticks, whatever).
I just saw a high school production of Cabaret a month ago and it was absolutely horrible. The acting was great and everyhthing (it was an arts high school) but they had high school kids doing it exactly the way the revival was odne. Everyone was a slut and in kinky outfits and everything. It was embarrasing sitting there with my mom and having the kIt Kat girls come down the aisle and kiss and touch me. The revival on Broadway was great, but you can;t ahve high school kids doing that. If they did it the way the original was done, I'd have no problem, but UGH!!
On A Chorus Line...I went to a high school production of it last Friday, and "Tits and ass" was changed to "This and that". It was very, very amusing....well, to me. Other than the obvious edits, it was executed well (for a high school).
Our high school has done Fiddler and Into the Woods these past two years and Little Shop of Horrors this year. I could say they were all astounding, but Into the Woods was by far the most amazing high school production I've seen. The cast was all amazing and everyone fit their role just perfectly.
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It makes me sick to my stomach High Schools are "trying" to put on this show."
In response to this comment, I was in a High School summer musical of "Chicago" and I thought that we did an awesome job! But, there are those high schools out there that some how get the rights to it and then end up butchering it!
hah, um, how bout my school, where we did 'the wiz'. have i mentioned that its a preppy, private school that's almost entirely white. i think it completely missed the purpose of the original production. while it still remained enjoyable, i don't think this musical was the best choice ever.
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Parade......The Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts is doing it this year....just too edgy and too objectionable in content. Not to mention that the score is very difficult. They're known for doing edgy shows...they did "A Funny Thing Happened...", which is a little raunchy for high schools (but I'd do it), and last year they did Ragtime. (Coalhouse was unbearably weak) I don't think Ragtime is objectionable in content, but I think Ragtime is very heavy for high schools...and it has to be solid to work well...which it wasn't.
I also think Camelot is a terrible pick due to the lack of leads and chorus work on top of material some would find objectionable. Updated On: 5/2/05 at 09:23 PM
I, too, don't get this feeling that Les Miz is not ok for high schools--it's PERFECT for high schools.
It depends on the school, folks. Some schools have one or two people that can carry a tune. Some (like my high school) had gazillions of great singers.
It's a learning experience--it doesn't have to be perfection or "professional".
And schools SHOULD do the OKLAHOMA!s and GUYS AND DOLLS and MUSIC MANs and SOUND OF MUSICs. Again--it's a learning experience, and you learn better by working with great works. It's the same reason that students SHOULD be working on Shakespeare, the Greeks, Shaw, Williams, etc.
I have no problem with changing dirty words (even "This or That" is ok). But, if you have to cut major chunks out of A CHORUS LINE or CABARET---don't bother.
I, personally, find it DEEPLY offensive that a character's merely being gay is a problem. But, understanding how things are in this country right now--if it's a problem in your school, don't bother.
And, yes, a good school is going to try to do shows that their kids will enjoy--variety if anything. And, yes, I do understand the need to allow people in schools (both on the stage and ESPECIALLY in the audience) to learn to enjoy the idea of attending the theatre. It's vital for the future of audiences and artisans of the theatre. But, that doesn't mean only doing "cool" shows.
My old high school did Sweet Charity this year. I'm not sure why- probably because of the really strong dance program (while I was there, we did Rich Man's Frug for the dance concert with the original choreography). But I'm kind of disturbed. I didn't see it, but I hear it was...interesting. We've done Fiddler (it was pretty good except for a skinny 18 year old Tevye).
A friend's school did Man of La Mancha a while back. I wonder how they managed to get certain part of that through.
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Okay. Sooo this high school in my area did Chicago last year...I sat through it...and it made me want to hurt myself...and the cast. What have they chosen this year? LES MIZ. AAAGGGHHHH. It's the "Les Miz Junior" version or whatever (or Diet Les Miz, as I call it), but still...some shows just shouldn't happen below the college level. It just seems a huge show for the small space they have. But I highly doubt it can be worse than Chicago...eek.
Defygravity23- I am in middle school, and we recently finished The Sound of Music, and in my opinion, as well as everyone else's, it was wonderful. We had really good sets (for a MS production), and I don't mean to brag (I was Maria), but I probably had one of the best voices in the entire production (but the Mother Abbess was killer- you should have heard her high notes). I know you probably didn't mean it offensively, but please don't generalize about Middle School, because we try really hard and put on an incredible show.
And then, do you know Monseiur Marius, I believe I was a little in love with you.
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my school jsut did Cabaret, and we did it just like the revival... and we were told it was really good. I felt like it was one of the most unconventional and awesome shows I've ever been in, becuase they combined the best of both concepts (the original and revival) and made it into a great hybrid. A local college just tried to do that, and failed miserably (one reviewer called it miserable to watch) while the same reviewer called ours something along the lines of better than the touring company he saw a few years ago. I do admit that the slutiness was a little over the top, but hey, it was better than seeing another Bye Bye Birdie (my school did it just before, and then 2 schools did it right after us).
As for my vote on shows to stay away from- Wizard of Oz. ANYTHING is better than that. Everyone needs the experience of doing shows like Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, South Pacific, H2S, those are all good for your theatriucal development. With Wizard fo Oz... its just so painful for the audience, the techies, the actors... just no!
"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."
I'll PM you, but what school are you talking about?
I enjoyed it immensely and the Tevye was incredibly strong.
Sweeney should not be done nor should Aida or RENT or Wicked or TMM or Taboo...ewww
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You guys who are complaining about indecency... My high school has a competition where each grade works to produce its own 55 minute musical feverishly, except for the Sophmores and Freshmen work together. If you let kids come up with stuff on their own, it's much dirtier. Soph-Frosh's musical featured the main character Private Detective Richard "The Dick" Johnson That's four penis jokes is six words,Soph-Frosh was generally referred to as a giant homophobic penis joke. The Seniors had really sexual grinding, plot lines, and there was a great amount of flesh exposed. The Juniors had a version of Disney in which all the charachters went bad. Aladin was a gay hooker, Alice in Wonderland sold crack (an entire dance number was an hallucination of a six-year old boy on LSD) Mulan had had a sex change, there was an incredibly sexual massage parlor called The Happy Ending, Little Red Ridinghood was a ghetto thug (in the 'hood) and so on and so forth. It's probably better if the crudeness is at least artistic, as it is in Cabaret, Chicago, or any of the other musicals.
I've seen a couple high schools (and a middle school too!) put on a fabulous The King and I....but my high school did it a few years ago, and a girl was cast as the king....a sophmore girl. As the king.
2. There are some shows that are inappropriate for high schools to do.
3. Musical theatre didn't begin with Les Mis, people. And just because your high school isnt doing Wicked doesn't mean whatever show you are doing sucks.
a few years ago my high school did hair (complete with the "nude scene", but with the cast wearing body suits with tattoos), ruthless with full drag for two parts, and drood with all the opium references in tact. we never cut anything and werent afraid to do risky shows. they always turned out fab!