Musicals in Christian Colleges

How about some music from "Children of Eden"? You could also do some of the songs from classics like "West Side Story" and "The Music Man".

You can't get much more conservative or Christian than Pepperdine in Malibu. And they did EVITA.

Granted the faculty director was suspended, but that was because he staged a number with the chorus girls wearing the "cone bras" that Madonna had just made popular in a video. Christians are funny. Sleeping your way to become First Lady of Argentina (Come to think of it, isn't that how all First Ladies get their jobs?) wasn't a a problem, just the cone bras.

They did DEATH OF A SALESMAN and a musical version of LITTLE WOMEN during the semester I was teaching there.

So I think the answer is it varies greatly from school to school. But you're probably safe with most shows from the 40s and 50s.

Isn't Seton Hall a Jesuit college? God bless them, I think the Jesuit colleges are known for allowing more latitude because of their respect for the educational process.

It's the evangelical Protestant schools that tend to favor theological and "moral" purity over intellectual curiosity. (Example: at Congregationalist Pepperdine, homosexuality was considered worse than murder and one of my students was barred from staging an original play that viewed sexual diversity in a positive light. But when my niece was applying to a Jesuit college, she was asked to write an essay on her personal experience with diversity. I asked the admissions officer if my niece should write about her experience planning her uncles' gay wedding and was told, "Oh, yes! We'd love that.")

These are broad generalizations, of course. I'm sure there are exceptions among both groups.

I went to a Christian college that is definitely more conservative than Pepperdine Some of the musicals that have been staged there over the years include: The Sound of Music, Godspell, Fiddler on the Roof, Into the Woods, Oklahoma!, and The Music Man. (I think the theatre program used to focus primarily on plays, but now does one main play in the fall and one main musical in the spring, with "one act" showcases, and other events scattered in between the two main shows).

Bare.

Jokes apart, I think Pippin is the best musical for young people to do, and it's fit for Christians.

The Obvious:

Godspell
Joseph and the Amazing blah blah.
Fiddler on the roof?
Jesus Christ Superstar.

I went to a Christian school and we always did something from Roger and Hammerstein:

King and I
Cinderella
Oklahoma


Disney is always a good choice if you don't want to ruffle feathers:

Beauty and The Beast.
Little Mermaid jr.
My son Pinocchio

I once saw BAT BOY at Duquesne University. One of the most enjoyable theater experiences I've had actually.

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I'm currently a student at a pretty conservative Christian college. The main productions are usually plays, but they once did ONCE ON THIS ISLAND with an almost entirely white cast. They put on INTO THE WOODS last year, and maybe a one or two performance run of THE LAST 5 YEARS. A few years ago, one of the student directors did CRIMES OF THE HEART and apparently got into trouble from the Board of Trustees.
What's more interesting is that every year, the sophomore class does their own production, separated from the proper theater department. Like others have suggested, they've mostly stuck with Golden Age musicals. But even then, they made changes to HOW TO SUCCEED (like taking out "A Secretary is Not a Toy"). I'm not sure they made the changes legally, but they made them nonetheless.

You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Snoopy
Big River
Annie Get Your Gun
The Unsinkable Molly Brown
The Apple Tree
Shenandoah (with a few minor changes to the first song)
Bells Are Ringing
Wonderful Town
Nunsense
Hello Dolly
Bye Bye Birdie
The Music Man

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Once on this Island, Suessical, The Music Man, The Wiz

"The Boy Friend"

"Little Mary Sunshine"

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"TINTYPES" might work well, because it's an American-popular-music and history circa 1888 to 1918, with great musical challenges for the cast and marvelous orchestrations. I suppose one might be able to get an option to do it with a cast larger than five. Hell, royalties are royalties and the show isn't performed that often.

The "fantasy" shows like "PETER PAN" or "IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S SUPERMAN" or ""THE APPLE TREE" could also work.