Need suggestions please

[violet72]

Posted: 6/6/07 at 8:08pm

I just got the job as director of the high school I work at spring musical. I have helped the past couple of years for free and now am getting paid, but I digress. I am looking for a musical a high school could do that is female heavy(I have 10 girls who could be leads)...I have about 3 guys that are good and can sing and about a male chorus of 7(maybe more if I beg, plead, and promise extra credit) The past two years that I have helped we did Grease and this past year was a success with Little Shop of Horrors. All of my males are graduating this year..we need a musical that will attract and recruit more kids for the future of our program. Thanks so much for all your suggestions in advance

Updated On: 6/6/07 at 08:08 PM

[bwaygal1]

Posted: 6/6/07 at 10:27pm

Little Women? (if you have a lot of female leads that might be good)
or you could do a more ambitious show like the high school version of "Les Miserables" which was done at the school where I taught. Very good-lots of roles, well-known, sure to attract kids.

Once Upon a Mattress is fun, too.

[sarab]

Posted: 6/6/07 at 11:52pm

Annie

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 6/6/07 at 11:59pm

Sweet Charity

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 12:13am

Yes SWEET CHARITY
I love High School Girls as Taxi Dancers
Go all the way and do THE LIFE
A great "girl" show

How about LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE
or
THE BOY FRIEND?

[i.heart.link]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 12:59am

Thats the same way at my school, and this year we did Little Women, and Annie. They turned out fantastic!

[SondheimFan2]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 1:35am

sweet charity or thoroughly modern millie

[violet72]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 8:24am

bump

[IMissNYC]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 10:31pm

I have the same problem with my teen group that I direct. We are always in need of guys. We are doing Thoroughly Modern Millie this summer and it's working out fine with few boys.

[Boq101]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 10:36pm

My high school did the opposite, we got in like tons of little boys from the middle school and did Oliver XD

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 10:38pm

My top suggestion is NO, NO, NANETTE. Seven female leads with full parts and vocal solos, three males (one song and dance, one romantic baritone, one character actor) and a large chorus called "Nanette's Friends" (ie: predominately girls). There is much dancing in the show though, including a ballet for "Tea for Two" and a tap dance for "I Want to Be Happy".

I also agree with SWEET CHARITY and ANNIE.

LITTLE WOMEN would work, but it's a really awful show.

[kyleorlando]

Posted: 6/7/07 at 11:06pm

You could always do SMILE which is chorus girl heavy with featured parts with parts for youth boys and male adults.

The show really is better than most people give it credit for.

[me2]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 12:06pm

I was once in a similar position, and I did THE PAJAME GAME. In addition to Babe, Gladys, Mabel, and Mae (who gets to shine in the "Her Is" reprise), I took a group of about 8 girls to be "Babe's Girls," and they were the group who did "I'm Not at All in Love," "Think of the Time I Save," and danced the tango in "Hernando's Hideaway."

You can recruit a non-singing boy to be the boss character.

It was a tremendously fun show, and the audience loved it. My Hines was a naturally comedic kid, and he brought the house down with the pants falling/tripping routine, so much so the principal acknowledged it over the PA on Monday morning. He could sing, but I also had to recruit him. In the movie he's a cantankerous old man, but don't go that route.

Don't cut the ballet! Besides the fact that you really need it, you can have lots and lots of fun with it. Basically you need a ballet dancer for Gladys, but the other two parts can motion their way through. The ballet isn't in the movie, but it goes like this . . . Hines leaves for work, and while he's gone, he imagines that Gladys is cheating on him. He dresses up as various people (a muscleman comes to mind) and Gladys flirts with him, but then Mabel comes in with angel's wings and reprimands him. It's very, very funny, and my audience loved it.

I did a Dream Gladys casting because my ballet dancer wasn't an actress really. I had Gladys walk out the door waving to Hines, and then return with a newspaper. The returning person was my Dream Gladys in the same costume. It worked really well.

I did cut the short bit where Babe undresses in the kitchen and finished in her slip. Forgive me, MTI, but I couldn't find my way around it.

So . . . That's something to consider. Oh! I made Sid's helper Charlie into Charlee--a girl with a bandana on her head (short for Charlene). We do what we must . . .


Braodway Blog: Only One Night Only (the Tonys post)

[Piercemn]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 12:25pm

I saw ghastly productions of both Sweet Charity and No, No, Nanette in Minneapolis High Schools. When I was in HS, the musicals were Of Thee I Sing, Camelot and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella. Of course the big one now is High School Musical, but I'd opt for something that will be fun and will bring in an audience. How about A Year With Frog and Toad? Why not do Fame? Really Rosie is short, but a lot of fun and has a small ensemble.

I have heard of High Schools doing Forum and adding a chorus and Proteans. I'd stay away from Sondheim, because he's so difficult to sing, and maybe take a look at the Samuel French catalogue. They have some good musicals that don't get done often and would have the right number of girls for you. Good luck.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 12:32pm

Nunsense or Pageant? I know we did those at my women's college.

[DezBryner]

Posted: 6/8/07 at 12:36pm

We did Thoroughly Modern Millie this year. The hard part is projecting the translation for the Chinese actors. You need a very strong projector to get through the stage lights. It's a great girl show, though. You do need a strong tenor and baritone for the male leads. The music is great and my little school sold out all three nights of the performance.