REVISED opinion on revue material

[LetsDance5678]

Posted: 5/28/08 at 10:10pm

Hi everybody-
(Before anyone asks or comments, I did do a pretty thorough search and didnt find the results that I was looking for..)
So a couple of my friends and I are looking to put on a student directed/produced/designed/acted musical with a small cast. We have a basic company of actors picked out.
Me-blonde, ingenue, high soprano, some mix voice, not strongest chest, and not strong belt at all. Very strong dance ability and good acting.
Girl-light brunette, strong mix, very talented at playing the character that is always in someone else's shadow (think eponine). moderate dance ability and good acting
Girl-blonde, slightly overweight but not much, great alto, young face, was fabulous as Little Red in Into the Woods. little to no dance experience.

And for boys we have a pretty good variety of abilities/talent but us three girls will definately be in it. We are all 16.

Shows in consideration are:
I Love You Because
Children of Eden (a bigger cast then what we are looking for)
Carousel (same problem as COE)
Songs for a New World (reassigning some songs)

any more suggestions? (gender requirements, set requirements, and voice/dance abilities needed would be great info to have!)
very small budget-looking for a show with cheaper rights. does anyone know avg prices for above shows for rights?

Let me know if You need more info..
Thanks in advance!!!!
Updated On: 6/1/08 at 10:10 PM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/29/08 at 1:07am

I think that your best bet might be doing a revue, like "Songs For a New World," which you said you are considering. You could also put together your own musical revue with your favorite Broadway songs. We did that at my high school a couple times, and just called it "Broadway Night" or something. This sort of thing falls into a purgatory when it comes to licensing rights; just get the sheet music on your own and don't worry about paying for performance rights. High schools and colleges have Broadway cabarets all the time, you won't get in trouble, trust me!

EDIT: Another already-established revue show you could do is "Putting It Together," which is a Sondheim revue. The creators tried to make a through-line/story with how they arranged the songs, and had various characters like "Husband," "Wife," etc.; you don't have to do it that way necessarily.
Updated On: 5/29/08 at 01:07 AM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/29/08 at 1:09am

There's always "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" or "Snoopy". If I'm not mistaken the only "set" for "Snoopy" are the blocks each character stands on at times.

[into_the_woods2]

Posted: 5/29/08 at 8:13am

Haha no way i was about to suggest "putting it together" as well...it could be edited. maybe. but i think your best bet is to do what the other people her have suggested and make your own musical revue, that could be fabulous, actually.

[Jon]

Posted: 5/29/08 at 1:47pm

i've been doing professional theatre for 32 years, and from my experience, the royalties really don't vary that much from one show to another. Royalties are determined by the size of the theatre and the price of the tickets. Each company has their own structure.

In other words, ifyou apply for five different shows from Music Theatre International, I'd bet that the royalties would be almost identical for all of them. It doesn't matter if they are new or old, popular or obscure.

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 5/29/08 at 1:53pm

Forget the boys, get two more girls and do Nunsense! Great show, but make sure you do the original.

[Playbill9117]

Posted: 5/30/08 at 12:58am

Check out Steele Spring productions.

[LetsDance5678]

Posted: 6/1/08 at 5:42pm

Okay thanks guys! I think Im actually going to stick with I Love YOu Because for that project..

But I am planning on putting on a 'princess' revue with a couple friends..
The song list/order we have is:
1. Be Our Guest-Beauty and the Beast-Ensemble
2. If You Can Dream-Disney Princess-All Girls
3. Agony-Into the Woods-Boys 1,2
4. Free-Barbie Princess and the Pauper-Girls 1,2
5. Normandy-Once Upon a Mattress-Girl 1, Boys 1,2
6. To Be a Princess-Barbie Princess and the Pauper-Girl 2, Boy 2
7. Home-Beauty and the Beast-Girl 2
8. If Only-Little Mermaid-Girl 1, Boy 1 and two featured boys
9. One Step Closer-Boy 1
10. Happily Ever After-Once Upon a Mattress-Girl 2
11. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes-Girl 1
12. A Whole New World-Aladdin-Girl 1, Boy 1
13. Proud of Your Boy-Aladdin-Boy 1
14. Out of Thin Air- Aladdin-Girl 1, Boy 1
15. God Help the Outcasts-Hunchback of Notre Dame-Girl 2
16. If I Can't Love Her-Beauty and the Beast-Boy 2
17. Once Upon a Dream-Sleeping Beauty-Girl 2, Boy 2
18. Can You Feel the Love Tonight-Lion King-Ensemble
19. Love Will Find a Way-Lion King- Girls 1,2 Boys 1,2
20. Far Longer than Forever-Swan Princess-Girls 1,2 Boys 1,2
21. Love Heals-RENT-all
22.Agony Reprise (possibly...)


Question-where should we put the intermission? I wanted it between "Happily ever after" and "A Dream is a Wish Your HEart Makes" but that makes the second act way long...any suggestions?
Would moving "A Whole new world" through "out of thin air" between "happily ever after" and "a dream is a wish your heart makes" make sense? and then putting the intermission after "out of thin air"...?

Also, would you add/remove/move any of the songs?
The tentative storyline is kind of shown through the songs...

THANK YOU!
Updated On: 6/1/08 at 05:42 PM

[LetsDance5678]

Posted: 6/1/08 at 11:23pm

Cast would be:
Girl 1: Me
Girl 2: My friend (the second girl mentioned in earlier reply)
Boy 1:a guy friend
Boy 2:other guy friend
Ensemble: about 4 girls, 2-4 guys