Shows That Will NEVER Be Done By High Schools- Page 4

[nodaybut2day2007]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 2:18am

So for everyone whos school has done RENT, do you have archived videos? I would LOVE to see some 16 year old cast try and pull the show off.

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 2:45am

I think that if the school has the talent, they should do it. Well, with the rights ofcourse! A performing arts school could do it, I'm SURE.

[toodramatic]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 3:10am

The rights to rent have not been released so all of you that have high schools that have done it/have a friend of a friend who saw a high school do it are either a) full of s***, or b) are seriously breaking copyright laws but...

The rights to rent are set to be released some time next year (I dont recall exactly when) and (brace yourself)

there is a student edition being prepared for all those high schools u know are gonna wanna do it. I cant even begin to fathom how theyre going to do this (every third word of La Vie Boheme would be out, not to mention contact) but we'll see.

[nodaybut2day2007]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 3:35am

HOLY S*** How the hell are they planning on making a student edition of RENT. Seriously like that is a bad nightmare that I had one time. It was horrible. Like the first three lines were in the show and then the rest was compleatly differant, COllins and Angel werent in it and everyone had the "flu".

Why would they do this to such a wondeful show, aghhhhhhhh stupid student editions.

[jam_man]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 3:44am

toodramatic: "there is a student edition [of Rent] being prepared."


----SPIT TAKE ALL OVER COMPUTER SCREEN!!!----


As much as I'd like to do Rent in high school, as much as we might be able to pull it of, as much as a student edition would be the only way our director would even think about doing it, do you have any idea how much editing, cutting, and changing to Rent would be required to even get anywhere a "student edition?" Well, of course you do, but still!

If Jonathan Larson was alive today, that would seem to be the first thing he'd dissaprove of. Though, since one of his goals as a theatre composer was to connect musicals to today's younger audiences, he likely would write something either directly for younger performers, or one that could easily be adapted.

Man, my screen is all sticky now! :)

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 3:51am

OH. DEAR. GOD.

I'm sorry but I'm still in shock that they want to ruin EVERY AMAZING show!?

[wonderland]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 4:10am

To whoever said Assassins- I've seen this done by a high school... sort of.

It was a 40 minute one-act (for you Texans, a UIL one-act [ugh]) with the music cut or, when it was retained, spoken. It was quite bad, however, it did entice me to buy the cast album in a B&N the next day. I may be the only human being alive who discovered Sondheim through Assassins- before the revival. :)

[Hairspraydoll]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 4:15am

Ok as a Theatre Teacher here's my two cents:

1st Jocks do like Theatre. Some of the leads from my Bye Bye Birdie this year were Varsity lettermen and they rocked. Jocks for whatever reason take theatre (mostly thinking easy A or lots of girls) end up loving it. Some of my most talented kids this year were in theatre for the first time and are now hooked and giving up sports or wishing they had prior. So I just wanted to defend them first.

2nd It's amazing what guys are willing to do to get laughs. So I wouldn't rule out Pageant or La Cage. I had a couple of very straight guys do some crazy things this year.

3rd It really depends on the school, administration and area what schools can do. My school is super conservative and we can't even say Crap onstage, but my friend directed Rumors and could say pretty much everything but the F bomb. His school is only like 20 min. away.

4th Most Performing Arts schools will attempt all the shows no matter what. So they break the mold as far as attempting shows high schools should not be doing. In some cases the PA schools shouldn't do them either...

5th Although regular high schools have alot of talent, most of us theatre teachers should be smart enough to stick with the normal stuff. I see so many bad productions of easy shows, that unless you are 100% sure you can pull it off...DON't. I'd love to do different shows, but thinking about the audiences is what we have to do.

A school did Dreamgirls a year ago. Scary. I think Avenue Q won't make it to a regular school ever. A student version of Rent is a MISTAKE and I'm very sad now about it.

[gertiecummings]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 4:17am

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I'm all for high school taking risks on shows, but you CANNOT do RENT at a high school level.

[wonderland]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 4:20am

Guys in drag isn't a problem- how many high schools have done Midsummer (all of them, it seems) which calls for a drag scene.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 4:48am

"The rights to rent are set to be released some time next year (I dont recall exactly when) and (brace yourself)"

I heard that the rights to Rent aren't going to be released until the show closes on Broadway. Which probably won't be for awhile now, especially with the movie coming out.


All these productions of Rent people have been mentioning, regardless of how poorly or well done they were, were illegal. Who cares if high schools are able to do the show, they currently CANNOT. It'll get done to death once the rights are available, but the fact that people are already doing illegal productions of it already is just pathetic. What, so you're the first ones? Because you love the show so much, you're willing to steal it?

My dad's high school did Cabaret back in like 1972, without censoring it and before Roe v. Wade. I have much more respect for schools that remain true to the original that ones that water it down to a more "family-friendly" version.

For the same reason, I LOATHE student editions of any show. If you're going to do a show, do it right.

[sassypanz]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 5:23am

Puppetry of the P-wordor Naked Boys singing would never be done.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 6:20am

DOTV
Paris Letter

[Urban]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 8:55am

One show a high school will never do:

Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical.

[Sant]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:42am

SUNSET BOULEVARD - I really wouldn't want to see some 17-year-old play Norma!! Anyway, the scale of the show (sets & costumes) would probably be way too big.

KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN - maybe a bit too much for high school...

AVENUE Q - the language...


Updated On: 7/6/05 at 10:42 AM

[ikmbway]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:59am

My camp (not a theatre camp) did RENT but it wasnt like a show it was jsut people who could sing singing some of the songs. Unfortunately I wasn't there when they did it but my sister was. They just did the more popular songs. Some songs were Seasons of Love, Take Me or Leave Me, RENT, What You Own, and a few others. They just sang like 7 songs for only the camp to see. I wish I saw it though! And they do Broadway Reviews and stuff like that too.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 10:59am

I don't think we should think of shows that high schools shouldn't do due to subject matter but shows that high schools shouldn't do due to lack of maturity. I'm sorry but high school versions of PAGEANT, LA CAGE..., CABARET, RENT, etc., scare me. I am all for challenging youth but give them a show that is attainable.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 11:27am

Speaking of Assassins in a HS, Matt Morisson did it as John Wilkes Booth, go on bway.com and watch the lunch with the tony noms and its there.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 11:56am

Avenue Q, La Cage Aux Folles, The Boy From Oz, SpamAlot, Reefer Madness, Dracula.

________________________________________________________________
"Life. Sometimes you wake up in the middle of it."
-HUFF

[dietcherryemma]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 12:13pm

Yes, Sumusetta is correct, my highschool did Dreamgirls my senior year. The director decided that the real issue of the show was music - you know, if you sacrifice your art for fame, are you selling out? And yes, all the Dreams were white (including myself - as Lorell). Our Effie was a tiny, rather plain looking girl, but when she opens her mouth to sing you about fall on the ground. Our Deena was stunning - blonde hair, blue eyes, amazing figure, beautiful pop-style voice... it was not the show I would have picked to do, but I supose it worked out. The only lead we had who was mildly black (my dear biracial friend) was CC, and he was fabulous.

The highschool I went to was a smaller all girls private school that used guys from a local boys highschool - we did some ambitious stuff - but we also had really talented directors and actors - and i'm not just saying that. We did Chorus Line, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, as well as some other generic highschool stuff like Grease and Footloose.


Oh, and SuMusetta - you're my favorite person in the world.

[Candleshoe2]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 12:31pm

Here's pictures of our last summer musical "Chicago" done by high school students.

http://photobucket.com/albums/y163/Candleshoe07/

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 1:24pm

does anyone think that drs will ever be produced by high schools?

[nodaybut2day2007]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 1:32pm

the rights to The Producers are out but you can't do the show...

[Bal]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 2:48pm

"but we're now doing The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was waaaaay out of left field..."

Neat! I love The Scarlet Pimpernel, but it's awfully male-heavy for a school to attempt...

Anyways. The first production of La Cage Aux Folles I ever saw was done by a high school, and remains to this day the most amazing production of it I've seen, even compared to the revival (well, not the jump splits, but you know what I mean). The acting and the sincerity of the actors was heartbreaking. The kid who played Jacob was just hysterical and SO into it...the Spice Girls were very popular at the time, and he had all his hair pulled into those Scary Spice buns at the front of his head. The boy who played Jean Michel was a beautiful singer, and when he hung himself on the cross when they got back from dinner, the audience just lost it. But the boys who played Albin and Georges... words fail me. That high school students were so talented and gave so fully into what they weren't...I really hope they've gone on to better and bigger things now, because they were AMAZING.

Anyways, my point: La Cage CAN be done by high schools, but I think the awesomeness of the production I saw was an anomaly.

[BluCat500]

Posted: 7/6/05 at 2:55pm

DRS would definetly need to be tweaked, the bathrobe scene with Greg Jbara and Joana Gleason would have to be completely cut or changed to one line...How about the son of great big stuff"And I get laid, now theres a perk"...


...the Last 5 Years is a show that shouldn't be done by highschools!!