And the producer who's barely out of high school has an announcement for you high schoolers:
If you think you can actually affect anything your high school presents, good f**king luck. I'm a member of the class of 2008, and trust me when I tell you, especially if you have a teacher involved in your drama club who has to report to the principal, aside from a nominal vote they give you so you have the illusion of your voice being heard (and on odd occasions a teacher may actually try to push through an idea if they, too, are passionate about it), you don't get a choice. (Just like our form of representative democracy, but don't tell your parents you know that yet. They'll just get depressed that your innocence was shattered at such a young age.)
See, those who are in the position of leading such a program have to answer to other people. And often, in this environment where arts programs are the first thing slashed in budget cuts with alarming regularity, they have to justify their program's continued existence. That means
not staging anything that their community considers controversial or would offend people; from your list alone, that cuts out
Rent and
Grease unless they are the "school editions,"
Hair, and especially
Godspell for the religious content (though I know of very few districts that have actually protested
Godspell).
Les Mis could maybe squeak by (likely in a "school edition"), as could
Hairspray, but even those might meet with disapproval. You never know.
I get it, because I was literally just there: you're young, you want to do shows that appeal to you, and you want stuff that's relevant and suited to your world, to your age. That's great. That you even have an interest in theater in today's environment is nothing short of amazing. But, as Kelly2 said above, contemporary musicals aren't the only shows in existence. When you're working as a performer when school is over, living paycheck to paycheck and endlessly scouting for auditions, you're gonna have to swallow your pride and take more than a few gigs that bore you to tears. So you should at least know what you're getting in for, and learn that style of theater, in case you ever need it. (I worded that like you won't need it. Trust me, you will.)
In the end, I know these shows aren't what you hope for. And you won't like hearing what I have to say. But, in all practicality and succinctness: suck it up, and accept what you are given. Experience is experience, and the more experience you have, the more you learn.
Formerly gvendo2005
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05
Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky, Seb28
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