Swing Joined: 5/19/13
Okay, this is for all the high school musical directors out there. Here is a list of musicals high schoolers actually want to do:
RENT
Les Mis
Legally Blonde
Hairspray
Grease
Godspell
Hair
(Essentially anything somewhat controversial)
What we don't want to do:
High School Musical
Beauty and the Beast
Oliver!
Suessical
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
(Anything super old-timey like South Pacific)
(Anything Disney-Related)
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/18/10
South Pacific is super controversial. If we didn't have the 'old-timey' shows in the first place, we wouldn't be here today.
Swing Joined: 5/19/13
There's nothing wrong with the old shows, it's just that we want to do new stuff
Swing Joined: 12/31/69
Speak for yourself, I'd much rather do the old stuff.
Gag. High schools should do classic shows. Of course, yes, do one or two that are more suited to the age of the kids performing, but I'm sorry, you should learn to perform different styles of theatre beyond just modern pop musicals if you want any hope of getting into theatre post high-school, especially if you want to be in a top MT program in college.
The Sound of Music, Carousel, Funny Girl, Guys & Dolls, Damn Yankees...my high school does those types of shows all the time and we always loved them. Glamorous costumes and wigs and makeup always made us more than happy. I'd rather dress up like Adelaide than put on a juicy couture tracksuit any day. Of course I LOVE a lot of modern musical theatre, but it's meaningless without the foundation that it was built on, and to miss out on an entire treasure trove of theatrical brilliance just because it's "old-timey"...ridiculous.
Is that an official announcement from all high schoolers?
Swing Joined: 5/19/13
However, what you fail to realize is that most high schools have done all of the classic musicals (which I love), so we want something different. Just not Disney. Anything but Disney.
Swing Joined: 5/19/13
And yes, because Les Mis is such a pop musical.
Announcement to most high schoolers: You probably can't pull modern things off and you should feel so lucky to even attempt shows like "South Pacific".
(I personally always wanted my school to do "Carousel" but that never happened)
"However, what you fail to realize is that most high schools have done all of the classic musicals (which I love), so we want something different. Just not Disney. Anything but Disney."
By my estimation, you get 4 musicals during your high school tenure. I'm pretty sure you can't do "all" the classics in 4 years, or even in 8. What's wrong with doing one or two newer shows and some of the standards? The point is to teach you how to act and sing in a different way and educate you about musical theatre you may not be exposed to. Maybe you specifically as a theatre fan know the canon well, but most kids in high school don't have a breadth of knowledge on the subject.
Please explain how most high schoolers are so lucky to have done "all the classic musicals".
Really, please explain.
Understudy Joined: 8/17/12
Be grateful that your school has a theatre program. I'm a senior now and the only musical my school produced in the time I've been enrolled there was Back to the 80s my freshman year. I would've been ecstatic to do any show.
(Essentially anything somewhat controversial)
Lol, I hope they call the media so they can document all their Godspell, Hairspray and Grease controversy!
THEY MAKE OUT AT THE DRIVE IN!!! RUN!!!
Blaxx, to be fair, my high school cut the entire Rizzo's possible pregnancy storyline from our production of Grease.
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.
A few things:
-As a high school educator, I truly get the whole appeal to do only things that are contemporary and on every high school theatre kids "wish list". However, that needs to be balanced with a foundation in traditional shows, etc. This is what theatrical education is all about, giving exposure to as many different styles as possible.
-While you may see the value in show with controversy, a lot of places aren't ready to watch their high school students perform such materials. There was an article not too long ago about a teacher fired for putting on Legally Blonde because of its subject matter re:homosexuality. You cannot force a town to accept something they aren't ready to. I work in a more progressive town an yet there are still limitations to what the town will accept.
-A lot of the shows you mentioned are written in a way that is very difficult for an average high school to perform. HUGE budgets are required and a lot of school's just don't have the flexibility in their budgeting to do it justice. Furthermore, contemporary scores tend to be written for a trained adult voice and are difficult for a high school student to pull off. Also, for a moment look around you. You may want to do some of these shows but does your school ACTUALLY have the talent to pull it off?
-If you don't agree with what you're educator/director is picking have a conversation with them. Any director worth their salt usually has a logical thought process behind why they chose the show they chose and why it makes sense for the school at that time. Perhaps in gleaning these insights you can learn to accept it for what it is, an educational experience. you're young, you still have SO much time to do all the controversial shows you want. Usually college LOVES controversial shows. In the meantime, just enjoy the experience of putting on a show and get everything you can from whatever show you do.
Jordan was that in reference to what I said? I just think that in general "classic" musicals are of a higher quality then what the OP lists as what they actually want to do.
I'm undecided. I'd never make a blanket statement about high schools doing classics, since it was a brilliant high school Sweeney that introduced me to Sondheim. But I've also seen slaughtered Gypsys and Cabarets where the director and actors had no clue what they were doing, so I'm cognizant of the fact that it can suck just as easily as it could be great. That's true of everything, though.
I went to an all girls high school so the director always had to pick very female-heavy shows. The years I was there they did Cinderella, High School Musical, and Once Upon a Mattress. Sophomore year was supposed to be Anything Goes but it was canceled because they couldn't get enough guys.
No, it was in reference to "However, what you fail to realize is that most high schools have done all of the classic musicals (which I love), so we want something different. Just not Disney. Anything but Disney."
This should be on the student boards, because none of us adults could care less...
Most high schools have limited resources:
Budgets, available cast, support from the Principal and community, etc.
A drama teacher may want to do Les Mis but knows that her students can only pull off... I dunno, take your pick. The department may only be able to afford to do the older, cheaper musicals and plays.
I'm not sure why you made this thread.
Also, if you want rehearsals to run smoothly and to learn rehearsal techniques that will carry you through your career, check this out.
How to Rehearse Effectively
Understudy Joined: 3/22/13
I didn't know that Godspell was controversial. Is it considered blasphemous in some way, or is it just that it's religious content of any type?
I can't imagine Hair being put on by any high school director who wants to keep his job, unless it was so edited that it would not be worth doing. Either the nudity would need to be cut, which probably means a different show would have been a better choice, or the police and the pedophiles will both be out in force.
Still waiting I hear how you've done all the classics, Jay.
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