They Killed it

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They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 1:50pm

Hey guys, are any of you tired of your schools destroying good theatre?

Honestly my school is doing Once Upon a Mattress and I don't care that I don't have a good part but the people who have the leads I thought to myself like they should specifically not play that part or should play another.

Princess Winifred looks 20 years older then everyone else
Dauntless is flaming (not that anything is wrong with that lol its a show)
The Queen looks 4 next to Winnifred
Sir Henry (is that his name lol) can't hit the notes!

Hence I bring you to the topic of this discussion: they killed it!

When someone blunders, we say that he makes a misstep. Is it then not clear that all the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill our history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill in dancing. - Moliere

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 2:17pm

I go to a performing arts school... sorry!

"The stage is where I live and come alive and act out all the things that go on in my life. It's not just what I do for a living, it's my shrink and my love affair. No one in my life has ever or ever will kiss me on the mouth like this lover called my relationship with my performance."

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 2:25pm

At my school, almost every grade has to perform a show but last year the tenth grade performed Our town. Oh wait the show is bad to begin with. Nevermind.

"At the opening night party, they had clowns on stilts, jugglers, a chocolate fountain, popcorn, hot dogs. [My son] looked at me like I had been holding back. Like, 'This is what you do?' I had to tell him, 'No, no, darling. Opening nights don't usually look like this.' It's usually a dark bar with a bottle of vodka." ?Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Jan Maxwell plus i proudly share the title of the shortest member over the age of 10 with wickedrentq!

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 2:37pm

My high school (I graduated last year) is doing Man of La Mancha this spring. They have about 3 or 4 guys that are good, but about double that amount in girls. Great idea for a show lol...

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 2:53pm

Well our school has the opposite problem: Look the part and the rest will fall into place. But our school is quite talented, so you have to qualify to look the part. It has caused some problems in past years. People being robbed of roles because they didn't fit the profile to a tee. I suppose thats the way it is in the real world but only of a fraction of the kids in our productions go on to be musical theater majors. Oh drama drama.

If you limit your choices to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise."- Robert Fritz

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 3:37pm

So far, our high school hasn't come close to butchering any production. Actually, we did Les Miserables when it was first released as a student edition, and you know how there were all those cuts made to the professional production (most noticeably, a whole verse of Come to Me)? Well, most of the parts that were cut from the professional production were in there, and the Thenardiers and Gavroche were better than the last professionals I saw. So I'm happy.

But now we have come almost to the end. One last step. And then, when I take power, they will be pulled down and ground into dirt for what they did to you. And what they did in so contemptuously underestimating me.

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 3:39pm

Yeah, my school is extremely talented. The students involved in Playshop (our "drama club") get routinely accepted to the best performing arts schools in the country. Then again, I go to a private school, so students in Playshop are serious/focused on performing arts. So I can't relate at all!

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 3:49pm

Ugh. My school used to have the best drama coach (my private teacher now in fact). But the principal and her got into a fight, and then they cut out most of the money from the budget to have an actual good play. We never do musicals (we did MAME and Guys and Dolls and the Pajama Game before the budget cut). But last year they did an original comedy show, just released called 'is there a comic in the house?' It was an OK show. Yet, the kids who were acting had such cliche movements and were NOT actos. It was fun to see my friends (this is the high school and I'm much younger, so I can't even be in the plays yet) try, especially my next door nieghbor dress in drag as a has-been star.

I am deeply saddened by the fact that we have a slipping drama program. But it's ok since I'm in one outside of school. But I also am saddened that the teachers tell all the class clowns that they would make GREAT ACTORS. I want to yell at them, because actor and stand up comedian, however alike, are not the same.

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 6:58pm

My school usually puts togeher pretty decent shows from a producion stand point leads the kids as far as they can before they have to let them go on their own, and "do their thing" and when that happens, sadly, the shows just fall apart. I mean usually they look great (sets, costumes, lighting) and we have a nice theatre w/ big wings and fly space, but the kids just SUCK sometimes. and you know, 1 kid can be really great in their solo number, but once its over you're just drug right back down into crappy acting & campy singing. Hopefully I'll be going to a Performing/Visual Arts High School next year, and im excited!!

#10

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:02pm

I am proud to say that my school does an outstanding job with the spring musical every single year. I have never been able to be part of the show, however, until this year because the director (our school's drama teacher) didn't like me and never cast me. Four years of auditioning and never even making chorus! We brought in a professional director this year, though, and I finally made it. Yay!

#11

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:04pm

I don't think anything can beat the high school production I saw of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF with a very thin, Asian Tevye.

But the weird thing is, it kinda worked.

Because everyone else didn't look the part either.

The daughters couldn't look more Gentile if they tried.

"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."

The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.

Updated On: 12/22/04 at 07:04 PM

#12

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:07pm

Our plays usually come together pretty well. They just did Arsenic and Old Lace, and there were few weak moments. I thought it was excelent for a High School show. The shows turn out well. Beore I came to the school, they did Into The Woods. It was well cast. Since it was a small show, everyone was talented. Two years back, someone wrote a show for our spring musical. It was preformed in NY, proably off-off-off Broadway, but still... I don't think we have a school buget, or if we do, its virtually non-existant. Our shows are run by ads in the "playbill", tickets, and subcriptions.

#13

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:19pm

It's high school! There's no such thing as perfect casting in high school.

"Do you know what pledge time is, Andrew"? said the PBS Executive. "Yes", Lloyd Webber replied. "My 50th birthday special must be one program that gets done a lot." "No", mused the man from PBS heedlessy. "Not so much. Our Stephen Sondheim Carnegie Hall concert. That's a big one." Spoons, forks and knives seemed suddenly to suspend their motion in horror, all around the table.

#14

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:22pm

I saw a porduction of Grease that was so bad it was painful. I wanted to cry. Of course, Grease is not that hard to ruin to begin with

#15

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:30pm

For the past two years I have been in charge of my school's theatre department so we are lucky.

Nex year I graduate...an my school is screwed.

David walked into the valley With a stone clutched in his hand He was only a boy But he knew someone must take a stand There will always be a valley Always mountains one must scale There will always be perilous waters Which someone must sail -Into the Fire Scarlet Pimpernel

#16

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:34pm

This is pretty hard to believe. I want to know exactly what some of you mean when you say you can't relate at all to someone who's school's play productions are much worse than the Original show. Especially the one who said his High-school productions we're great because he goes to an Arts school. It's highschool... Every highschool performance i've seen, and i've seen many, lack the stage and equipment, the professionalism and the all-around incredible cast to ever even be compared to professional shows... even the Arts highschools that are extremely hard to get into. So is this just Miami? Are high-school plays everywhere else less unbearible?

#17

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:34pm

I saw a production of Grease without choreography and major lack of talent. I was in pain. My mom left at intermission to buy me sweatpants.

#18

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:34pm

WOW and we think very highly of ourselves. Maybe someone else will be just as good or maybe, god forbid ...better.

#19

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:35pm

The Arts Magnet school here in Dallas puts on some really ****ty shows.

"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."

The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.

#20

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:40pm

I'm not saying casting is perfect, far from it. Some characters fall flat.

I just think High School shows need to be taken with a grain of salt. I always look to see if it feels like the preformers want to be there. Thats always something important.

#21

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:41pm

No seriously... we're all pretty good at reviewing here so what specifically makes some of your Magnet high school shows so good? ...b/c I always thought it impossible to put together a close-to-professional show with a limited amount of actors to choose from, much less teenagers.

#22

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:41pm

Jon-I go to a school with 50 students grades 6-12.
There are two people interested in acting me and a current tenth grader. I believe that the tenth grader would be PERFECT except for the fact that he doesn't do musical theatre and that my school will ONLY do musical theatre(It really is a shame).

The only other kid who could do it is a current ninth grader, but he is only interested in being in control of tech(which he is GREAT at) and does not want to even be part of the acting thing.

#23

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 7:52pm

I dont go to a Magent school. I go to a public school that does shows with small casts and has about 30-50 people really interested in musical theater, and enough per grade that can sing well enough to give passable high school preformances. I haven't taken the theater class yet, but I've heard its good.

#24

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 8:02pm

You're lucky- my lovely drama director (she left, finally) cast a girl as the king in the The King and I...

enough said.

#25

re: They Killed it

Posted: 12/22/04 at 8:04pm

My high school is pretty large, so there is definitely a handful of students that are excellent, at least vocally, and a larger handful that can act, or at least have stage presence. My senior year (2000) we did West Side Story, which was quite amusing since we seriously lacked any male talent, not to mention any guys that could dance (we had one and he was EXHAUSTED at the end of the show

) The one major problem I had was the fact that they really took the issue of looks into consideration. There was one boy who would've been perfect for Tony- great actor, beautiful tenor voice, only problem was he was overweight. They ended up giving it to another guy, very skinny, but DEFINITELY had a much lower voice..they transposed some of his songs, but his duets with Maria (a beautiful soprano) were somewhat scary, and she had to hold back her voice on the high notes so she could be somewhat balanced with his falsetto! What do you guys think about taking looks over talent at the high school level? I think they'd probably get enough of that once out in the real world, at least give them a chance to shine in a low-budget high school production!

"Hey Joey McIntyre, is there a balcony in Madison Square Garden? Joey knows his venues a little better than me. That's okay...I have a bigger part on broadway...:)" -Idina Menzel

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