Weirdest Show ever done by a high school- Page 2

Posted: 8/31/04 at 2:19pm

In my junior year in High School, (long ago, in a galaxy far, far away), we did Jacques Brel is Alive and Well....which I always thought was rather daring.

[adp22]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 2:26pm

we did Applause in my high school in March 2000. This was before the CD even came out. No one had ever heard of this show. Luckily, my mom had bought the record of it in 1970. So I had to make copies of the record on an audio tape for everyone in the cast. It was such a weird show to do, but we had fun anyway.

[CurtainUp]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 2:26pm

My First HS show (that I acted in) was Little Shop, I don't find it that unusual. I think the entire think kind of plays like a comic book. (Not that that's a bad thing, our production was good).

I teched a version of "The Foreigner" which is a bit adult for high schoolers, but it was one of the most amazing productions at my HS.

[Waylon]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 2:27pm

Jo Jo...you are my Hero! :) Very well put. I would have to say that this is one of the best threads I have read in awhile.

Waylon

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 2:31pm

I still find it strange that a high school did Thoroughly Modern Millie.
It's not like it's inappropriate material, but I'm bothered by the legal issues.


Plays that high schools SHOULD NOT HAVE DONE (but actually did):

• A Chorus Line - Lots of sex talk and a song about how breast implants can get you jobs. Not to mention the fact that high schoolers generally cannot dance well.
  
• Cabaret - The worst on the list. Honestly. Why would they even consider this?
  
• Chicago - Um, murder? adultery?
  
• Grease - Teen pregnancy. Underage drinking. Drag racing. Gangs. And hey, dress like a skank and you'll get the guy. Such positive messages for high schoolers.
  
• Into the Woods - It wasn't the junior version, either. What the HELL??? High schools CANNOT DO THAT. Not only is it sexual, it's SONDHEIM. It's not easy stuff.
  
• Gypsy - It's about a STRIPPER!
  
• Les Miserables - Oh, come on. Lots of death. And high schools cannot do it justice.
  
• Little Shop of Horrors - Murder to get fame, fortune, and love. But in the end it all backfires, so I suppose it's not that bad. Abusive relationships. Sadistic dentist. Eh, I think this is probably the mildest thing on this list.
  
• Once Upon a Mattress Lying to authority, lots of sexual innuendo, illegitimate pregnancy. The kicker? I actually saw it done at a MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!
  
• West Side Story - Gangs, rape, murder, racism. The rape is often taken out, but I still think it's bizarre that this show is in high schools as often as it is.

  ---

  I starred in a short film called Magnetic Personality. Check it out!

[Fair 2 Middlin]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 2:37pm

I went to a progressive school.
In fourth grade I was in Frederico Garcia Lorca's "The Butterfly's Evil Spell".

[CurtainUp]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 2:49pm

FloweryFriend - One school in my area did Les Mis one year and the other did CHorus Line, and they were supposed to have been amazing, I didnt see them.
GRease - yes the message is awful, but the show just seems like PURE FUN. I think people could look past the mssage and just have a good time.
West Side Story is ABOUT high schoolers...
The others I agree wtih, but if you can put on a greatproduction of a tough show, why not?

[Blonde]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 3:00pm

I know of a hs in my area that did Into the Woods last year and supposedly it was very good. I can't ever see my hs doing it....but with talented people and an understanding administration it can work. :)

[mallardo]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 3:01pm

What exactly is the problem with Into the Woods? Sexual? Where? The Wolf with Red Riding Hood? The Prince's seduction of the Baker's Wife? Come on, by current standards it's tame.

[DancerGirl16]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 3:21pm

Heres a weird one:

A school by me did Zombie Prom: The musical.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 3:27pm

soryy, wrong number immediately followed by 27 wagons full of cotton (adultery and s&m...how scool appropriate)

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 4:12pm

Is Anita supposed to get raped in West Side? Is that where the rape comes in?

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 4:15pm

It said on Broadway.com that Gypsy is good for kid's to see.

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 4:15pm

My High School did Hair a while back. There was no nude scene (although I did run around backstage naked, but that had nothng to do with anything), and "Colored spade" and "sodomy" were cut, but "hashish was still there" It was thebest production Ive egver been in!!

[marebare]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 4:34pm

"Into the Woods" is one of the most performed musicals in community theater and high schools. It's not openly offensive at all. As for the difficulty of the piece, not all high schoolers are as incompetent as you apparently think. Sure, there are some bad productions of it, but you can have a bad production of any show. With a talented cast and director it can be done wonderfully.

[OhSoWicked]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 4:49pm

Pirates of Penzance

*shudder*

[adamized88]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 5:02pm

my school did "The Laramie Project" and "Cabaret" - after cabaret we had to do annie to make up for the scandal it created

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 5:04pm

I don't know what my camp's cut out, but we've done Hair and West Side Story and we're thinking of doing The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Urinetown next year.

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 5:09pm

i've heard of some high schools doing sweeney todd...kinda crazy

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 5:14pm

Anita gets attacked, but not sexually raped.

Posted: 8/31/04 at 6:32pm

wow im jealous of u "My Fair Lady". i wanna do urinetown. althogh! i think the oddest show i've ever seen done by a highschool was "joseph." its not an odd show, its just. the audience just does not comprehend. unless theres a synopsis in the program about the show. I mean, i did the show in middle school, and my parents said they loved the show, but they didnt understand.. i ended up asking EVERYONE if they understood, and they honestly answered no. I dunno. Also, i went by a community theater the other week and saw a picture of a cast of teens doing "RENT". uhm. hmmm. well first of all. Rent is an amazing show, if its done the right way. As in, singers, great cast, and staged well. I've seen rent with a bad cast, and it wasnt pretty. But never the less the lyrics are superb, but sung and performed by kids would just be awkward. Especially songs such as "Contact", or "Tango: Maureen"... which may i say are two of my favorites. But i think some directors should hold off there obsessions with the show, with kids. i mean, do something like peter pan, little shop, beauy and the beast. i dunno. it has just been bugging me since.

[i guess this is goodbye]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 6:43pm

my high is known for doing shows that it shouldn't in the past few years they have done runaways, little shop, cabaret, and a chorus line.......chorus line was my favorite because our school has no dancers! going to see it was down right painful! and this year they are thinking of doing COMPANY i mean i would love it but not for a high school, not to mention i think i am the only one in the entire school who has ever heard the show! Updated On: 8/31/04 at 06:43 PM

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 6:47pm

CurtainUp:

• I'm glad that if they were done, that they were done well.
  
• I don't personally actually have a problem with high schools doing Grease at all. I just wanted to present the negatives, as I've heard them discussed in the past. I think Grease is mad fun.
  
• Good point that WSS is about high schoolers. But the high school production I saw of it most recently was a very dark take on it. Very graphic.

Blonde

• I'm glad that ITW was done well

Mallardo

• I threw Into the Woods on the list mainly as a joke I have going with another poster. I have seen Into the Woods twice, and frankly, I don't find it very sexual at all.

My Fair Lady

• Gypsy is good for kids? That's not my take on it. Maybe it was just the production I saw, but as a junior in high school, I remember being weirded out that I was sitting next to my mother while watching it.

marebare

• First, see note to mallardo.
  
• Whoa, whoa, whoa. I NEVER said that I thought that all high schoolers were incompetent. I do not believe that at all. I was a high schooler just a couple of years ago, and I know that several of my friends would have been able to handle Into the Woods back then. In the average high school theatre department, however, there simply are not enough people that can handle Sondheim. Period. And Into the Woods has a lot of roles to fill. It's not a show that you put your best guy in the male lead, best girl in the female lead, and throw most others into an extremely large chorus. There's a lot less room for error and it is difficult material. If a high school can rock it, then more power to them. I've just never seen it done.
  
• The part about bad productions possible with any show? Point taken.

Mister Matt

• She doesn't get raped? Really? Are you sure? Well, like I said, the last production I saw was very graphic. Maybe they were just "improving on" the script.

There. Did that clear everything up? If not, please PM.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 6:54pm

I would also like to point out as a general note:
I know that most high schoolers are probably not at all bothered by sexual and violent content within their shows. When choosing a show, however, a director is not only supposed to consider the actors at hand, but also consider their audience. From my experience, high school productions tend to have many audience members that are much younger than high school age. My younger brothers always came to all of my high school shows. Think of how strange it would have be if my 10 year old brother came to watch me acting in a high school version of Marat/Sade. Not exactly a wholesome thought, now is it? With public schools especially, directors at high schools have to not only consider the actors, but the community at large.

Updated On: 8/31/04 at 06:54 PM

[Guido Contini]

Posted: 8/31/04 at 6:55pm

how can anyone who has any idea of what the bible is, not understand the story in Joseph? I mean, for pete's sake people! I found Joseph to be one of the easiet understanding shows ever. =)