What's the best amateur performance of a musical you have ever seen?

[mormonsandglindas]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 1:39am

I saw a community theater production of The Producers in Rialto, CA last summer. That was by far the best amateur musical theater performance I have ever seen.

Updated On: 5/23/16 at 01:39 AM

[nolanativeny]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 7:42am

When I was in high school I (and maybe others on here too can add more info) was at International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska in either 2007 or 2008 and I saw a high school production of Miss Saigon that was pretty incredible. I think they even had a helicopter...and this was a high school!

[mamaleh]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 8:29am

Plays in the Park in Edison, New Jersey, shows consistent high quality in all their summer productions. One that especially stands out was their production of SHE LOVES ME several years ago.  Absolutely top notch.  Not surprising that some of their performers have gone on to professional acting careers.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 8:38am

I saw a production of Floyd Collins at a small, semi-professional company that was breathtaking. They obviously didn't have much money, but the direction was imaginative and the actor playing Floyd hopefully went on to become a professional actor. He was excellent.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 8:52am

The one that first comes to mind was one I saw a couple of years ago -- Rent at the Frank Sinatra School for the Arts in Astoria. Amazing kids!

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 9:13am

Ignite's "Wild Party" in Denver.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 9:17am

Saw a rather great production of Young Frankenstein in Park City Utah last November 

[Crazy NooNooHead]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 9:54am

LizzieCurry said: "The one that first comes to mind was one I saw a couple of years ago -- Rent at the Frank Sinatra School for the Arts in Astoria. Amazing kids!"

I saw that too! My friend's brother played Roger (although it was double cast, so you might not have seen him). I agree; it was a great production.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 10:04am

I don't remember which day I went, but during Today 4 U, one of Angel's drumsticks broke and he just caught the other part and carried on with three drumsticks. :)

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 10:08am

A high school/college production of Les mis as bam in LaGrange Illinois.

[Sertzo19]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 10:10am

There's an Illinois High School Theater Fest every year and they hold auditions across all high schools in the state to put together a show. When I was a senior in HS they put on an INCREDIBLE production of Parade. It was breathtaking and beautiful! The casting and the acting was spectacular and the Come Up To My Office number chilled me to the bone. Fun fact... Phillipa Soo, yes THAT Phillipa Soo played Lucille Frank and the moment she stepped onto that stage I knew she was going to be a star. Such a beautiful performance. 

There's also a regional theater in Chicago called the Porchlight Music Theater and they have put on some great shows the last couple of years. Last season they put on a production of the revival of Side Show and it was so good it was better than the Broadway revival. They're doing Dreamgirls right now and that production was very intimate and scaled back, but incredible in its own right. 

[StephieElise]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 10:13am

Most of the productions I did in high school were at best good and at worst awful (e.g. the original musical we did or our gendered reversed Hamlet - of course the only shows that were recorded!), but our production of Fiddler on the Roof when I was in year 8 was really something special. We even won awards for best junior production, male lead and female lead in the state. It was the last production for our Tevye and Golde (plus our director) and they did truly amazing performances. I finally saw a professional production this year and thought those 17 year olds rivalled Anthony Warlow and Sigrid Thornton. It was my first show and while I was only in the ensemble as one of the babies of the cast it remains my favourite show that I've done.

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 10:57am

There was a production of Next to Normal directed by Stephen Santa at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library last year. It was community theater or non-equity professional, but so well-received that Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey came out to attend it, as did Anthony Rapp.

[SharpLapel]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 11:44am

IN THE HEIGHTS performed by the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, a public magnet high school. The students clearly connected with the material and loved doing it. Because of their heartfelt exuberance and emotional energy, I preferred this version to the Broadway mounting.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 12:54pm

Bailiwick's production of Violet a few years ago was stunning.  Saw it three times.

[ZellMorrowsPledge]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 2:03pm

In The Heights at Miami Children's Theatre

[Ranger Tom]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 4:53pm

Altarena Playhouse in Alameda, CA did a beautiful Fantasticks back in the early 70s.  The now-closed Magic Circle in Roseville, CA did a phenomenal Drowsy Chaperone a few years ago.  Garbeau's Dinner Theater in Sacramento did a dynamite Rocky Horror Show about 10 years ago.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 8:49pm

"Floyd Collins" as Ithaca College in the spring of 2010, stunning, it took my breath away.  And a very different venue: a community theater production of "The Rink" in NJ in the late 90s, visiting friends, that was startlingly good, as persuasive a case for the material as Chita and Liza provided.  

[pg1287]

Posted: 5/23/16 at 10:36pm

Long-time lurker, first-time poster!

Our local theater group Stagecrafters (Royal Oak, MI) consistently puts on productions of exceptional quality. Their recent production of Avenue Q was just as good as when I saw it in Las Vegas years ago.

[KCW]

Posted: 5/24/16 at 7:11am

For some reason In the Heights translates really well to amateur stages if they have reasonable talent and set.  Perhaps it that people can really connect to it and it's a good balance of humor and drama. Whatever it is, it works.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 5/24/16 at 8:39am

My daughter's former HS is a school of the arts and years after they graduated we saw them do a performance of "The Color Purple" that was awesome.

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 5/24/16 at 10:06am

@ Sertzo19 - I had many friends in that production of Parade and the affinity they have for it when they talk about it is unlike anything else. Years later, most of that cast is professionally working and they still consider it a highlight of their career.  I wouldnt call Porchlight Amateur in the slightest though, they are an equity theatre employing several AEA performers. They do great work though and I cannot wait for Scottsboro Boys next year.

 

@MisterMatt I was a huge fan of Bailiwick, which has sadly recently folded. Their Passing Strange and Dessa Rose were both highlights of recent theatre seasons for me.

 

There is an excellent semi-professional theatre in Chicago called Big Noise who I've thankfully gotten to collaborate with many times. They did a production of Sunday in the Park with George a few years ago and basically recreated the revival staging projections and all. It was a passion project of sorts for the director and it is to this day the best non professional show I have ever seen. The cast was uniformly excellent (Emilie Lynn from the international Phantom tour, then unknown, played one of the Celeste's) and they had multiple projectors and it was just breathtaking

[Sertzo19]

Posted: 5/24/16 at 12:51pm

Theatreboy49 said: "@ Sertzo19 - I had many friends in that production of Parade and the affinity they have for it when they talk about it is unlike anything else. Years later, most of that cast is professionally working and they still consider it a highlight of their career.  I wouldnt call Porchlight Amateur in the slightest though, they are an equity theatre employing several AEA performers. They do great work though and I cannot wait for Scottsboro Boys next year."

Thank you for the correction on Porchlight. I think I misinterpreted amateur as regional/small theater. They really do put on fantastic shows. I am ridiculously excited to see Scottsboro Boys as well! That production of Parade was truly something special. I can't help but compare any other productions I see of that show to the IHSTF one. It really was spectacular, that cast was full of talent. Glad to see that it produced some stars as well. 

[Hellob]

Posted: 5/24/16 at 1:30pm

KCW said: "For some reason In the Heights translates really well to amateur stages if they have reasonable talent and set.  Perhaps it that people can really connect to it and it's a good balance of humor and drama. Whatever it is, it works.

 

"

Agreed, I saw it at the Westchester theater and I liked it more than the OBC. I generally like their productions but the food is terrible and the ticket price is close to the price of a discount code Broadway show. They really overvalue the food. 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 5/24/16 at 8:21pm

The Sayville Musical Workshop did a brilliant production of Hello, Dolly! In 1971.