if you know a lot about musicals...
if you know a lot about musicals...
actingstar08
Chorus Member Joined: 5/4/05
#1if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 7:41pm
name all the musicals meeting these critia:
lot of stage time for ensemble
fity-ish person cast (including ensemble)
complex plot/multiple story lines
not childish, but not adult-only
preferably no racial musts
i'll add any other stipulations as i think of/recieve them. THANKS!
#2re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 7:50pmThe Wiz perfectly fits your criteria. It started out with an all black cast, but the script adjusts itself to any race. You may also like Urinetown.
#2re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 7:54pm
FIDDLER, of course.
You might want to look back at some of the older Gershwin/Porter shows: BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, for example.
110 IN THE SHADE, but the rights may be tied up.
#3re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 8:00pm
Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Hello Dolly
Bye Bye Birdie
#4re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 8:06pmumm... 42nd Street! What an amazing show- and the ensemble chorus members are pretty much the stars.
Little_Mary_Sunshine
Swing Joined: 9/9/06
#5re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 8:12pmAnything Goes is also a great choice
gumbo2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/21/05
#6re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 8:15pmGuys and Dolls, and I agree with 42nd Street and Anything Goes as well. Also...Me and My Girl.
professor
Stand-by Joined: 7/3/05
#7re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 9:49pmRagtime?
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#8re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 9:59pm
A CHORUS LINE
FAME
LES MIS
CHICAGO
Fenchurch
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/16/06
#9re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 10:01pmBye Bye Birdie
"Fenchurch is correct, as usual." - muscle23ftl
#10re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 10:04pm... Working? Maybe? Problably Anything Goes though.
#11re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 10:24pm
Titanic
actingstar08
Chorus Member Joined: 5/4/05
#12re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 10:51pmthose suggestions all really help, but what i meant by racially open, without being blunt, was that we don't have black people who can play leads.
#13re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 10:58pm
Carnival can have a big chorus, and the secondary characters are great and they blend in and out of the leads' plot so nicely. I'm biased though. It is by far my favorite musical.
Crazy for You, colorblind casting perfectly okay, big ensemble, fun subplots.
A lot of Rodgers and Hammerstein stuff can have big ensembles and be colorblind, always some fun secondary characters.
Once Upon a Mattress is a fun show that meets all of your requests, too.
#14re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 10:59pm
yeah then your best bet is definitely something like 42nd Street if you have some dance talent.
#15re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 11:19pmPlease explain how A Chorus Line can have an ensemble with 50 people....
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#16re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/22/07 at 11:22pm
Can't believe no one said Follies. Though you need a good chunk of 20somethings for the ghosts--and a cast of 50 might be a bit much...
*edit* oh wait I thought you meant the cast should be around the age of 50 *blush* oh well still could be an interesting choice.
Not a perfect musical by any means but how about Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle? COuld fit the criteria well I think
bigred3535
Chorus Member Joined: 10/10/06
#17re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:33amMusic Man fits all your criteria. Also Oklahoma, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, West Side Story etc. Look at standard shows - those are usually the ones with big, busy ensembles. Typically not too complex storylines, though.
#18re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/23/07 at 12:55amTHE SECRET GARDEN (which is not a childish show, but has children in it).
--Aristotle
ashbash1990
Broadway Star Joined: 10/15/06
#19re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/23/07 at 1:49am
Fiddler does have racial musts...Ummm... I won't go into that...
Les Miz, Sweeney, Urinetown, West side story (kind of)...
husk_charmer
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/06
#21re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/23/07 at 2:01am
"The Wiz" much as I like to pretend I can be in it, is meant to be done by African American's only...it's just an embarrasment to see a group of white people do it.
"Working" has some def. racial issues (due to time period...could be changed)
"Anyone Can Whistle," "Anything Goes," "Into the Woods," are all good options.
#22re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/23/07 at 6:07am
>> Fiddler does have racial musts...Ummm... I won't go into that
Good thing, because it would say more about you than the show. I've seen it performed a half dozen times, by everytihng from a polished Broadway cast to a mixed-race high school in Georgia, and the show supercedes any bias you might want to throw at it.
MATTRESS is an excellent choice, but 42ND STREET and CRAZY FOR YOU (and ANYTHING GOES, for that matter) are dependent on a chorus that can tap dance, which is pretty much becoming a lost art form.
WHISTLE has its own racial issues (See the first act finale, and I doubt you could rewrite the lyrics to suit).
The R&H warhorses -- CAROUSEL, OKLAHOMA, and SOUTH PACIFIC -- are all good choices, although PACIFIC needs a huge male chorus to work.
#23re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/23/07 at 7:32am
"although PACIFIC needs a huge male chorus to work"
So does HOW TO SUCCEED...
ShoshanaFan92
Swing Joined: 7/23/06
#24re: if you know a lot about musicals...
Posted: 2/23/07 at 10:23amseussical.. u may think its a bit childish sounding.. but its just such an amazingly fun show. There are so many parts and you can make the ensemble as big as you want. It's so much fun to do.
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