MackenzieDunn
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A Good Musical for High School....Okay, here is our situation:
We just came off a TERRIBLE year in our High School Theater Department. Our director was crazy, literally, no really, crazy. She was fired and... I'm not getting into it. ANYWAYS second semester we had a marvelous wonderful director... but she was unavailable to return this year up coming year.
LUCKILY we got this new director (for the entire year  ) and he's really wonderful. We are meeting tomorrow to decide what musical we're going to put on in the fall.
Here's what he's looking for:
1) Big elaborate set
2) A good ensemble (lot's of numbers with an ensemble)
3) High School Appropriate
Any ideas for a musical we could do?
Thank you so much in advance for your help! I really appreciate it!
Also:
Here are some musicals we've done recently... wouldn't be good for repeats
Les Mis
Beauty & the Beast
Wizard of Oz
Throughly Modern Millie
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mastachen
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West Side Story?
Les Miserables SE
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Mungojerrie_rt
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I don't know how appropriate 'approropriate' is but nontheless,
Chicago
Rent
Cats
Producers, but that only has one female character.
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nabla
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Guys and Dolls, it's practically compulsory that you do Guys and Dolls as a musical in school.
Kiss Me Kate, big cast, great score
The Pajama Game, lots of characters plus factory worker ensemble
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PappyCat
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Once Upon a Mattress
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mastachen
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Ahh sorry! Didn't know you guys already did Les Mis.
I don't think rights are out for high schools to do Chicago and Cats. I'm not very sure.
If you have the right student body, Ragtime is an awesome show that requires a huge cast and tones of spectacle.
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Nettik
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I know the rights are out for "CATS," saw a community/high school group do it pretty recently. Maybe you could do one of these?
The Music Man (way overdone right now, but fun and upbeat!)
West Side Story (but there is a LOT of dancing and there's an attempted rape scene near the end, plus a death by gunshot, if your school's sort of uptight about that stuff)
Aida (not one of my favorites, but there are a good few roles and there's a need for an ensemble, plus I'm certain it's licensed)
Beauty and the Beast (if you have a very large budget)
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ActingDude17
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| Nettik wrote: | | Beauty and the Beast (if you have a very large budget) |
They've already done BatB.
But I agree with PappyCat. Once Upon A Mattress would be a good choice.
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Salome
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Titanic
Brigadoon
Oliver
Pickwick
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Luc
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Once Upon a Mattress!
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jackissensational
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| Mungojerrie_rt wrote: | I don't know how appropriate 'approropriate' is but nontheless,
Chicago
Rent
Cats
Producers, but that only has one female character. |
Dude, could you have thought of any more risque shows?  Lookin' for "high school appropriate," remember?
Some schools would be down with those shows (most all when it comes to Cats,) but not many.
Matress sounds good!
Annie? Sets, though... 
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Mungojerrie_rt
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Thats why I said I wasn't sure. Different people have standards of tame shows. Chicago is not that bad really. It's sex by 20s standards which means they still where more than some people do wali=king down the street nowadays.
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Destined4TheStage
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i go to a catholic school and let me tell you we have the same problems.. some shows we hvae done are (we're a small school)
-the sound of music( you can get pretty elaborate with sets in this.. and if done right they are great!)
-kiss me kate
-grease
-a chorus line (this actually turned out to be one of our best shows)
-Once Upon A Mattress( always a good school for high schools.)
well i have always wished to go to a bigger school so i could do more elaborate musicals so consider urself lucky.
if i could do any shows i would do.
guys and dolls
west side story
anything goes
urinetown
carousel
thoroughly modern millie
42nd street
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bway_lvr
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-Peter Pan
-Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat(although public schools might not allow this)
-Mame
-Once Upon a Mattress
-Kiss Me, Kate
Oh, and btw, mad props for doing Millie...I adore that show! 
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Mungojerrie_rt
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Why would a public school not allow Joseph?
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Amber
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^ Probably the whole religious thing. I'm not super familiar with Joseph, only that all the characters are pretty much taken from the Bible. Public schools, what with the whole church and state separation thing, might not take to producing a Biblical Rock Opera.
Anyway, for suggestions:
South Pacific
Hello, Dolly!
Guys & Dolls
Annie Get Your Gun
R&H Cinderella (HUGE ensemble, can have super elaborate sets)
Meet Me In St. Louis
Once Upon A Mattress
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star2ballie
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| Mungojerrie_rt wrote: | | Why would a pubic school not allow Joseph? |
hehehehhehe
sorry, sixth grade moment
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Brock07
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The Music Man
Crazy for You
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LittleGavroche
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The Secret Garden is a lovely ensemble show. Plenty to do. And sets can be elaborate or simple as need be.
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bway_lvr
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| star2ballie wrote: | | Mungojerrie_rt wrote: | | Why would a pubic school not allow Joseph? |
hehehehhehe
sorry, sixth grade moment |
haha, I just noticed that....
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rcs
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Maybe Bye Bye Birdie?
And I second Pajama Game, WSS, KMK, and G&D.
Maybe Damn Yankees, if no one's suggested that yet.
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Tumnus1031
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| Quote: | South Pacific
Hello, Dolly!
Guys & Dolls
Annie Get Your Gun
R&H Cinderella (HUGE ensemble, can have super elaborate sets)
Meet Me In St. Louis
Once Upon A Mattress |
That right there is the showlist of every other highschool in America.  Our school's done the first, the fourth, the fifth, and our director is thinking about doing two and three.
I'd suggest Into the Woods, but there's not usually a large ensemble. You could definitely add one if you wanted, but they wouldn't get a lot of singing time.
My school did Camelot one year, and though I didn't see it, it did really well. You could try that, I bet.
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TheMusicMan67
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Into the Woods is nice - big cast, big sets, a few big production numbers.
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TheMusicMan67
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If you want to be really daring, try something out of Britain, like "Metropolis" or "Pendragon" - or perhaps "The Civil War" or "The Scarlet Pimpernel".
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littlemisstheatregirl
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I think Once Upon a Mattress would be a really good choice.
How about Fame?
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fjays
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| TheMusicMan67 wrote: | | Into the Woods is nice - big cast, big sets, a few big production numbers. |
Well, its got a medium cast but no chorus work..
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wickedlover4ever
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Umm here is a list i thought of:
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (We did it last year for our school muscial)
South Pacific
Wicked (It might be a little hard but there is your alaborate set and great ensemble! )
9 to 5 (I havent seen it though and it is new so you could check it out though)
Phantom of the Opera... Just Kidding unless you wanted to I have never heard of any school do that musical.. oh well
The Lion King (by chance maybe?)
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idTAPthat89
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Anything Goes
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idTAPthat89
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| wickedlover4ever wrote: | Umm here is a list i thought of:
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (We did it last year for our school muscial)
South Pacific
Wicked (It might be a little hard but there is your alaborate set and great ensemble! )
9 to 5 (I havent seen it though and it is new so you could check it out though)
Phantom of the Opera... Just Kidding unless you wanted to I have never heard of any school do that musical.. oh well
The Lion King (by chance maybe?) |
The rights aren't out for half of these shows ftr ^
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ActingDude17
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| wickedlover4ever wrote: | Wicked (It might be a little hard but there is your alaborate set and great ensemble! )
Phantom of the Opera... Just Kidding unless you wanted to I have never heard of any school do that musical.. oh well
The Lion King (by chance maybe?) |
LMAO.
There's a reason why you haven't ever heard of any school do POTO. There's this little thing that you need to get called the rights.
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wickedlover4ever
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Thats why i said just kidding and i didnt know it was just a mistake
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SmallTownIngenue
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Bye Bye Birdie sounds perfect for you. My high school did it last year. It's really not my favorite musical by any means, but it has the potential for a cool set and a big ensemble, and it's very high-school friendly, especially if your director is like our director and tries to cut as many sexual/drug/alcohol references as possible.
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danjor.broadway
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Pajama game
Once upon a matress.
All good shows.
I would also suggest looking at MTI And seeing what they have available. Because many shows that some people are suggesting dont even have the rights available yet.
Good luck!
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xelasama
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I vote West Side Story! My high school is doing that for our spring musical and I cant wait! I'm definitely going to be on set construction . You could also do Hairspray. (yeah, I know I'm really late  )
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Actor4010
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URINETOWN
FOOTLOOSE
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
SEUSSICAL
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Gwen
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Anything Goes came to mind.
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Bombateazer
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Zombie Prom maybe?
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christinadaae
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| Bombateazer wrote: | | Zombie Prom maybe? |
Haha.
We did Zombie Prom with only a drop and a table.
Anyway.....
I say Pajama Game or Anything Goes.
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Kashi
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I'm new, so I haven't read what everyone else has posted, but our high school did pretty big musicals at least (and our casts were large too). A few I can remember are:
SEUSSICAL: The Musical
The Wiz
Children of Eden
And this year we're doing Urinetown (which I'm suprised we could do)
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bobso3
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Beauty and the Beast hands down.
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