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| centerstage08 |
a good show for a high schoolWhat are some good shows for high schools to do that have smallish casts? We have 3 good girls and 3 good boys and it would be great if they could all have large roles. We also have about 10 other kids who are okay. So a cast of 15-20 with 3 girl and boy leads or large supporting roles would be perfect. Any ideas? |
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| bwaybrunette21 |
The first thing that came to mind for me was YAGMCB. For girls, there's Lucy, Sally, and Snoopy could be played by a girl. For boys, there's Charlie, Linus, and Schroeder. There can also be ensemble members who are in group numbers. | ||||
| Rumpleteaze |
"Into the Woods" is a good show with lots of main/supporting roles
I don't know anything about rights but I know it has the requirments that you are looking for. |
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| MsDivaKate |
Two shows that may work with a cast that size are Godspell or Once On This Island.
Godspell can be performed by a cast of any size really. Two of the guys perhaps could be cast as Jesus and Judas (though these roles could also b e girls depending on the discretion of the director as these characters are really just representations of the figures anyways) and then the amount of apostles per production varies as well. The original was done with a cast of 10 and the current revivals had a cast of 12 (including the Jesus and Judas characters) everyone is very involved and onstage for just about the entire show. Even though the original had no TRUE ensemble, most schools add them in just as extra apostles or what not. The music is really quite simple. Check out the Godspell forum on here for more info Off the top of my head for Once On This Island I believe there are 9 real leads or supporting leads 5 female and 4 male. The ensemble is also heavily involved and there are small solos here and there for them. Traditionally this show is made to be performed with a cast of mixed races, however my sister is performing this show with an all white cast and the script offers alternative dialogue in the back in case these situations arise. These are the only two I can think of right now for some reason, but there are definitely more. |
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| centerstage08 |
We wanted to do Godspell 2 years ago but it didnt pass with the administration and a theater group I do shows with (along with 1/2 of the people who will be in our show) did Godspell a few years ago. | ||||
| CYTthespian |
into the woods and YAGMCB are definitely good choices.
also, peter pan doesn't have too many characters, if i remember correctly. you could aslo do the wizard of oz, maybe. |
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| centerstage08 |
we thought about doing Into The Woods but we would have done the jr version probably and lots of us feel the jr version isn't that good...I mean it's only the 1st act I believe. | ||||
| CYTthespian |
it is only the first act, but it's still very good. i was in it. | ||||
| what_the_heck013 |
No, no, no. There can't. And there should'nt be. Little Shop of Horrors, on the other hand, sounds more ideal. There are, off the top of my head, 4 male roles and 4 female roles, plus extras (and PUPPETEERS!) The music is fun and there are only two sets really. The main budget eater is that you need a set of Audrey II puppets, which can be rented fairly cheap. Another idea might be Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. It has six female roles (of which only 4 are big parts) and two or so male roles. I also suggest Batboy and Pippin, but only if your school is really liberal. |
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| sadie1208 |
high school productionsI think that Guys and dolls would be a good show to do. |
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| centerstage08 |
we did Little Shop 3 years ago so I don't think that would be a good pick. Cinderella was done a while back too so... | ||||
| bwaybrunette21 |
I know it wasn't in the Broadway show, but when I did it, we had a bunch of kids to be in the classroom scenes and in the opening and closing numbers, and in like some of the numbers. We also added the little yellow bird friend of Snoopy's and I just blanked on the name. Oh, we added Peppermint Patty and Marcy too, plus some chorus members had lines and names. It ended up being really good, actually. |
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| centerstage08 |
We did Snoopy last year and we add a chorus. I think since we did Snoopy we might not be able to do YAGMCB sadly. | ||||
| bwayblonde21 |
There's a show I really like but I don't think ANYONE else does lol. At least people I've talked to. It's a three act show and the first act is about Adam and Eve. The second act is my favorite it's about this barbarian kingdom and there's a princess and it's hard to explain. The third act is kind of like Cinderella except it's changed to Passionella. | ||||
| bwaybrunette21 |
^The Apple Tree. | ||||
| bwaybrunette21 |
http://www.mtishows.com/browse_cast.asp | ||||
| littlesallybrown |
They did the Apple Tree in my highschool this year and it was really good. I wasn't in it but i liked it and a good thing about it is that there are chorus numbers but you can also double roles (leads) if neccessary | ||||
| bwayblonde21 |
Yeah the one I saw was at my camp, a community theater, a year ago. We did shows and I was in the musical revue but I saw the older kids do Apple Tree. There was a girl lead and boy lead in each act and the last act, there were two girls one playing Ella the other playing Passionella. I liked it a lot because it was clever. Also, each act can have a different lead (on Broadway, the same two appeared as leads in each act) though there's also a few other parts in each act. | ||||
| IwantheGoldenTicket |
here are some shows that may or may not work:
Tick Tick Boom: it only really has 3 main characters 2 males and 1 female so idk. Treasure Island: it's all mostly pirates but i'm sure you could use girls as the pirates too. it should be a fun show, exciting sets and costumes. The World Goes Round: 3 women/ 2 men. The women should be able to dance and have strong voices. and maybe the Portable Pioneer and Prarie Show: 4 men/3 women they are also not done a lot. or at least i haven't seen them done much. it might be nice to change it up a bit or if not i think Guys and Dolls is a great idea |
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| theaterforme |
how about OUAM? | ||||
| centerstage08 |
OUAM would be awesome. But don't you need a large chorus? maybe I'm wrong. Guys and Dolls would be cool but we did it 2 years ago | ||||
| Holly |
We had a cast of twenty-two, I think, when I was in it (so maybe ten to fifteen were in the ensemble, but Fred and the Minstrel and maybe another one or two characters were double cast). I think you could probably go smaller. |
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| swmustang878 |
You should so do Wicked! That way you can mess up the cast member's voices and ensure that they never get onto Broadway! JUST KIDDING! I actually had nothing better to do so I figured I would find some topic to post in and this one came up! Seriously though, My school did Damn Yankees and MASH(I only got to see MASH) but I heard both were really good! Good Luck!!! 
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| MsDivaKate |
I love Damn Yankees, however its fairly guy heavy. |
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| dramababy500 |
Women CAN play men. I was one of the baseball players in Damn Yankees along with like 5 other girls... we taped down our boobs and kept our baseball caps on. People were really surprised at the end when we all took our hats off and let our hair down during curtain call. Because of dance numbers like Shoeless Joe, it was best that we had females in those roles... we made the guys look better.
If you're worried about a shortage of people... not only was I a baseball player but I was one of the little girls at the end of the Act I and I was in all of the dance numbers/ensemble scenes (the things you get talked into doing when your stage manager and have a smaller than average cast). |
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| what_the_heck013 |
First of all, adding characters and lines is ILLEGAL. Second, it takes away from the simplicity of the piece. I can see adding one or two girls to strengthen the harmonies and understudy a few roles, but if you add hundreds and hundreds of people it just becomes another big musical, which is not what this show is supposed to be. |
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| bwaybrunette21 |
We didn't add lines, we just gave some people some of Lucy's lines that weren't that necessary for her. It wasn't a huge show, just about 15 or 14 kids. But I didn't realize it was illegal. Wow. 
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| what_the_heck013 |
Well, yeah, that's changing the author's show. How would you like it if you had written a musical, and a bunch of high schoolers (and/or their directors) came and changed your show. Yeah. Didn't think so... kidding. But, really, it's wrong... but so is jaywalking and people do that everyday. Heck, I do that everyday. |
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| centerstage08 |
So far the best pics I think for my school are Into the Woods jr(I really don't like the jr version as much as the full but it will be easier this way) or Once Upon A Mattress if we can find enough people. How small of a cast can you have for this show and it work? We thought about YAGMCB but didnt want to add anything and it had too small of a cast. | ||||
| what_the_heck013 |
If you are looking for a "good" high school show, do the full version. If you are looking for a "mediocre" show, do the junior version. Honestly, the full one isn't that much harder. |
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| OneSongGlory |
I'd agree with Once Upon a Mattress or Little Shop of Horrors.
IN OUaM, there's Fred, Aggrivaine, and Larken as the three big femals. Then there's Minstrel, Jester, Dauntless, Harry for good guy parts, as well as other smaller supporting roles and cameo appearances. There IS an ensemble written in for the show as well, so that's good. In LSoH, there are four big female characters - Audrey and the three Urchins; for male characters, there's Audrey II, Seymour, Orin, and Mushnik. I've seen the show with a smallish ensemble, it seemed to work pretty well; there are small, camero-characters put in throughout the show, but they're all really supposed to be played by the eight main actors. Still, you can send a notice to MTI and they'd probably approve adding an ensemble/splitting the cameo roles. |
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| centerstage08 |
We did Little Shop 3 years ago so we can't do that. Any other ideas? | ||||
| bwaybrunette21 |
In Mattress, the lead girls are Fred, Aggravain, and Larken but the guy leads are Dauntless, Harry, and Sextimus. Minstrel and Jester can be girls or guys but the Minstrel is more important as a guy. Jester could be a girl. |
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| MsDivaKate |
Perhaps you could help us out by posting a list of the shows that you have done, so we're not suggesting the same things over and over. |
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| centerstage08 |
The shows we have done recently are:
Little Shop Snoopy Cinderella Guys And Dolls The Music Man Beauty and The Beast Annie those are the last few years |
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| what_the_heck013 |
What about Grease? That has two male leads and two female leads and three male supporting roles and three female supporting roles, plus several cameo and small roles. Grease can be easily done on large or small stages. It is a fun show and will sell so many tickets. | ||||
| centerstage08 |
Grease needs a large-ish ensemble...we can have maybe a cast of 20 if we get lucky. | ||||
| bwayblonde21 |
Well there's...
Sandy, Danny Rizzo, Kenickie Marty, Sonny Jan, Roger Frenchy, Doody Patty, Eugene Miss Lynch, Teen Angel Johnny Casino, Vince Fontaine Cha Cha So that's seventeen... (Tell me if I'm missing anyone!) And you could probably have three people in ensemble. |
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| what_the_heck013 |
Gosh, Miss Negative. If you keep shooting down ideas yer school ain't gonna' have no musical. What ideas do you like? |
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| Live to perform008 |
Okay I go to Center's school. In fact she's my bestfriend. She isn't a negative person she just has very particular want for our show. She likes what she likes and that's all that will be good enough. Real theater geeks are always like that when they get to choose the next musical. BTW. Learn some Grammer. |
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| MsDivaKate |
What the heck has fine grammar, he was being sarcastic and chose to use that language. However many many people have suggested help and received little to no positive feedback. Which was why I asked to see a list of the shows, to save us all some time. |
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| centerstage08 |
Your guys suggestions have been helpful. I think the best pics are Into The Woods Jr. or Once Upon a Mattress for our group. Thanks for the suggestion but please keep 'em comin'. | ||||
| what_the_heck013 |
Yes, it was done on purpose I can actually talk like a human being... and I do too! Just please don't do Into the Woods JR (at a high school)!!!! It's fine and well at elementary and middle schools (I've seen two excellent productions of the junior version), but I know you are much better than that.  Pleeeeeeeeeeease!!! (the extra e's and !'s were added for dramatic effect).
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| centerstage08 |
I would prefer to do the full version of Into the Woods but is it more difficult. How small of a cast can you pull off this show with?
Thanks again everyone for all the help |
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| what_the_heck013 |
Well, you can have a TON of doubling. The narrator, the mysterious man, one or both of the princes, the wolf, the steward, cinderella's father, Cinderella's mother, the giants, grandmother, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, one or both stepsisters, Rapunzel, and milky white. can all be doubled with other characters or eachother. As for the difficulty, I don't necesarilly agree. Stephen Sondheim said something on that documentary where the kids put on ITW jr. about how when you hand an adult a piece of his music they something to the effect of "Oh, Stephen Sondheim! That's difficult". But when you hand a child his music and they begin to learn it, to them it's just a song and it's fun--not difficult. Honestly, if you have a talented school with atleast two talented actresses, you can pull of the full version of Into the Woods. |
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| centerstage08 |
Well if we can get the roles doubled right than it just might work out all right. I love Into The Woods and it would be great to do it. Does anyone have any ideas of how to double the roles and it work all right tho...I don't want it to get messy where people are running backstage to change for a scene that's 1 min after there scene. | ||||
| what_the_heck013 |
I did some research. Here is the doubling from various productions.
1986 Old Globe: Narrator / Wolf / Steward Florinda / Rapunzel Mysterious Man / Cinderella's Father Cinderella's Mother / Grandmother / Wolf / Giant 1987 Broadway: Narrator / Mysterious Man Cinderella's Mother / Grandmother / Giant Wolf / Cinderella's Prince Every other main production has been a variation on the 1987 Broadway. I also saw a production in which Florinda and Lucinda doubles as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. In this case they said their line "And Eat First" as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, not Florinda and Lucinda. |
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| centerstage08 |
Thanks a ton. It's crazy but crazy enough it might work. | ||||
| centerstage08 |
Has anyone seen Clue the Musical? One of my friends saw it and said it was a fun show and from what I've read it seems cool but I don't know what the music is like. So what do you guys think of it? | ||||
| what_the_heck013 |
I've never seen it, and there is no cast recording. I have heard that the music, book, and lyrics are awful. | ||||
| Ep-Griz-Reno |
Yeah, the songs are srgfsdg...but the whole storyline and the way it works is SO neat Audience interactive Ummm there's a different ending everytime...I've always thought that was really neat |
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| what_the_heck013 |
The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the same way. It's based off an unfinished Charles Dickens novel by the same name.... Actually, it has a pretty small cast. There is only one lead role really, but lots of supportings. Perhaps it may work out for you. |
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| Ep-Griz-Reno |
Oooo sounds neat! Better music than clue, I suppose?? |
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| what_the_heck013 |
Lightyears. And oodles of fun for high schoolers. I wish my school would do it. We put on good quality shows, but our director(s) suck at choosing them. In the past we've done Bye Bye Birdie  , Little Shop  , The Sound of Music , and Our Town... Edwin Drood=
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| MaryMag |
Chevstriss was in it. Ask her about it. |
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| Live to perform008 |
Our director is pretty bad at choosing musicals too. The last one was Elves and the shoemaker but that could have been just because she was uber pregnant. Another problem we have is that we have to paint and make(parts) the set too (plus costumes of course) and usually it's only a few people staying to help (for EATS we painted an entire wood set). So please please please suggest musicals that are sorta easy to set up. | ||||
| OneSongGlory |
In conclusion, you're stupid and shouldn't make fun of other people for being stupid when you make more mistakes writing than they do. Also, I'd like to add that you spelled grammar wrong. Good job 
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| simplysar |
For anyone looking for a great musical i would deffinitely recomend Zombie prom! it's my absolute favorite and i love all the songs. theres good parts to and enough room for a big chorus or a small chorus. Places on a low budget could probably manage to perform it | ||||
| TheNextTenMinutes |
I would put what you're saying up for deabte, what_the_heck...most highschools I've seen struggle through the junior version of Into the Woods. I think it is a fantastic way to shorten the show, it's sweet, short and ends abruptly but well. I would never pooh-pooh it, especially as a production for a high school.
To be honest, I think wanting to do the full version is fairly ambitious. Settle for doing something easier so that you guys will look better. I find quite a few of the songs in Into the Woods very musically challenging, and they require a good range. Speaking of which, thank God no one has suggested the Les Miserables school edition. I've noted (around where I live, don't know if it's the same in the states) that high school are getting more and more ambitious and extravangant with their productions. The outshot of it is that many teenagers end up attempting stuff they are nowhere near vocally OR acting-wise, ready to do. More often than not the shows can fall flat on their face, ergardless of how much parents enjoy seeing their little darlings onstage. I think going the old-fashioned, easy route is better. It's less hassle for teachers and students, and those pupils that are ready for other challenges should seek outside drama clubs. Just my opinion, but from what I've seen, I think you should K.I.S.S. |
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| MsDivaKate |
Agreed so completely! Another pet peeve of mine is high schoolers doing Aida 
Although I have to say, Beauty and the Beast is one of few recently released shows that I find high school appropriate. If you are able to fund the set and the costumes, its very easily accessible to young vocalists/actors. Though I'm not suggesting it now. Just saying its one of the few "new" shows that can work for young performers. |