aworthyboyishe
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Into The Woods.. with a chorusMy high school really wants to do do this show.. however, we have a really bloody stupid policy regarding our chorus. We have to allow whoever wants to be in the chorus to do it, because we're not allowed to cut people out. 
In effect, our choruses are obnoxious and loud.
We have the voices to do the show, we just don't have enough roles.
Is it possible to add a chorus in? I couldn't think of a way.. but I've heard its been done before.
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MusicalGal1194
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You could probably manage putting a chorus in these songs:
"Into the Woods" in Act I
"Into the Woods" in Act II
"First Midnight" in Act I
"Second Midnight" in Act II
The Cinderella's Wedding scene/ "Ever After" - end of Act I
Maaaaybe as sort of a back up chorus singing like "oohs" and "aahs in the background during
"No One is Alone"
but that's a stretch.
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ConverseSneaker
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Re: Into The Woods.. with a chorus | aworthyboyishe wrote: | My high school really wants to do do this show.. however, we have a really bloody stupid policy regarding our chorus. We have to allow whoever wants to be in the chorus to do it, because we're not allowed to cut people out.
In effect, our choruses are obnoxious and loud.
We have the voices to do the show, we just don't have enough roles.
Is it possible to add a chorus in? I couldn't think of a way.. but I've heard its been done before. |
Same here. Our school isn't big enough to do cuts for musicals or sports. Well, my school did and we were relatively lucky because we only had four people left over at the end.
some ideas of what they could be:
I've heard of dwarves(seven people come out with Snow-White at the end or I've heard of dwarves carrying the dead offstage  )
the 3 Little Pigs for Hello Little Girl. I personally dislike it, but it was done in the revival.
Birds-have some people be Cinderella's birds.
Trees-my school did trees. They were onstage with the tree sets and for scene changes they'd twirl around into new places, held the tower in place, and were interactable basically.
Then your non-speaking parts: Milky-White, Sleeping Beauty, Snow-White(and if you want to make them people instead of props)the Harp, the Hen, Birds, etc.
Another production I saw had people holding flags and banners at Cinderella's wedding during the finale and moved set pieces around.
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what_the_heck013
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I saw a lovely college production in which they had a chorus of about five of these forest elves. The narrator was made to look like an elf, too, and he was the one telling the story to the elves. Their job was to sorta play with the audience before the show and at intermission and also do the live scene changes (as it was a theatre-in-the-round).
But if you have to add more than 5-10 people I would really suggest doing a different musical. ITW was written to be an intimate chamber musical so having too big a cast is just no good. It's frequently performed in college and community theatre so you'll get a chance to do it again in life.
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aworthyboyishe
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It just gets really annoying.. we can't do anything very professional... because we have to allow EVERYONE to participate.
For instance, we did Grease this year... our chorus numbered upwards of 50. It was loud, crass, and off key....
| Quote: | | I saw a lovely college production in which they had a chorus of about five of these forest elves. The narrator was made to look like an elf, too, and he was the one telling the story to the elves. Their job was to sorta play with the audience before the show and at intermission and also do the live scene changes (as it was a theatre-in-the-round). |
Interesting. Do they have any lines in the show itself?
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ConverseSneaker
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| aworthyboyishe wrote: | It just gets really annoying.. we can't do anything very professional... because we have to allow EVERYONE to participate.
For instance, we did Grease this year... our chorus numbered upwards of 50. It was loud, crass, and off key....
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50?  I agree, don't do Into the Woods. Find another show. That's just too many.
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Baker
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| MusicalGal1194 wrote: | Maaaaybe as sort of a back up chorus singing like "oohs" and "aahs in the background during
"No One is Alone"
but that's a stretch. |
Even if you absolutely must add a chorus (yes, it can be done; no, it's not recommended) do not do this please. That would destroy the song.
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what_the_heck013
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What about Maury Yestson's Titanic? It's made to be a big musical with a big set and a big cast.
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aworthyboyishe
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Titanic = Too dramatic for my school. And the sets too complicated. And this.. and that.
Our directors aren't the best..
they try..
but they try to please everyone.
It doesn't work. For instance........
Grease... Beauty School Drop Out.
We had alot of leftover girls that thought they could sing.. and weren't terrible.. but mostly were mediocre.
My directors get the idea that they can be in the teen angel chorus, for beauty school dropout. No big deal.
Well...
all of a suddent the Teen Angel (me) is out of a job, because they decided they like the idea of an angel choir rather than a soloist.
So we had NO teen angel.
They wanna do ITW because if you have a part in that.. basically you're a lead or supporting. That way everyone will feel important.
>_<
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Luc
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I've seen great productions with choruses. They were used in the opening, plus all the Midnights, and the Finale.
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step_together_step_touch
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Into the Woods is very very ambitious to do especially if you say the director's aren't very good. How about a lighter show, with easier music, and calls for a large cast?
Bye Bye Birdie, All Shook Up, Footloose, State Fair, Oklahoma!, Cinderella...
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what_the_heck013
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Or the Music Man... there's plenty of little parts with lines and solos here and there.
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ilovebway
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I really don't believe a show like this should have a chorus. It just doesn't seem to fit and could actually confuse the audience at certain points. I'm sure schools have been able to pull it off, but it rarely happens.
Anyway, I agree with the others. Your director should pick a different show. There is such a wide selection to choose from that picking ITW and trying to squeeze in people here and there seems rather silly...
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what_the_heck013
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If you want to do Sondheim, what about "Merrily We Roll Along"? That has a fairly huge cast.
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Pancakes
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We kind of have this problem too. I think we are allowed to cut people, but I haven't heard of anyone not getting in. (Many of the questionable participants kind of quit by themselves, one by one though) And we're doing Into the Woods too. I'm worried with what's going to happen with the show because we had a large amount of people in last years production. Since ITW isn't as widely known, I'm kind of hoping that not that many people audition. But all these suggestions are really great. I'm sorry I don't have anything to contribute.
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Myworst_Nightmare
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My school has a huge stage so we have about 8 people dressed in brown cape things behind these large wooden frames that are part of the scenery and they are bushes; so the scenery is the chours. It actually works. It gives the bigger numbers a little bit more depth musically and it sounds awesome. Thats my drama departments solution to everything (even with cuts allowed) "Make them moving trees!"
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ConverseSneaker
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| Myworst_Nightmare wrote: | | My school has a huge stage so we have about 8 people dressed in brown cape things behind these large wooden frames that are part of the scenery and they are bushes; so the scenery is the chours. It actually works. It gives the bigger numbers a little bit more depth musically and it sounds awesome. Thats my drama departments solution to everything (even with cuts allowed) "Make them moving trees!" |
That is basically what we did when we had four people left over. Except ours were dressed in black to match our Nightmare Before Christmas esque trees, which were amazing! For scene changes, they'd twirl into a new place to =different spot in the woods and during the Prince and Baker's Wife scene when they are talking he'd lift up thier arms and poke his head underneath or push them aside. It worked well, though I wouldn't do it if I had the choice, purely to make it easier.
I just had the biggest moment of deja vu'. Did I already post this?
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