lalawhatever
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Question!!!!Okay, so I have a question. My high school has always done reeeally crappy, kids musicals and next year the actors don't want a kids musical. What can we do where it either doesn't need a lot of guys, or guys can be played by girls AND won't offend anyone TOO much?
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Sweeney Hyde
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What do you mean by "kids Musicals?"
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lalawhatever
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I mean, like, Honk.
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Sweeney Hyde
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How about:
Into the Woods
My Fair Lady
Oliver!
**On a Clear Day You Can See Forever**
Camelot
Brigadoon--Dance Heavy
Anything Goes--Dance Heavy
Little Shop of Horrors
The Frogs
Oklahoma!
Carousel
Peter Pan
****On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a REALLY good show that is very adult in its thinking. It is also one of the easiest musicals you could do. It is also rarely produced. It also only has a few men, the secondary lead males can be doubled, and the lead actress gets to play two eniterly different people. The downside: Besides the big leads, the other parts are tiny!
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lalawhatever
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Thanks! Yeah I was thinking of Little Shop, Into the Woods or Peter Pan, but Into the Woods is HARD and our high school isn't that amazing. haha.
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Sweeney Hyde
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Into the Woods doesn't have to be hard if you have a simple set and simple costumes. The hardest part of Into the Woods is the Acting. Here's a cast list, see if you can put a name to each part:
MEN:
Narrator/Mysterious Man
Cinderella's Prince/Wolf
Rapunzel'd Prince
Baker
Jack
Cinderella's Father
The Steward
WOMEN:
Cinderella
Florinda
Lucinda
Cinderella's Stepmother
Rapunzel
Little Red Riddinghood
Jack's Mother
Granny
Cinderella's Mother
Witch
Giant (Off-stage Voice)
Snow White
Sleeping Beauty
Baker's Wife
The show can be done without Sleeping Beauty and Snow White
The doubling with the men does not have to be done
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lalawhatever
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That's awesome, thanks so much!
What about the music, is the music hard?
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Sweeney Hyde
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Some of the music is VERY hard. Those ones are:
The Rap "sung" by the Witch
Agony sung by the Princes
Your Fault sung by several characters
Ever After sung by the Company
It just really depends upon if you have not only the singers to pull it off but the ACTORS. The Baker, The Baker's Wife, and The Witch are all hard parts to play, along with the Princes because they have to be soooo over the top to be funny.
If you have the money and the talent...go for it!
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lalawhatever
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Well we DO have a 500 seat theatre
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Sweeney Hyde
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If you don't do ITW how about A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum? it is one of the funniest show ever written with small cast, easy costumes, fairly easy set. It is a little heavey with men though...
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lalawhatever
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We have a lot of people in the program, only not a lot of guys. Hopefully though, next year we'll have a more. Apparently a bunch of new guys are joining.
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Sweeney Hyde
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You can buy almost all of Stephen Sondheim's scripts on Amazon as well as some other like Man of La Mancha and 1776...i would suggest buying them and reading them.
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lalawhatever
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Awesome, thanks. What about rights? Do you know how hard it would be to get certain rights?
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Sweeney Hyde
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It should be no problem unless there is the same show playing somewhere near you...
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lalawhatever
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Awesome! Thank you so much! Now I have info for my teachers.
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lalawhatever
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One more question. Who is the lead female in Into The Woods?
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Sweeney Hyde
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It is kind of a tie between The Baker's Wife, The Witch, and Cinderella
The Witch is a mezzo-soprano
Cinderella is a soprano
Baker's Wife is a Mezzo
The supporting character for the girls is Little Red Riddinghood
The other girl parts aren't as big but are still REALLY good for smaller roles
The lead guys are The Baker, Cinderella's Prince/Wolf, and The Narrator because he talks a lot, only sings a little
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Luc
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There aren't really any "leads" in ITW. I mean, there are obviously people with bigger parts than others, but its really an ensemble piece.
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