[DAVID979]

I am a member of a SMALL school and we are looking for a musical to do next year. I want to suggest Seven Brides for Seven Brothers . I go to a Christian private school and i was wondering if this would be suitable. I have heard that it is very good but i am wondring if there is any sex, drugs, swearing, etc.? Also how many cast members would we need? Would we need amazingly good vocalists? I know this is a lot to ask but any info i could get would be helpful! Thank you to anyone who answers this!

[jstilley]

hey, i'm a christian, and i love seven brides for seven brothers! it's a really good musical, although it is quite old. And it's quite operatic, so you may need good singers. As for the swearing etc, there is little or none as far as i can remember. There is a big fight scene though, so this may be a problem for you. good luck![/b]

[DAVID979]

thank you very much!

[Celeste_SM]

No swearing, but tons of suggestive lyrics. Particularly in the song "We gotta make it through the winter."
"Ruth will sigh and beg for more, when we begin to pet."
"Imagine Liza with her clothes hanging on the chair."
"I see Dorcus in the tub, soapin' herself down."

There is a "bacchanalian orgy" at the end of the chase scene, which can be toned down by the director. Nothing real, just lots of humourous wrestling between boys and girls.

People are frequently offended by the sexism of the show as well. Depending on how conservative your school is, they may have issues with the implied pre-marital sex at the end of the show (which never actually happens, the characters only think it did), which leads to the shotgun wedding.

I'd call it a good old fashioned musical, but for extremely conservative groups it may not work. You would know best if any of this are "dealbreakers" for your school.

[Sammy_beck]

I don't remember any swearing in the musical. There are a lot of suggestive lyrics, throughout the entire piece but "We got to make it through the winter" has a lot sexual inuendos in it. However it is a wonderful period piece. It isn't really well known.
The cast is pretty big though. You need at least
7 Brothers:
Adam, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephriam, Frankensense, Gideon
6 Suitors:
Random names that I can't remember anymore
7 Brides:
Milly, Dorcus, Ruth, Liza, Martha, Sara, Alice
and a dozen or so different townspeople including:
Mr. & Mrs. Bixby
Rev.
town drunks (can be suitors for the brides)
a few extras (men and women)
The one big thing about SBFSB is that there is a lot of dancing involved. Thre are three big dance sequences, one can be cut out but the other two have to be in there. The one that can be cut out is the Spring Dance. Which is between the brides and the brothers. If you have strong dancers I would highly recommend you doing it but if you don't i wouldn't worry about having it in there.
____
Current Role: TBA
Past Roles: Hermia "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Anne "The Diary of Anne Frank", Elaine Harper "Arsenic and Old Lace", Pepper, July, Annie "Annie", Brigitta "The Sound of Music", Dwarf, White Stag "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", Alice "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", Rizzo "Grease", Silly Girl #1, Napkin/Plate "Beauty and the Beast"

[DAVID979]

Wow... thank you all very much! My director was going to rent a copy of the movie and check it out to see if we could do it.... and if she chooses to do it then it almost guarentees me a spot lol (or i hope it does)!
Thank you again!