mildan
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suitable for a high school?hi
this is my ultimate favourite musical, and i really want to do it for my final year at school musical. year 12 down under, i think its called a senior in the usa.
anyways
ive heard its close to an opera there is so much singing
we definately have some great singers truely capable for solo's..
about 3 or 4 men
and about...5 females who would be happy with solos
thank you for your help 
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pish123c
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I highly doubt high schoolers could pull it off...but it isn't impossible. I mean, I know proffesional actors who have hurt their voices trying to sing this material.
And what type of shows does your high school usually do? Most high schools would never do Sweeney Todd because of the content, but if you have a liberal school that just happens to have phenomenal actors as well as singers, I suppose it could be pulled off.
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mildan
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well this year we are doing hello dolly, but in the past few years we have done grease(sadly), kiss me kate, into the woods, wss, into the woods, my fair lady
what do u suggest to do, basing around 2 strong females and 1 strong male
we have a rather good chorus as well
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pish123c
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What vocal parts are the stronger people?
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Sweeney Hyde
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More than likely no. Here's why:
1. The acting needs to be phenominal for all of the leads, and I mean phenominal. I would hate to go see a high school production of this and see a Sweeney that can't pour everything he has into the performance or a Lovett who can't be funny and sinister...etc etc.
2. The music is difficult. Yes, there is relatively little dialouge, and yes it has been performed by opera companies all over the world.
3. The set is rather large. A pretty good sized budget would be needed if you intend to have the second floor barber shop and all.
4. The material is pretty adult. I mean, a woman gets rapped, people are sliced up into pies, etc etc. This is not the sort of show that would attract families and such, which high school shows often do...you may not get all that much of a crowd depending on the size of your town and such.
Sweeney Todd is a great show, however, I would be very skidish about a high school performing it...I think the earliest it should generally be performed at is at a college level.
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Radames's_Angel
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| Sweeney Hyde wrote: | More than likely no. Here's why:
1. The acting needs to be phenominal for all of the leads, and I mean phenominal. I would hate to go see a high school production of this and see a Sweeney that can't pour everything he has into the performance or a Lovett who can't be funny and sinister...etc etc.
2. The music is difficult. Yes, there is relatively little dialouge, and yes it has been performed by opera companies all over the world.
3. The set is rather large. A pretty good sized budget would be needed if you intend to have the second floor barber shop and all.
4. The material is pretty adult. I mean, a woman gets rapped, people are sliced up into pies, etc etc. This is not the sort of show that would attract families and such, which high school shows often do...you may not get all that much of a crowd depending on the size of your town and such.
Sweeney Todd is a great show, however, I would be very skidish about a high school performing it...I think the earliest it should generally be performed at is at a college level. |
You don't really need the extensive sets, I mean, have you guys ever seen the version in concert with Patti Lupone, they have no sets, and I haven't seen the play, but it didn't detract from the performance not to have sets I feel like I've seen the entire thing...
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pish123c
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| Radames's_Angel wrote: | | Sweeney Hyde wrote: | More than likely no. Here's why:
1. The acting needs to be phenominal for all of the leads, and I mean phenominal. I would hate to go see a high school production of this and see a Sweeney that can't pour everything he has into the performance or a Lovett who can't be funny and sinister...etc etc.
2. The music is difficult. Yes, there is relatively little dialouge, and yes it has been performed by opera companies all over the world.
3. The set is rather large. A pretty good sized budget would be needed if you intend to have the second floor barber shop and all.
4. The material is pretty adult. I mean, a woman gets rapped, people are sliced up into pies, etc etc. This is not the sort of show that would attract families and such, which high school shows often do...you may not get all that much of a crowd depending on the size of your town and such.
Sweeney Todd is a great show, however, I would be very skidish about a high school performing it...I think the earliest it should generally be performed at is at a college level. |
You don't really need the extensive sets, I mean, have you guys ever seen the version in concert with Patti Lupone, they have no sets, and I haven't seen the play, but it didn't detract from the performance not to have sets I feel like I've seen the entire thing... |
yes, and also and second floor to a set wouldn't be too hard to make.
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Sweeney Hyde
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| Sweeney Hyde wrote: | | 3. The set is rather large. A pretty good sized budget would be needed if you intend to have the second floor barber shop and all. |
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what_the_heck013
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| Radames's_Angel wrote: | | You don't really need the extensive sets, I mean, have you guys ever seen the version in concert with Patti Lupone, they have no sets, and I haven't seen the play, but it didn't detract from the performance not to have sets I feel like I've seen the entire thing... |
Stephen Sondheim actually prefers the show to be done at a more minimal level BUT for conceptual and metaphorical purposes a two story set is ideal.
Sweeney Todd in high schools really just depends. I know of a local high school that did Company a year ago and the show was probably one of the best productions I've ever seen (better than a pro production of Company). If your school is one that usually does really grown up, mature musicals then by all means GO FOR IT!
I mean, there are a lot of plusses. For example, there are plenty of great parts, and that is always important in a high school setting. So I think that it really depends on the maturity/talent/experience of the cast and the experience/talent/willingness of the director.
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drama_queen_3009
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Sorry i agree with everyone else Sweeny Todd is just too complicated for a school production! I did it with my Am Dram group last year, it was an amazing show to do and so challenging but i highlight the word challenging!!! the music is sondheim at his best and therefore very hard to do even for chorus!! My group ended up winning an award for our production of this show, but it took alot of time to bring it up to scratch to perform in a theatre and to do it justice! I understudied the beggar woman and although i wish i could have gone on stage and play her i had so much fun just being in Chorus (especially doing the lunitics song so fun!!!)
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Rebk424
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a highschool near mine did it this year and it was OUTSTANDING. However, they have most of the talent in my area: the best singers, actors, tech people, musicians...etc. So, that is one reason why. Also, they are a magnet school so they are allowed to do more stuff. I know at MY school we aren't even allowed to say "Damn" and when we did To Kill a Mockingbird, they made us cut out the "N-word" even though that is a huge part of the play and we READ it in school... stupid admins.... I wouldn't recommend it for most highschools because of the amount of talent it takes but if you go to an arts school or just an extremely talented school with lots of money and administrators that like the arts department, then i say go for it. you also need an audience for it.
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