School Musicals

[dannyboy]

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on good high school shows. We usually have an even cast made up of 20ish guys and 20ish girls. Some of the musicals that I have done with the school are:

Fiddler On the Roof
Bye Bye Birdie
West Side Story
The Pajama Game

But we have also done:

Godspell
Les Miserables
The Wiz

Our musicals have to be school friendly (to a certain limit) and it is better to have a large cast with quite a few male and female leads/supporting (and an even amount as well).

[harpdawg]

Guys and Dolls, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, South Pacific......

[The Tenore]

Anything Goes has a fair few parts, and is good fun, nice and jazzy, without too many truly difficult songs (with the exception of a couple of Billy's).
I did Annie Get Your Gun at school last year, which was an excellent show to do, so long as you have a girl good enough to hold a show together with minimal support!

[Madeleine]

Oklahoma, The Music Man, Once upon a Matress (good chorus numbers as well as several good suporting roles)
Please post the musical you choose to do!

[dannyboy]

Apparently Oklahoma came close in the decision process last year ... as did Wizard of Oz and Oliver!

My friend suggested Anything Goes the other day and at the moment it sounds fun. Dance is a big thing in our school musicals as well, and to have a lead that must dance gives me more of an opportunity

I thought Once Upon a Mattress was more of a childrens musical? Is it?

We definately have a main girl who could play the main in Annie Get Your Gun but the shows we choose have to be pretty even in terms of mains as it is a collabaration between two schools (a male and female school of course), so fairness plays a HUGE part!

There are some people who want to do Guys and Dolls and are trying to persuade the teachers before they make their decision.

I will probably not be able to post the musical we are doing as auditions have been moved backwards so a decision does not need to be made until nearly October/November now but I will try to!

I personally like the sound of Anything Goes, a large chorus that appears a lot, with no particular need for accents (is that true? as it is a cruise) but my favourite musicals that our school could do are The Wizard of Oz and Beauty and the Beast (except 4 other schools in our area did it this year)!

[Annie]

I went to a high school production of Anything Goes a few years ago and it was great. The version I saw was with the character Bonnie, there is another one with Erma that I saw a CT production of, but I must say the one with Bonnie is much better.

~Annie

[dramaqueen0627]

Little Shop of Horrors would be a fun one.I did it at my school and we had a blast.

[dannyboy]

We have done Little Shop of Horrors in the past, although it was ages ago (10 years now I think).

What are the main differences between The Erma and Bonnie Anything Goes?

I think I'll have a look into Anything Goes, and then its MY turn to persuade the teachers

[Annie]

Keep in mind it's been a few years since I saw the shows, but from what I can remember Bonnie is a bigger role and instead of singing one song, "Buddy Beware" which is not a great song, she gets to sing two songs, however I don't have my program anymore and I can't remember what they were. I'm beginning to think that the director may have given her one of Reno's songs (Let's Misbehave) but I could have sworn it was something like "Let's Step Out" and it was a great tap number.

I don't know...they have a tendency to combine productions and take what they like from one version and put it in the one they are doing. You can read about the shows here: http://www.tamswitmark.com/musicals/anything62.html and here: http://www.tamswitmark.com/musicals/anything87.html

Even if Bonnie doesn't have extra songs I still liked that character over Erma, though it could have been the acting. The high school girl was great. She already had scholarship offers for acting schools in New York her junior year so her actual performance may have me a little biased.

~Annie

[Irohrer09]

We just did Anything Goes this year at my school and it was the one with Erma in it. In it she sang "Buddie, Beware" and "Heaven Hop" which are two different songs but very good. "Heaven Hop" gives more showcase for the Angels in the play and is a good dancing song too. There are a few videos of some schools doing it at YouTube. As part of the cast it was a fun production to do and the audience, students from the school and people of the community, loved it very much. Hope this helps.