Thursday, February 24, 2011
2011 High School Musicals
Post Gazette: "Here is the Post-Gazette's annual list of high school musicals in Western Pennsylvania. Although some shows have begun, most are scheduled from the beginning of March through the first week in May.
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6 comments:
Putting together a list of high school shows in Pennsylvania is such a neat idea. And it allows people to quickly reference all the neighboring high school shows in their area. This advertising alone must be so good for schools, in the schools around where I lived, advertising was done by students and shows in neighboring cities were word of mouth. When places are so close (I mean, how many high schools are in just Pittsburgh alone?) it is nice to be able to reference everything on one page.
Here's what's great about this list. There's a couple of Footlooses, Seussicals, Guys and Dolls, and Wizard of Ozs. Sure we expect that. Two doing Drowsy Chaperone, okay newer musical makes sense. Nothing really shocking on this list. But look closer:
• Winchester Thurston, "The Brain From Planet X," April 28-30, May 1 *
Right down the road there will be a high school production of a B-Movie Horror spoof. Wonderful. I'm sure the school board had to approve this and I'm sure they decided it will sell enough tickets to get grandma and Aunt Lorainne out to see the show. But a musical about a brain and two alien henchmen trying to take over the earth. You know the kids are going to have a blast with this! I hope this show kills! When high school musicals are so cheesey and cliche (think High School Musical) good to see someone having some fun and putting on a good show.
Wow. One high school is going for The Wedding Singer. Other than that this seems like the list of my grandparent's favorites. Seussical, Guys and Dolls, Wizard of Oz. I think I'll pass. Suddenly I understand how my friends felt when I tried to get them to come see my shows in high school. I guess when you limit your repertoire to what my grandmother can sit through, you get a lot of repeats. And snores from anyone under 90.
Reading this article after commenting on the talkbacks going on for the almost-banned Connecticut high school production of "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" makes me sad that 1-there isn't a list of plays at local high schools going around, and 2-that schools here might not be stepping up the way other schools have and giving their students a shot at meatier texts. I do believe there is a lot to be learned from musicals, but I think it's a shame that so many of these shows are simply known entities that (this may be an unfair assumption) will probably be done in a manner that somehow mimics the broadway production and doesn't allow for an enormous amount of discovery on the part of the students. I'd like to see some more challenging work being done by high schools, and to see that work be advertised and attended the way these big musicals are
Woah, there are schools doing Phantom, Dreamgirls, and Les Mis. I love how when attending a high school production you never know what quality it might be. A high school production could fall within such a huge range.
I'm glade high schools cover the classics. My parents always too me to the high school and community theatre production when I was a kid. I saw Cinderella at what would later be my own high school and had really strange feelings being on the stage that was so untouchable to me as a kid. These shows are classics because everyone needs to see them before they develop their own taste in musicals. I wish I had seen My Fair Lady as a kid. For a family to attend Phantom at a legitimate theatre, it can be expensive, especially when you aren't sure how much the kid will even remember. That why it's important to do the classics and make it available to families and communities, where else will they be exposed to it? Copacabana the musical, should not be happening.
This list makes me think back to high school. Its interesting that schools are doing Phantom. We'll see how that goes. Like Hannah said, its always fun to go into a show not knowing the quality of a show. It makes me sad that i haven't seen a number of these shows and most of them are considered classics...
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