<p>hello 9,500</p>
<p>There are so called high school musicals and there is THE “Fame” school musical.
I just saw its annual big-o- deal show, this year, “Hairspray” since one of mommy friend’s kid is dancing in it.
Fiorello LaGuardia HS of Music & Art and Performing Arts is this
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiorello_H._LaGuardia_High_School[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiorello_H._LaGuardia_High_School</a>
or this
<a href=“http://www.laguardiahs.org/home.html[/url]”>http://www.laguardiahs.org/home.html</a>
the crown jewel of art HS in the city, if not in the nation or of the world, as they like to brag.
It is part of NYC dept of ED public school system, meaning anyone can apply if you live in the city’s five boroughs.
getting in is another thing, I have stats from my kid’s freshman app time, which is about the same year to year.
Visual Arts spots 273/ applied 3064
Dance 53/1812
Drama 60/1941
Instrumental Music 112/1241
Vocal 175/1988
Technical Theatre 18/422
kids are required to have grade average 85 sh and up, State tests scores 3 sh (out of 4, but not so easily done from underpriveraged homes or bad middle schools)
plus absence or late days no more than 10-sh per school year. you can’t cheat the numbers, they are all in the computed system and some secret machine would just sift you out. no mercy. yet beauty of LaG was, they’d let you do audition anyways.
^note that visual art is the biggest studio, means art kids are brain swimmer to the school, dance drama kids can have “some” leeway if they are extraordinary good, because big numbered smart visual art kids would fill academic achievement gap average for the school as a whole to be published.
it is sort of the same way how Cooper’s eng, arch’s published numbers works for the whole school.
As sour loser hindsight, maybe that is the reason my kid was twice reject (they’d accept very few soph transfer) or since head of art dept. is this grandma queen should’ve retired decades ago who refuse to change her way. my kid just wasn’t IT.
I recall the first audition he did 8th grade winter, swelling with pride
" this hot teacher said she loves my portfolio with twinkly eyes!! "
but on-site drawing exam?
" I made the head too big, didn’t fit in, they gave us like, puny cheapo copy paper"
and
" I rigged the box of cray-pas for the next kid, heheheh. flipped box and lid, you know, they are gonna all fall when opened"
you know??? I don’t know. why would he play pranks when his life was depending on it?
He never made it, but it was OK and all for good in the end. whole another story.</p>
<p>LaG produced luminous long list of alums from all studios. For visual art, the I Heart NY guy is the one.
every year about five or so kids would go to Cooper, more some year and if you count arch and eng, since LaG is a powerhouse for academics as well, matter of fact. visual art kids often get tired and sick of it after four years of three period art art art and decide to major something else in the college.</p>
<p>Back to the school musical.
I never get Broadway stuff. why people suddenly break into dancing and singing, with not particularly good lyrics but annoyingly rhymed, some of them pretty stupid. playwriting is established cemented for ages, means ancient and feels moldy.
“Hairspray” in particular I am assuming, the old original movie (haven’t seen it so I am not sure) the whaco director meant (did" pink flamimgo"!?) should be a satire about Baltimore or segregation? if so, it seemed lost in live on stage adaptation. it was offensive and very strange how those public school kids who know and lived thru issues and went beyond already = made it to LaG 45%W 19%B 19%H 17%A - miracle magical numbers in NYC public education- could play those roles happily singing dancing. I guess they are not allowed to tweak them lines much for copyright or politics or what.
It is creepy, how they are all gone ernest, totally professional, so “into it” never question the words they are singing out loud always on tune at cue perfectly.
you have to audition to get any parts, for this annual musical is the biggest money and publicity maker for the school.
sets, costumes, light whatnot are done by faculties and affiliated Tony/ Broadway worthy local adults, with of course some cameo students involvement.
utterly gorgeous, NYT would come writes review, rather hi-priced tickets would sell out.
I don’t know, sometimes I wonder what real worth of LaG show would be, if it was ALL done by students; wrote, played, painted, sewn.
some kids are bit creepy side, so drama-faced sans makeups, small headed but very pronounced feature. parents in the audience are often someone you’d seen them before or someone looks like those people do those things for living, on TVshows, theater, papers, politics in NYC at large.
out of these 40-50 cast member students, of course not everyone is going to be Jen Aniston or Liza Minnelli, Al Pacino, nor able to get in to Curtis or Juiliard, sing at Met opera (last two are practically next door to LaG)
but some of them have been and always will be.
parents are all for it, kids are all for it. teacher, adult helper, dept of ED are all for it.
if you got kid with talent, and it have been proven (gotten in to LaG HS) why shouldn’t keep going? get up 5AM in the morning, commute from the end tip of Staten Island.
or cheat address and live in NJ or West chester. why not?
the best part is that, the school also make your kid college prepped, state regents taken, well rounded (magic words!!!) all for free tuition, free subway, plus possible free lunch (is 29%, magically low in the NYC public school= more rich parents a.k.a. why do you bother chose public school and take up poor kids’ spots!?)
Here is the other side of coin for “Waiting for superman”
Fair, equal but separated, cutthroat scary. drama!! dra</p>