<p>I just watched our HS’s production of Laramie Project last night, and all I can say is, Wow. What a complex, challenging piece for high school students to take on. I was so impressed with them for how well they did it, and with our theater program for tackling something which was more edgy than what our town is used to.</p>
<p>This is true Justamom- older daughters school was private and they had a big expense account- for example even though the parent who organized and designed the costumes was a volunteer ( a graduate of Pratt)we had a fabric budget and the costumes were amazing- the school actually did put on very professional productions & at the time D attended- they were hampered by their facilities- a “theatre in the round” where audiences sat on three sides of the stage- which also had several large supports that had to be blocked around.</p>
<p>D2 last night went to something called Dramatic Paws( their school mascot is a bulldog)- a series of one act plays- that students write/act /direct- this is also done at a couple other schools in the area.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen the Laramie Project, but that also is one that a lot of high schools do, even a local Catholic school performed it a couple years ago</p>
<p>
Sooooooooo true. That’s why we get stuff like “The Pajama Game” while the ritzy private school gets “Aida” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” ;)</p>
<p>berurah–I take it you are not a fan of “The Pajama Game,” or maybe you are just tired of seeing it.</p>
<p>I have to say that I LOVE “The Pajama Game!” (I don’t know how to do the fancy smilies and bold/colored type like you.)</p>
<p>It is a running joke around here, right before the musicals are announced at school, I always say ‘I hope that it is “The Pajama Game.”’</p>
<p>I didn’t like “Once on this Island.” But then my daughter had a nice little part in it and I became a fan. Funny how that worked out. It is true that I always like any musical that my daughter or her friends are in.</p>
<p>even though it was my daughter senior production, I didn’t like a Little Night Music- too dark & I really don’t like “send in the clowns” </p>
<p>My favorite was Guys and Dolls- the costumes were really fun to make - very festive
& my daughter had her biggest part ( she was Big Jule- one of the gangsters- which was amusing since she was 5’2" and about 105 lbs)
and the numbers are very catchy- also lots of strong parts-</p>
<p>Pirates of Penzance was junior year, and while the staging was tricky with the sight hazards , many of the juniors were cast in lead roles and they were just perfect for them.</p>
<p>Also fun to make the costumes- ( I helped with the makeup as well-it was fun to see the differences with the boys- some would all but hide while you were doing their faces, but some even did their own makeup and did a good job too)</p>
<p>[On</a> the 20th Century](<a href=“http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025919/combined]On”>Twentieth Century (1934) - Reference View - IMDb)is a farce that is fun to watch-the lead ( Oscar Jaffe)who is really talented went off to Occidental to major in drama & came back to the school to teach :)</p>
<p>Into the Woods…my all time favorite! Guys and Dolls definitely fun.</p>
<p>meredesfilles, if you don’t like “Pajama Game,” take a listen to the recent revival starring Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli O’Hara. Wow - what a terrific score. I didn’t think I liked it either, and was sure the music would be badly dated, but I listened to it for about four hours straight on a recent car trip and didn’t get tired of it at all.</p>
<p>fraz–No I love “Pajama Game.”</p>
<p>I just seem to be the only one in the house that does. Daughter is not a fan. Yet!</p>
<p>I have listened to the Harry Connick Jr. score–I love him, love it.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone’s mentioned Brigadoon - my high school did that 30 years ago - they also did Marat Sade, which didn’t really seem like a high school level play.</p>
<p>Just came back from seeing our high school’s latest effort Once on this Island. Can’t say I can recommend it. The songs were pretty unmemorable and the plot was dopey.</p>
<p>Our high school did Once Upon a Mattress last spring and it was wonderful. I’d never seen that before. Other favorites have been Bye Bye Birdie, Kiss Me Kate, Grease, Footloose, Oklahoma!, Anything Goes.</p>
<p>
I have seen “The Pajama Game” twice. The first time I <strong><em>LOVED</em></strong> it. It was done as part of a camp put on by our area’s best young people’s theatre group, and I thought it was truly adorable. The second time I saw it was as our high school’s musical last year. The talent just wasn’t there to pull it off, particularly the male talent, but I think the biggest problem was our school’s incessant mic issue. We even had some of it in our play that closed tonight, this after having gotten all new mics this year… 
I guess I could say that “The Pajama Game” is a show that I enjoy if it is very well done, but otherwise, not so much.</p>
<p>The other shows that I just don’t care for are The Music Man ('course, it doesn’t help that my youngest was in it over 20 times with a dinner theatre <em>lol</em>), The Pirates of Penzance, and Secret Garden.</p>
<p>Some suggestions for anything not musicals: The Odd Couple, The Crucible, A Murder is Announced (an Agatha Christie murder mystery), Twelfth Night, The Miracle Worker, Much Ado About Nothing, and To Kill a Mockingbird.</p>
<p>My son just finished a play that I liked - The Man Who Came to Dinner. Smallish cast, and it was hilarious.</p>
<p>My favorite musical that they’ve ever done was Kiss Me Kate. We still sing the songs around here!</p>
<p>As much as I love them, I just breathe such a sigh of relief when the productions are over. People who do to have kids in theater just have no clue how much work and how much time goes into these productions.</p>
<p>Agree with everyone’s positive comments on The Laramie Project. My daughter’s school did this two years ago and it stirred up a bit of controversy in the community (people picketing outside the school) but the students involved in the production gained valuable knowledge about tolerance. </p>
<p>Regarding musicals, our high school did Chicago last year, which was very well received. The dancing was toned down a bit so not much controversy there. It was done very well. They were fortunate to obtain the rights because the local community college was pursuing them at the same time and the high school got them first!</p>
<p>I’d also like to recommend Working by Stephen Schwartz. Our school did that in 2005 and again the students learned a lot from it. Don’t buy the CD of the Broadway musical and judge from that (I hated that CD!) It is a huge ensemble cast with lots of parts and allows opportunity for students to choreograph, etc. Our theater director performed in this as a younger man and it was one of his favorites. He even cast a couple of adults in two of the older roles.</p>
<p>Anything Goes is a really fun show to do, with a moderately big cast. Tap dancing is a must. </p>
<p>You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown is very fun for high school kids to do. </p>
<p>There is an excellent “junior” version of Les Mis A fabulous show for high schooler with a decent talent pool.</p>
<p>Joseph/dream coat is a great show, but you need a strong narator. It’s a very tough role</p>
<p>Guys and Dolls, Grease, Oklahoma, Bye Bye Birdie, Fiddler…are over done</p>
<p>Other musicals local schools have done recently are
City of Angels-
Set in the 1940s, City of Angels is a detective story that presents its own writer, Stine, who is having trouble transposing his book onto the big screen. In parallel, one follows the protagonist of the film, Detective Stone, on his adventures… as Stine writes. Many of the characters have a counterparts in the other world; these parts may be double-casted. It is usually staged with the “real-life” scenes in “color” and the movie scenes in “black and white”. </p>
<p>Good News-Good News is the epitome of the “new version” turning a hackneyed, old-style show into a jazzy, full-of-pep, razzamatazz that has the audience in its grip fromo the moment the curtain goes up. And the songs? Well, the fact that they include, “You’re the Cream in My Coffee”, “The Varsity Drag”, “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries”, “Button Up Your Overcoat” and “Keep Your Sunny Side Up” should give you an inkling of just how much there is in this gem of a show.</p>
<p>How to Succeed in Business without …-- Annie & 42nd st also recently were nominated for awards in a local high school competition</p>
<p>Last year my daughter’s school did “Honk!” and “Fame”. “Honk!” was quite a bit of fun - a musical version of The Ugly Duckling.</p>
<p>Oh, Weenie, I know all about the time and commitment. Our HS show just went up this past weekend, and my son wasn’t even a cast member (although was the rehearsal and pit pianist) and the time commitment was immense. He was there every day after school for six weeks, and then till 9 or 11 p.m. the two weeks before the show and twenty hours over the prior weekend.</p>
<p>But the experience is amazing, so no one begrudges the time (except the teachers, and his schoolwork).</p>
<p>^ “…except the teachers, and his schoolwork.” And the college apps! :)</p>