<p>soozievt–you should let us know when the performances are for those of us who may be in NYC at the time!!</p>
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<p>Yep. This is the point I should have made when I posted these things. The 14-year-old young lady is way ahead of most of her peers in acting, and she has a big voice already. She has some minor problems with her voice, but nothing that can’t be straightened out pretty easily, I think. She’ll need to lose weight if she’s going to make it in any ingenue-type roles. She did some indication while acting, but it was minimal and WAY less than what the average high school kid does.</p>
<p>What worries me about this thread is that so many young people chase the musical theater brass ring so avidly in the same way that kids chase the NFL or NBA. Obviously, some people make it big. That’s great. But you so rarely hear about the 32-year-old who is still waiting for the big break that will never come. That’s most of reality.</p>
<p>I went to a small, rural high school, and it was common for people there to be blown away by high school theater, but I know in retrospect that it wasn’t very good theater at all. Yet, there were kids there who thought they had a good shot at stardom because their measuring sticks were so inadequate. They had no idea what large, city high schools were capable of doing. Worse, everything was talked about in terms of “talent.” Talent is great! It tends to affect how good you can become for any given level of work, but I have talked to so many people who feel that it’s the be-all and end-all in theater. </p>
<p>It’s not.</p>
<p>I was sent this DVD by an old friend of mine who was impressed by the overall quality of the production, and so am I. I don’t expect high school kids to be perfect. Heck, I don’t expect B’way performers to be perfect (just close). What really stands out to me, though, is that this is, apparently, a regular suburban high school, not a magnet school. And if there’s this sort of skill in one suburban high school, think about the number of skilled performers all fighting for a spot on the B’way stage.</p>
<p>my jaw dropped.</p>
<p>Tks. for sharing Digmedia and Tarhunt. I enjoy watching kids perform (even when they are not my own). Sometimes a technically perfect performance can be a bore, if the energy or spark isn’t there. With kids, that usually isn’t a problem – the spark is usually there (except in cases where they’ve had it <em>trained</em> out of them).</p>
<p>Hanna,
How much fun you must have judging the a cappella competitions. My oldest d (now a bfa MT freshman) had a high school group of 4 girls last year that won the (state or prelim level) ichsa competition in Corning, Ny last year. The didn’t go on because they had previously won the nchsa (sorry if they are a competitor) NY state competition and went on to win the NE Region in that competition (same day as the ichsa was - so couldn’t do both), and then went on to Washington DC where they won the National Championship! It was so much fun for the girls and their families. We miss it this year. But the a cappella talent is sometimes so amazing and fun to watch!! You have a great job there!!!</p>
<p>Just curious – how does one become a judge of such a competition?</p>
<p>Yes, the girl in the JCS rehearsal sounds fabulous, but as others here have said, such talent is all too familiar to many of us whose kids are involved in MT. To say that doesn’t take anything away from this obviously talented and lovely girl, but it does exemplify the level of talent and competition that our MT kids are up against everywhere from their schools to community shows to college.</p>
<p>overseas - You said what I was feeling when I posted this. It’s the potential of our youth that’s amazing. I’m not hard to please either (as you have seen), but I truely enjoy watching kids excel at something, whether it’s sports, math competitions, theater, dance, whatever…</p>
<p>OK - I just watched the Heart Full of Love video that Tarhunt linked to.</p>
<p>I am astounded. If that had been out high school production, I would have sat open-jawed throughout the performance. </p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>digmedia:</p>
<p>I really enjoyed your original link, as well. The young lady is quite talented.</p>
<p>Hanna,
Do you travel to all the college level ICCA competitions? Just curious because I saw my son’s group in the line up. Thanks for the link - I wasn’t sure if they were competing this year. </p>
<p>Mstee, I agree with you about the energy level of high school performances. We have an award program in our metro area called the Spotlight Awards that chooses all categories of “best” performances from around the metro area and then highlights them in an award ceremony at the end of the school year. I am amazed at the talent from the suburbs and the city. I have a feeling that the bar is much higher now than it was 30 or 40 years ago for the very reason Tarhunt mentioned - years of dance, voice lessons, and acting classes. I would venture to guess that the cities with exceptional Children’s Theater programs also tend to have great high school programs.</p>
<p>No question, excellent children’s theater training programs give some kids a real leg up. As I posted on different forum, Sutton Foster (Tony Award winner), Erin Dilly (Tony Award nominee), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Tony Award nominee), Danny Gurwin (Laurie in “Little Women”), all trained at the same children’s theater, along with Hunter Foster, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, and a number of others.</p>
<p>Just as a treat, here’s an example of what these high school kids are aspiring to. It’s bad video, but it’s adequate, I think.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNa5_XMbRWM[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNa5_XMbRWM</a></p>
<p>:O</p>
<p>Notice how she just stands there and SINGS. ;)</p>
<p>Ah. Yes. And notice how she moves when there’s a reason to move, and how effective it is BECAUSE she was so still.</p>
<p>Since there seems to be interest in really good high school theater and there was a request for information I will let you know that my d’s High School is doing 5 performances of Bye Bye Birdie in March. We have a competitive/select arts program within the HS and the plays are always really good but this year the talent is extra special almost all the leads are All State winners and one has done off broadway. Our orchestra tends to win national awards each year. It is should be memorable. Anyway the dates are March 16,17, 23, 24 at 8PM and March 18 at 2PM. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. We live Roslyn, Long Island, New York. Contact me if you are interested.</p>
<p>I went to Lincoln Center last year for the ICCA finals, and the college groups were wonderful - didn’t attend the HS finals the night before. </p>
<p>Loved 'em all, wouldn’t want to have been one of the judges trying to choose. (Hanna, I don’t envy you). I suppose when you are at that level of experience, you can concentrate on the judging categories for each group, but as an audience member, you mostly take in the overall experience, only noticing specifics that stick out - a breathtaking solo, a severe tuning glitch, engaging choreography, etc. </p>
<p>The only thing that concerned me last year was that it was three all-male groups in the top three - even though my son’s group placed second and they were thrilled, I would have liked it if at least one of the mixed groups landed in the placements - several of them were truly excellent and I do like the sound. Wonder what it is - the more powerful sound of the all-male groups, or that it is more difficult to achieve adequate blending with both male and female voices, or that judges are used to hearing impeccable mixed choirs singing sacred and classical music, therefore the college mixed groups singing pop tunes pale by comparison?</p>
<p>Here’s hoping the mixed groups do really well this year!</p>
<p>By request, I’ve uploaded “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables” from that same production. I thought some of you might be interested. Or not.</p>
<p>Here’s the URL, if so.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoKBkD-6BGc[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoKBkD-6BGc</a></p>
<p>I love Les Miserables!!! I saw a production in my home town last summer. But the first time I saw it was the summer of 1987 in London (that summer I was in summer school at Oxford). </p>
<p>Thanks for the wonderful links Tarhunt!</p>
<p>Tarhunt, this brings back memories! S2 was in this show a couple of years ago with similar costumes–I half expected to see him in the lineup of guys… :)</p>
<p>curiousmother: You’re welcome!</p>
<p>mommusic: I have a daughter in NY and a son in LA, working to make it in theater and film/television, respectively. I know what you mean. These sorts of things bring back memories.</p>
<p>I have friends who send me material when they think there’s something I would enjoy. I don’t know anyone in this particular production, but I enjoyed watching it immensely. All of it is not as good as the clips. That’s what you’d expect from high school. But there are a number of other performers with some real strengths.</p>
<p>Glad you enjoyed it.</p>