;)
;)
;)
;)
Quandary
Lauren adores being in the theater. She was in two productions in middle school (including the lead in Twelfth Night...oh the Shakespearean lines to memorize!) and several in elementary school. This year she accepted a twice-a-week babysitting job for some neighbors, preventing her from trying out. She missed it so much (and the school play this year is going to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh so she very sadly missed that, too) that she vowed to try out next year.
This week the high school announced what the musical will be next year, a highly anticipated bit of information among the music & drama set. There were swirling rumors...
Would it be West Side Story????{that would be my pick! how fun!}.....
Or Les Miz?
Several people were sure that was what it would be....
A good, old fashioned choice with great music.
But no...the school has chosen....
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Miss Saigon.
Huh?
Now, I am no prude.
I love musicals and even think Miss Saigon was pretty good.
It has some beautiful music.
But I do think there are more...
shall we say appropriate?...
selections for a high school theater group.
{And keep in mind that usually the whole community
turns out, including children}
Or maybe
nothing says High School/early teen years
like Vietnam War-era prostitution?
So do I refuse to let her try out?
p.s. These were the musicals at my high school
when I was growing up:
Annie
The Sound of Music
Carousel
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Shenandoah
Carnival
What were yours?
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Reader Comments (18)
oh.my! That is an interesting pick!
My high school did:
Annie
The Music Man
West Side Story
Guys & Dolls
The King & I
Joseph
I mean...Annie Get Your Gun, not Annie.
Same high school as Annie, different set of years:
Sound of Music (I almost wrote Mucis / Mucous, which is how a lot of people feel about it!)
Oklahoma
Bye Bye Birdie
Brigadoon
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Now, as a teacher:
this year: Sound of Music
last year: Urinetown
next year: Fiddler on the Roof
I'm very surprised by the school's choice. Are there ANY non-slut roles for girls?
Grease was as edgy as we got at my high school...
Hmmm. I guess I'd talk to her about the content and why it just may not be a good idea to be involved in this particular production based on any number of things.... It's one of those hard but good learning moments, I guess.
Grease was HUGE at my high school, it was a big hit one year. Other than that, we didn't have enough students to put on musicals so we had plays like Our Town, The Crucible, Neil Simon stuff.
Brigadoon. (Thanks, Matt.)
Grease
Pajama Game
that scottish one about flowers and stuff
Why in the world would they want to do a play that centers on out of wedlock birth and the sorrow that occurs from it??
AT LEAST lodge a complaint.
We didn't do any musicals or plays at my high school - poor country school with no drama program in Hawaii.
Maybe she could try out for the role of Ellen (the stateside wife)? I would say something to the school though. With all the negative influences around anyway the last thing we need is for our school's to encourage our children imagining themselves in brothels.
I guess it will be Chicago for 2010?!
Oh, that's so sad. I'm with Jessica, at least file a complaint with whom it may concern.
Yeah, we had Guys & Dolls, Annie, Music Man.
Miss Saigon? NEVER. I cannot believe that. Wowza.
Miss Saigon? Are you kidding me? I'm not sure what our school did. I shied away from drama in high school 'cause the teacher was doing all the girls. Sick.
We did not do musicals at that age in my school. I don't think I would be happy with my own daughter doing those roles in those costumes....but I would see how she felt about it. Also there is something very different about acting those parts and actually doing those things in in real life. How far do you go in the name of art?
Miss Saigon? That's nuts -- they'd never be able to fit the requisite military chopper set piece into a high school auditorium! ;-)
We did MAME back in the day. A lot of drinking and corruption of minors, but I'm pretty sure there was nary a prostitute.
If the drama teacher wants to pick some kind of war-time era play (to presumably comment on present day politics through jaunty songs), I'm sure there are many others to choose from.
I remember hearing about a high school (in California?) whose drama teacher chose "Nine", the musical on Broadway a few years back in which Antonio Banderas played the central character who had several mistresses. Maybe even nine? Anyway, I saw a scene from it on the Today Show and it was totally NOT appropriate for high school. What are they thinking?
Believe it or not, I go back so far that our small high school didn't DO a musical. Drama, yes, but nothing that would require a huge cast. Our vocal teacher did choral concerts only. CPB
Is there a drama/comedy play they are doing besides the big musical? Surely they have some one act plays or the like.
By the way, I think every high school should do West Side Story, since it addresses some of the hard issues in a multi-race/culture setting. If they do Les Mis and West Side Story, it would be wonderful. I know that there is a high school/youth version of Les Mis, with a few things edited out. It doesn't lose anything salient in the editing, I assure you. Maybe there is a Miss Saigon that has been edited for high schools. I hope.CPB