In middle school I was in a musical production of Alice in Wonderland called ALICE! I don't recall the exact cast size, but as I recall most of the supporting roles were small & might be able to be doubled if necessary. I don't know where you'd be able to find it, but it was fun to do (a long, long time ago!)

Try Becca from Anchorage Press. It uses a cast in the size you were looking for and the music is not to tough. Read it carefully though if you plan to mix children and adults in the cast. Some of the songs are innocuous when sung from a 12 year old girl to another 12 year old girl, but take on different meanings when aduls sing them. It is a fun show for kids to do.

John

Hi There,

You could write a show yourself using music from different shows or folk songs. We did Bill and Ted's Excellent Folk Song Adventure this way. It gives you an opertunity to give songs to everyone that really fit there skill level without trying to fit them in a "mold". Also Music Collages are very fun and popular.

Short of writting your own; Cinderella, Charlie Brown, The Fantastics, or Grease are examples of some shows you can do with a small or medium sized group.

~joe

Hey Joe-

How does it work when you use songs from other sources for your original work? I am wondering how copyright works, do you pay each song owner a royalty? Is there someone who deals in such things? We had considered an original script with pre-existing music (a la Moulin Rouge) but were worried about the legalities.

Thanks

Hi there...
Watch out when using other people work...I dont know about songs but my hunch is that if it has a copyright its not free for you to use. Even using other peoples characters is a touchy subject. The parent of one of our students is a screenwriter, we asked if he could write something for us using two of his characters, he said no, he actually doesnt even have the right to use them anymore. They belong to the production company now.
Parody and Farce are two areas where you can use other peoples characters or music.
Just be careful. When in doubt dont do it. You never know how far the ripples in your pond will travel.