New at this! Help would be greatly appreciated
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Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Play Suggestions
Forum Discription: Need help finding a show that's right for your theater? Ask here.
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4565
Printed Date: 11/26/24 at 1:44am
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Topic: New at this! Help would be greatly appreciated
Posted By: Theatregurl214
Subject: New at this! Help would be greatly appreciated
Date Posted: 4/13/10 at 9:53pm
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So a friend and I wanna start a community with our church because they have a stage.
So we're debating between plays and musical that aren't risqué. That are open to all all ages from 10&up. We have to represent ourselves this week but musical theatre rights won't give us the price of the rights. We only have the play rights. Musical we're debating between Back to the 80's Grease Footloose Disney's High School Musical Once upon a mattress cinderella into the woods pinocchi disney's my son pinocchio: geppto's musical tale Joesph & the Amazing Technicolor dream coat Funny Girl Guys& Dolls The Wizard of Oz Hello Dolly Meet Me in St. Louis My Fair Lady No No Nanette Tea for Two Kiss Me Kate Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Music Man 7 brides for 7 brothers Annie Barnum Wily Wonka Big the musical Blame it on the Movies Little Shops of Horrors Sessicuial Your a good man charile brown little women A funny thing happen on the way to the forum Plays Steel Magnolias The Crucible The Miracle Worker Romeo and Juliet All my sons McBeth Hamlet The tradgey of julius ceasar The gamma ray effects on the-man-in-the-moon marigolds The Glass Menagerie Does anyone think these plays/musicals would proctive and make the elderly and christian type adults be offend by this. |
Replies:
Posted By: PSdotcom
Date Posted: 4/14/10 at 6:53am
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Hello there, I would say a few of these from your shortlist below are currently unavailable for amateur performance, the likes of Chitty Chitty and High School Musical for example. As you are a new setup, in year one, you should always turn to established material, within that, you should aim to cater for all, but really focus on kids as much as you can. Children are always well supported by family and friends, and the parents often end up helping out behind the scene. It's a good way of building up your membership. Three shows a year. You should possibly focus on a Spring Play, a Summer Musical, and an Xmas panto / xmas seasonal production. From your list below, you could say Cinderella ticks the boxes for Xmas, and there are many versions out there. Three very good versions can be found http://www.productionscripts.com/simon-paul-cinderella-p-454.html - here , http://www.productionscripts.com/alan-langley-cinderella-p-398.html - here , and http://www.productionscripts.com/archie-wilson-cindersthe-panto-p-527.html - here . I would also recommend you consider something like http://www.productionscripts.com/mitchell-christmas-carol-p-131.html - A Christmas Carol . For the musical, I love Back to the 80's, it's a brilliant brilliant script, so would recommend, but you cannot go wrong with Grease either. Plays are tough, because there is huge choice out there, my recommendation would be to go with something known, have a surf of http://www.productionscripts.com - Production Scripts perhaps, see if there is anything of interest on there. Hope that helps! ------------- Production Scripts Marketplace for Theatre and Radio Scripts. Submit your script today! http://www.productionscripts.com - http://www.productionscripts.com |
Posted By: POB14
Date Posted: 4/14/10 at 10:10am
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If you don't want risque, you need to cross Grease off your list.
I would also stay away from the Shakespeare unless your people are really experienced. ------------- POB Old Bugger, Curmudgeon, and Antisocial B**tard |
Posted By: lagazza
Date Posted: 4/14/10 at 12:32pm
| I just looked at MTI's website. Chitty Chitty is restricted, but the High School Musicals do not seem to be. |
Posted By: gelcat
Date Posted: 4/14/10 at 4:39pm
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Believe it or not, HSM is available for most levels- I have seen a lot of schools doing it, as well as other small theatres.
big, the musical is not appropriate for kids/christians, unless they're ok with kids talking about ogling the chick with the rack, copious alcohol consumption by the adults, "a**hole" delivered by a teenager, sex before marriage, obscene gestures, and transvestite prostitutes that are specifically referred to in a song.
FORUM is about nothing BUT sex.
Funny Girl - gambling
Guys and Dolls - gambling, premarital relationships, provacative dancers at the club, grifters on the streets
Into the Woods- this is actually a pretty adult show, PG 13
It all depends on how conservative the church is with what they would have issues with.
For your first year, and with the thought of making a good impression the first year without a lot of support, I would have to recommend the following from your list:
Back to the 80's (fairly easy to costume)
Annie
Charlie Brown
Little Women
Cinderella
Wizard of Oz
The first ones should be easier to costume, but LW, Cinderella, and OZ should have good name recognition. ------------- www.actorsguildonline.org Actors Guild of Parkersburg Parkersburg, WV |
Posted By: Theatregurl214
Date Posted: 4/14/10 at 6:07pm
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Thanks for your help!
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Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 4/16/10 at 1:59pm
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You certainly have an ambitious list of "possibles". Of the musicals you have listed, I would recommend the following: Cinderella Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat The Wizard of Oz Hello Dolly Meet Me in St. Louis My Fair Lady No, No Nanette (a personal favorite) Kiss Me Kate The Music Man Annie You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown Other musicals I'd recommend are: Oklahoma Carousel The Sound of Music The King and I Godspell Children of Eden Honk Pajama Game The Fantasticks As for plays, your list is extremely ambitious. I'd set my sights a little lower (at first) if I were you. Barefoot in the Park The Odd Couple Mary, Mary The Last Night of Ballyhoo Enchanted April And Then There Were None Witness for the Prosecution The Mousetrap When you're ready to try Shakespeare, I've got a few adaptations that I've written that you might want to take a look at, (simplified language, but Elizabethan flavor in tact): The Taming of the Shrew Much Ado About Nothing A Midsummer Night's Dream A Comedy of Errors Twelfth Night Hamlet Break a leg! |
Posted By: JoeMc
Date Posted: 4/17/10 at 12:02am
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Have a wee think about what the royalties may cost, especialy with a new group, unless you have an open cheque from a sponsor? As your bos's is an umknown quatity along with your start up costs. Click on the link & check out the info available to you on the American Association of Community Theatre site 
http://www.aact.org/start/starting.html - Start-Up Basics Toi Toi Chookas to you on av'nago! ------------- [western] Gondawandaland "Hear the light & see the sound! TOI TOI CHOOKAS {may you always play to a full house!} |