i am determined to start my own high school run and produced theater company. obviously this takes a lot of work but i think it can work. i talked to dsome people and they said the interest would be heightened if we did a musical and i agree. there are two options... 1.i can have a few people taking dance classes collaborate and choreograph the dance numbers from the musical... or 2.try to find a musical with no huge dance numbers

so there is my dilema. is there such a thing as a rather small casted musical with no big dance numbers?? or is it safe to rely on the choreography of high schoolers?? i need HELP!

annita

"you're a good man, charlie brown" is exactly what you're looking for then. or maybe "really rosie"

I hate to burst your bubble, but unless you have a lot of funding, a musical is VERY costly! Royalties for a musical usually run upwards of $1,000 - $2,000 PER PERFORMANCE! You cannot perform a  show without paying royalties.

When you are an inexperienced director, it is not wise to attempt to do a musical as your first show. You will be dealing with a lot of scheduling (choreography, music rehearsals, blocking, etc.) You will also be dealing with multiple sets, and unless you have a built in set designer, this will be very hard, not to mention costly.

Here is a list of people you will need to do a musical:

Choreographer (depending on students is RISKY! If they don't know what they are doing, they can put a show WAY behind schedule and frustrate actors into quitting.)

Musical Director/Accompanist

Band or orchestra (you can also get "canned" music on a CD or tape)

Set designer/ builder

Lighting (for lighting designers, you will need someone fearless who can get up on 10-15 ft. ladders or lifts and adjust the lights).

Sound designer

Lighting and sound board operators

Stage Manager

Costume designer

Make-up designer

Backstage tech crew

Publicity

Assistant Director

Advisor (since this is your first show, this would be wise!)

Tons of DEDICATED friends who will back you up and support you!!

You will also be dealing with homework schedules, work, after school activities, etc. It's also not very easy directing your peers. The only way teachers can do this is that they have the ability to grade the student to keep them in line. Some kids are also very immature.

It costs a lot of money to do a show, not to mention a musical. The total cost of a musical can cost thousands of dollars. A straight play would be your best bet, as it would cost only a fraction of what a musical would cost.

Here are some books that will help you:

FULL HOUSE by George E. Charter

CREATE YOUR OWN STAGE PRODUCTION COMPANY by Gill Davis

THE ART OF DIRECTION by William Ball

You can also go to Samuel French and look up other books that will help you!

I know all this from directing a show when I was in high school in 1998. I have been in theater for 17 years. I directed in college and have also staged 2 other EXTERMELY successful productions with my own theater company a few years ago. I am currently in my early 20s and while I don't want to discourage you, I do want you to realize that producing and directing quality theater is not an easy, nor inexpensive undertaking. It is extremely time intensive and if you are not careful, it can throw your grades right off track. Be VERY cautious and realize what you are getting into.

Good luck!

Patrick

Drama Club Must Die! is a new musical comedy you might consider for
your first musical. No choreography needed!.   Royalties for this show,
which has already opened to great reviews, are very reasonable ? $80USD
for the first night, $70USD thereafter.   The usual one night run for a
middle school group would cost you $80 total, and that includes the
music score. All you have to do is reply back with your name and school
or theater name for a free script perusal and free samples of the music
(simple midi files of tunes) which will be emailed to you immediately ? no
muss, no fuss, and no materials to return.

CAST OF CHARACTERS - minimum
7m, 16f, 10-25e

The cast is flexible. I?ve indicated suggested genders in parentheses
below, with F=Female, M=Male, and E=Either where there is truly no
preference. In addition many of the parts may and should be doubled or
even triple-cast, particularly the drama club members, Munchkins, and
Stooges. There is a CD available if you have trouble locating a pianist.

PLOT OF THE MUSICAL
Although Mrs. Grackle is only temporary principal at the high school, she
plans to ingratiate herself with the school board with big budget cuts,
specifically cuts to the drama program which has been running in the red
for years. Naturally, the drama club members and their sponsor, Miss
Goldberg, are unhappy with this decision which will probably kill the
drama program. When the club shows up at the March school board
meeting to protest, they are given one last chance ? the school board will
help them if they can put on a new version of Wizard of Oz together in
one week, with all original songs!

Interested? Just email me back at gmurphy@snowcrest.net and I'll email
you a script and a sample of the songs for free perusal. I?ve had my
musicals produced all over the world and this show is one of my best.