Closed Topics: Our first year

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Our first year

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Topic: Our first year

Posted By: ivyap_presents
Subject: Our first year
Date Posted: 2/13/05 at 10:55pm

Hi everyone! I'm Jeff H, the president of the Illinois Valley Young Adult Players. We have picked the director for our first ever summer musical. Our cast/crew are from the ages of incoming high school freshmen thru 21 years old. We have it narrowed down to 2 shows but can't decide which one to do. We want to do either Chicago or Disney's Beauty and the Beast. We are a kind of off-branch of a recently cancelled summer theater program which has always done family friendly shows so that's where I'm worried that Chicago wouldn't be appropriate. But our director is really pulling for that one. He would much rather do it than Beauty and the Beast, but I'm having reservations because I don't want to limit our audience in our first year. Any suggestions are welcome. We want to have a successful first summer!

Jeff - IVYAP

Replies:

Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 2/14/05 at 5:13am

Initially if you look at economics of doing a budget, for each show!

Also think about your punters & some known or assumed demographics, of bums on seats, that you may or may not attract, for this & future productions?

You know the back yard you live in, so to a certain extent, which show can you achieve & be equally sure of doing it well!

For my money, Chicago is the more viable & B&B is just wishfull thinking!

What ever production you end up doing, after you have contracted with the punter in the purchase of a ticket, which option, has the best chance of achieving, some where near the level of the bums expectations!

-------------
Joe
Western Gondawandaland
turn right @ Perth.
Hear the light & see the sound.
Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"}
May you always play
to a full house}

Posted By: Topper
Date Posted: 2/14/05 at 12:49pm

From a purely technical standpoint, "Beauty & the
Beast" is a much more challenging show in regards
to sets, costumes & special effects. It relies on
spectacle moreso than "Chicago" which has a much
stronger script.
For a family-friendly musical, that is an
audience-pleaser and (somewhat) simpler to
produce, nothing beats that old warhorse "The
Sound of Music." Especially if your casting pool is
predominantly female.
"Annie" is also extremely popular if you've got kids
available.
"Guys & Dolls" works well for balance between
men's & women's roles.

-------------
"None of us really grow up. All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone

Posted By: th8rguykc
Date Posted: 2/15/05 at 9:50am

Never having actually done a full staging of a Disney musical I add in my two cents: I think people coming to see B&B will expect to see Belle, and the Beast as depicted in the Disney film. If you cannot at least get close to this I would stay away from it. (In other words, make sure you can pull off top notch costumes and effects!)

On the other hand while I love the show Chicago, I wonder if it is appropriate for your group. The show is sex-charged and violent. How many of your theatre-goers are going to be comfortable seeing these things depicted by a fourteen year old?

Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 2/15/05 at 6:32pm

Hi Jeff...

I graduated from IVHS, 1990. Am I correct in assuming that you will be using the high school stage and cafetorium for your productions? If so take that into account while making your decision. The flooring of the stage is pretty difficult to work with, especially when designing sets or when dancing. Disneys Beauty and the Beast was recenty produced locally at Reynolds High School (Gresham, OR). They had a huge budget (as compared to most non-profit theaters) and as a result an amazing set, prosthetics, costuming, etc. Chicago is a little risque but anyone coming to see the show would already know that. You can also put a disclaimer on your posters, letting people know it is intended for more mature audiences.

Are you sure you want to do a musical? If so you may want to consider more family friendly but less special effect reliant shows. Sound of Music, Annie, Music Man, and Wizard of Oz were very successful for us. We are currently rehearsing Honk, it looks to be a real winner, check into it.

Other ideas...non musicals. Does Rogue Music Theater still put on shows in the summer? If so you may not want to compete, try something completely different. You could do a melodrama with olios, that would enable you to add music and dancing. Niel Simon, Tim Kelly, Oscar Wilde, theres a ton of good scripts out there, keep looking until you find something that really fits.

Its good to hear that there is a theater group in the valley. Is Ferris involved?

Angel

Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 2/16/05 at 1:11am

Why not do a revival of an old musical? CHICAGO and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST seem to be playing everywhere. With the freshmen to 21 year range, what about THE BOYFRIEND, GOOD NEWS, GIRL CRAZY, or BABES IN ARMS?