Musicals?

tmlfan123 · 03-31-2009, 01:23 PM

Has anybody here been in a musical or enjoy them as much as I do?

I was part of a production of Godspell this past year done by our local Youth For Christ chapter. It was a collection of roughly 45 high-school aged students, and we did everything ourselves(with adult supervision and teaching, of course), from lighting and sound to the band to the cast. We edited the script somewhat to make it follow the gospel of Matthew more accurately(in the original Jesus does not rise from the dead), and we performed six shows locally in Ontario and eight more in Florida at various youth detention centres, where we were incredibly well received. I had the opportunity to play the Jesus role in half of the shows(we were doing two shows a day in Florida and decided it would be better to rotate), and it was truly a phenomenal experience.

If you've got a story about your high school musical or whatever performing group you've been a part of, post it here.

rock_show_host · 03-31-2009, 01:44 PM

I LOVE musicals.

I've only ever acted in one; I played Motel in Fiddler on the Roof in high school, and it was an incredible experience. All of us in the cast were really close, and it was great performing alongside some amazingly talented people. Aside from that, I've played in pit orchestras for a few shows -- Oklahoma, Company, Bright Lights Big City, and Children of Eden, where I actually got to meet Stephen Schwartz (who also wrote the music for Godspell) when he came and did a workshop at my school.

On Broadway, I've seen Wicked, Spamalot, Les Miserables (twice), Avenue Q, and Fiddler on the Roof, but I've gotten to watch a lot more as school or community theater productions (my school did an AMAZING production of Sweeney Todd last year). A few of my other favorites are Into the Woods, The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs For A New World, Ragtime, Rent, and Spring Awakening.

guitarguy90 · 03-31-2009, 01:49 PM

I have been in Charlie Brown and The Prince and the Pauper, and am currently playing bass for The Pirates of Penzance.

**Rainer.** · 05-16-2009, 08:59 PM

I've played in the pit orchestra/band for productions of Pippin, Footloose: The Musical, Bye Bye Birdie, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Godspell, She Loves Me, and most recently, High School Musical: Onstage.

Ironically, I don't enjoy watching musicals, usually.

Particularly that last one.

rock_show_host · 05-16-2009, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainer.

High School Musical: Onstage.

Ironically, I don't enjoy watching musicals, usually.

Particularly that last one.

The grade below me did that as their senior class play. It was the only time I can EVER remember a school musical selling out the auditorium two nights in a row.

**Rainer.** · 05-16-2009, 09:26 PM

At my high school, they sell out nearly every night. It's a bit of a big deal around here. I graduated last year, but they hire me back all the time for the musicals.

Good money, too...

tmlfan123 · 07-12-2009, 08:20 PM

My brother-in-law played bassoon in a production put on by a collection of high schools in the Hamilton, Ontario, area this past year and I got to go see it. The show was "Into the Woods", which I had never heard of before, but I thoroughly enjoyed the music in it. The show had a terribly humanistic worldview practically falling out of the dialogue and lyrics, but the acting, singing, and music were top-notch. Has anyone else heard of this musical?

rock_show_host · 07-12-2009, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmlfan123

My brother-in-law played bassoon in a production put on by a collection of high schools in the Hamilton, Ontario, area this past year and I got to go see it. The show was "Into the Woods", which I had never heard of before, but I thoroughly enjoyed the music in it. The show had a terribly humanistic worldview practically falling out of the dialogue and lyrics, but the acting, singing, and music were top-notch. Has anyone else heard of this musical?

I LOVE Into the Woods. It's one of my top musicals. The premise, music, lyrics, writing, everything is absolutely brilliant. Anyone who has an opportunity to see any of Sondheim's musicals should do so -- Sweeney Todd and Company are fantastic as well.

On a related note, I just saw Phantom of the Opera on Broadway for the first time. I was actually a little underwhelmed -- the story just didn't do it for me, and the characters are a little hard to get attached to. Most people go see Phantom for the spectacle though, and the sets/lighting and costumes were amazing to see live. And the music's always a blast, that organ intro just kills me.

metropolis4 · 07-12-2009, 10:49 PM

I love musicals!

I've never acted in one, but I've played in a lot of pit orchestras including Godspell (twice), Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Man of Lamancha and a bunch of other smaller ones. It's my favorite type of playing to do I just think it's such a blast. I'm trying to figure out how to get in on some of the bigger shows in town, but it seems tricky...

...On a side note I have to confess I am a closet High School Musical fan

rock_show_host · 07-12-2009, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metropolis4

...On a side note I have to confess I am a closet High School Musical fan

Not anymore...

*proudly sings Breaking Free from the rooftops*

tmlfan123 · 07-13-2009, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock_show_host

I LOVE Into the Woods. It's one of my top musicals. The premise, music, lyrics, writing, everything is absolutely brilliant.

I wouldn't go straight to brilliant but I'd say it's one of the best musicals you've never heard of. The second act is almost completely unnecessary.

tmlfan123 · 07-13-2009, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metropolis4

...On a side note I have to confess I am a closet High School Musical fan

Say it isn't so

rock_show_host · 07-13-2009, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmlfan123

The second act is almost completely unnecessary.

Seriously?

The second act is what the musical is all about. It's the point of the show. You have a series of cliche, heard-it-before, happily-ever-after stories that all end neatly tied up...at intermission. The second half shows us what happens after happily ever after. One-dimensional fairy tale characters are suddenly more complicated, suddenly faced with choices that don't quite fit into black-and-white moral lessons. Love at first sight turns out not to be enough to satisfy Prince Charming. The bad guys aren't the only ones who end up dying.

Sorry, I'm gushing. But I really think the second act is what makes the show brilliant rather than merely entertaining. Without it, the musical is just a fun retelling of a dozen fairy tales we already knew by heart.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmlfan123

one of the best musicals you've never heard of

*entering theater geek mode* I don't know if you're generally a fan, but this is actually an enormously popular show among the musical theater crowd. It may not be as mainstream as, say, Phantom of the Opera, but a LOT of people know it. Stephen Sondheim is easily one of the most well-known and well-respected living musical theater composers. Just wanted to point that out.

*exiting theater geek mode* ;-)

OiBoyz · 07-14-2009, 12:07 AM

It probably doesn't count as a musical, but I've performed in a community choir doing Handel's Messiah. It was hard work, and probably challenged my vocal skills more than anything else I've ever done, but I loved every minute of it.

tmlfan123 · 07-14-2009, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock_show_host

Seriously?

The second act is what the musical is all about. It's the point of the show. You have a series of cliche, heard-it-before, happily-ever-after stories that all end neatly tied up...at intermission. The second half shows us what happens after happily ever after. One-dimensional fairy tale characters are suddenly more complicated, suddenly faced with choices that don't quite fit into black-and-white moral lessons. Love at first sight turns out not to be enough to satisfy Prince Charming. The bad guys aren't the only ones who end up dying.

Sorry, I'm gushing. But I really think the second act is what makes the show brilliant rather than merely entertaining. Without it, the musical is just a fun retelling of a dozen fairy tales we already knew by heart.

The moral chaos in the second act got to me, I think. Some of the scenes in the second act, especially Prince Charming hooking up with the baker's wife, just seemed like tack-ons to me. I have nothing bad to say about the music in this one, however. "Giants In The Sky" is pure, simple genius.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock_show_host

*entering theater geek mode* I don't know if you're generally a fan, but this is actually an enormously popular show among the musical theater crowd. It may not be as mainstream as, say, Phantom of the Opera, but a LOT of people know it. Stephen Sondheim is easily one of the most well-known and well-respected living musical theater composers. Just wanted to point that out.

*exiting theater geek mode* ;-)

well I stand corrected. Maybe I'm just not as much of a theater geek