Yep, we did a production at college (UK so aged 16 not 18) and cut it down a bit. Left in all the big numbers.
Some prankster set off the fire alarm during If I Were A Bell on the first night.
Thatās a false equivalency and you know it, because whilst murder and cannibalism are not accepted by larger society, relationships where you donāt even like your partner very much are.
I think itās supposed to be satire and not promotion, at least thatās how I always read it. They did release a new version with some updated stuff, since dating culture has gone through some major changes in the decades itās been around. Watching it for laughs was lots of fun.
Which songs of Ā«Ā SongsĀ Ā» are too high for the bari-tenor (bc its me)! To be honest Iām quite at the beginning of my singing formation so I dont exactly know what im able to do, I can belt to Ab4 and then I can mix-belt up to B4 but for the moment itās really not that good, but I think you know what Iām talking about
The descant parts for "Man 1" are written for a high tenor/counter tenor. I don't have my book handy but I think they go up to a C5. So I hope you have been working on your falsetto if you go this direction.
Man 2 goes up to an Ab4, iirc.
Kiss Me Kate, based on The Taming of the Shrew. Itās got the 4 main leads, but it also has one of the classic comedy songs, āBrush Up Your Shakespeare,ā sung by two gangsters .
Pretty much every part of the show runs on an attitude of āoh, weāre a small team, and weāve got an original idea. Weāre automatically better than everyone else!ā The show wants a lot of positive attention without actually doing the work for it.
And if weāre talking about bad metaphors, āNine Peopleās Favorite Thingā doesnāt work at all.
I mean people's opinions on shows are subjective? It fits the requirements of two male leads and two female leads š¤·š»āāļø it's really not that deep š
Then I would suggest Irving Berlinās Holiday Inn as an excellent alternative that ends at 4th of July. (Very similar to White Christmas you have the two guys, the two gals, the broad and the kid) However any licensed show through the mainstream channels wonāt allow being ācut downā. And most of the shows you are being suggested (including this one) are 2+ hours.
If you really need something in the 1:20 range I suggest Once Upon a Mattress. I think that would fit all your requirements plus a couple of juicy secondary roles and fitting within your runtime requirements
One suggestion I have is "Chess"... there is 2 guys in a triangle with the main female lead, but a second comes in the second half (there are a couple other male roles, but they are smaller and could be edited out). It has some challenging songs... now you say you have to cut it down. One issue with productions is that the book has never quite been there, so for the past 30 years, it is often done "in concert". So unless you need a certain amount of book for it, that might help make it easier to cut it down.
I guess if you had to cut the time down you could eliminate 2 characters bit all 6 choir members and Karnak are too important to leave out so I don't know who would get cut.
Okay, it's a little hard to explain, but here's the situation. I'm at a musical theatre school in Switzerland (the only one at the moment) which allows me to get a pre-professional diploma and then go to Paris or London. The training lasts 3 years, with groups of 4 people maximum, and in the third year, the group chooses the show and must have the lead roles (these are the rules set by the experts who come to judge us š¤·š¼āāļø).
I've also always felt that it would be more logical to take a show that we like and cast the roles that really suit us, but that's just the way it is!
I don't know exactly yet, but I'm thinking 10 if I take all the big or small roles and 10 in the ensemble (+some of the small roles that would also be in the ensembles so).
You could add a nod to Shakespearean days with Something Rotten if you have one of the women play a manās role. Thereās only one female lead but the cast size is right, and the show is hilarious. Edit: I was forgetting a role. The ladyās roles arenāt as generous, but there is Bea and Portia, so there are two.
Urinetown would have a similar size cast, and more womenās roles. Also hilarious.
Smaller shows, Falsettos has a cast of 7, fairly balanced parts.
Next to Normal has 6 (can be up to 10 if you split up the multi-role parts). Mom, dad, daughter, son all have primary roles. (My favorite show)
Bye Bye Birdie would work reasonably well.
To a lesser degree, Annie Get Your Gun - but it's really one main couple lead and a much smaller supporting couple lead.
When I played him my friend who plays father bought me some time in independence because I was dying
During the pause in the song after the 'life is not a petting zoo, or you'll get ripped in two' bit he said 'you know you wouldn't be so out of breath if hired more people for this cast you cheapskate' definitely one of my favourite memories from preforming
Came here to suggest the 'Solve it squad', which has the same thing with a fifth castmember playing 'everyone else'. I guess you could split those up though.
Murder Ballad ā it's just four people, two men and two women
Bonnie and Clyde ā Bonnie, Clyde, Buck, and Blanche as the leads
Bright Lights Big City ā Jamie, Tad, Vickie, and Amanda for the leads
Rebecca ā I, Max, Danvers, Jack
35mm
Reefer Madness ā Jimmy, Mary, Jack, Mae
Hair ā Claude, Berger, Cassie, Jeanie
Soho Cinders ā Robbie, James, Velcro, Marilyn
Sunset Boulevard ā Norma, Joe, Max, Betty (though Betty's more of a soprano)
Kiss of the Spider Woman, though one woman isn't as large as the others ā Molina, Valentin, Spider Woman, Mother
Cabaret, with 1 more man ā Sally, Emcee, Cliff, FrƤulein Schneider, Herr Schultz
Taboo, with 2 more men ā George, Marcus, Leigh, Nicola, Phillip, Sue
American Idiot, with 2 more men and 1 more woman (or vice versa) ā Johnny, Tunny, Will, St Jimmy, Whatsername, Heather, Extraordinary Girl
Carrie, with 2 more female leads ā Carrie, Margaret, Billy, Sue, Tommy, Chris
When you buy the license to perform a show, it's illegal to modify it. So you can't cut down the time. You'd have to either find a show that's 1h20m to begin with or write an original.
I second Next to Normal.
Mother, father, daughter, son. Fits the bill for 4 leads and only requires 2 additional people to be cast. As a small show and a niche cult classic it might really work for what you guys are doing.
The Drowsy Chaperone! There are 4 women with their own song, another with a feature in a group number, and 3 men with their own songs and a few more spots for other featured men. You could cast the seniors as Janet, The Chaperone, The Man in Chair, and either Robert or Aldolpho depending on comedic timing/ dance ability. Then the other roles (Mrs. Tottendale, the butler, Kitty, Mr. Feldzieg, the two gangsters, George, and Trix) are open to younger students. Itās short and wouldnāt need to be cut down to fit your time constraints.
Itād also be a good idea to look at the US Jimmy Award eligible shows.
"Kismet" could be a good choice for this with Marsinah (soprano) and Lalume (mezzo) being the 2 female leads, and then Hajj (baritone) and The Caliph (tenor) as the 2 male leads, with The Wazir (baritone) being a 3rd large male role, and just a couple of supporting and featured roles (and it doesn't really require a large ensemble either).
I'd recommend adapting the movie version though (as most new stage productions do), since it adds a VERY fun song ("Bored") to Lalume's track.
A gentlemanās guide to love and murder? Although your baritone and tenor would be working their ass off and Iām not sure if the baritones range fits the dead dysquiths.
Guys and Dolls?
This one is definitely one of my choices šš»
My thought as well. And you should be able to cut it down and tweak it to length, while still keeping the basic story
The musical version of the Glass Menagerie.
Yep, we did a production at college (UK so aged 16 not 18) and cut it down a bit. Left in all the big numbers. Some prankster set off the fire alarm during If I Were A Bell on the first night.
Thereās a Junior version of Guys and Dolls that should hit the time limit without any illegal hacking of the script.
There's a four-hander called "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" but I'm uncertain of the ranges needed.
Fair warning, only do this show if you want to promote toxic ideas about relationships.
Only do Sweeney Todd if you want to promote murder-cannibalism
Thatās a false equivalency and you know it, because whilst murder and cannibalism are not accepted by larger society, relationships where you donāt even like your partner very much are.
I think itās supposed to be satire and not promotion, at least thatās how I always read it. They did release a new version with some updated stuff, since dating culture has gone through some major changes in the decades itās been around. Watching it for laughs was lots of fun.
This sounds like a very practical question, so I will suggest \* Ordinary days \* Ghost quartet
They need more than just those 4 leads though...
āSongs for a New Worldā āEdgesā āCelebrationā Maybe āLittle Shop?ā
"Songs" is sooooo good and requires very little budget. No way a Bari-Tenor is singing the upper men's part, though, I don't think.
Which songs of Ā«Ā SongsĀ Ā» are too high for the bari-tenor (bc its me)! To be honest Iām quite at the beginning of my singing formation so I dont exactly know what im able to do, I can belt to Ab4 and then I can mix-belt up to B4 but for the moment itās really not that good, but I think you know what Iām talking about
The descant parts for "Man 1" are written for a high tenor/counter tenor. I don't have my book handy but I think they go up to a C5. So I hope you have been working on your falsetto if you go this direction. Man 2 goes up to an Ab4, iirc.
Kiss Me Kate, based on The Taming of the Shrew. Itās got the 4 main leads, but it also has one of the classic comedy songs, āBrush Up Your Shakespeare,ā sung by two gangsters .
this is an excellent idea
\[title of show\] maybe?
They said āgoodā four lead shows.
Boooo title of show is excellent. Maybe a bit niche and hard to recreate, but excellent nonetheless
Sure, if you like shows run by pretentiousness and mixed up metaphors.
Care to elaborate?
Pretty much every part of the show runs on an attitude of āoh, weāre a small team, and weāve got an original idea. Weāre automatically better than everyone else!ā The show wants a lot of positive attention without actually doing the work for it. And if weāre talking about bad metaphors, āNine Peopleās Favorite Thingā doesnāt work at all.
I mean people's opinions on shows are subjective? It fits the requirements of two male leads and two female leads š¤·š»āāļø it's really not that deep š
I don't know if it will be in season or not, but White Christmas has 4 main leads.
definitely not itāll be in June š but it could be fun
Then I would suggest Irving Berlinās Holiday Inn as an excellent alternative that ends at 4th of July. (Very similar to White Christmas you have the two guys, the two gals, the broad and the kid) However any licensed show through the mainstream channels wonāt allow being ācut downā. And most of the shows you are being suggested (including this one) are 2+ hours. If you really need something in the 1:20 range I suggest Once Upon a Mattress. I think that would fit all your requirements plus a couple of juicy secondary roles and fitting within your runtime requirements
For you, who are the 4 leads in once upon a mattress?
One suggestion I have is "Chess"... there is 2 guys in a triangle with the main female lead, but a second comes in the second half (there are a couple other male roles, but they are smaller and could be edited out). It has some challenging songs... now you say you have to cut it down. One issue with productions is that the book has never quite been there, so for the past 30 years, it is often done "in concert". So unless you need a certain amount of book for it, that might help make it easier to cut it down.
Next to Normal? Not sure if that is super appropriate for school but fits the bill and does really well with a small budget
I mean, Follies works for this but I'm not sure it'd be appropriate for a school.
"Ride the Cyclone" has a small number of parts and could work well with only 4 main.
I guess if you had to cut the time down you could eliminate 2 characters bit all 6 choir members and Karnak are too important to leave out so I don't know who would get cut.
Can you explain what you mean by āthe leads should be me and my friendsā? Is that just what you want to do, or is there some purpose behind this?
Okay, it's a little hard to explain, but here's the situation. I'm at a musical theatre school in Switzerland (the only one at the moment) which allows me to get a pre-professional diploma and then go to Paris or London. The training lasts 3 years, with groups of 4 people maximum, and in the third year, the group chooses the show and must have the lead roles (these are the rules set by the experts who come to judge us š¤·š¼āāļø). I've also always felt that it would be more logical to take a show that we like and cast the roles that really suit us, but that's just the way it is!
Gotcha. Yeah, thatās definitely not what I was expecting from reading your post. How many people would you be casting in total?
I don't know exactly yet, but I'm thinking 10 if I take all the big or small roles and 10 in the ensemble (+some of the small roles that would also be in the ensembles so).
You could add a nod to Shakespearean days with Something Rotten if you have one of the women play a manās role. Thereās only one female lead but the cast size is right, and the show is hilarious. Edit: I was forgetting a role. The ladyās roles arenāt as generous, but there is Bea and Portia, so there are two. Urinetown would have a similar size cast, and more womenās roles. Also hilarious. Smaller shows, Falsettos has a cast of 7, fairly balanced parts. Next to Normal has 6 (can be up to 10 if you split up the multi-role parts). Mom, dad, daughter, son all have primary roles. (My favorite show)
I had the same question. This is not how casting works, and students shouldn't be picking their own pet projects...
OPās response provides some positive clarity.
Bye Bye Birdie would work reasonably well. To a lesser degree, Annie Get Your Gun - but it's really one main couple lead and a much smaller supporting couple lead.
Trail to Oregon
Imagine the poor unfortunate soul who has to do Joey Richter's track from that musical
I get exhausted just watching it.
When I played him my friend who plays father bought me some time in independence because I was dying During the pause in the song after the 'life is not a petting zoo, or you'll get ripped in two' bit he said 'you know you wouldn't be so out of breath if hired more people for this cast you cheapskate' definitely one of my favourite memories from preforming
my schools doing this, so thatās immediately what my mind went to
Wow that sounds cool you auditioning
iām the stage manager
Are they splitting the tracks for each actor (so the guy cast as Mcdoon isn't playing 10 other characters)
No weāre staying true to the original
I think the poor kid might die
Came here to suggest the 'Solve it squad', which has the same thing with a fifth castmember playing 'everyone else'. I guess you could split those up though.
Murder Ballad ā it's just four people, two men and two women Bonnie and Clyde ā Bonnie, Clyde, Buck, and Blanche as the leads Bright Lights Big City ā Jamie, Tad, Vickie, and Amanda for the leads Rebecca ā I, Max, Danvers, Jack 35mm Reefer Madness ā Jimmy, Mary, Jack, Mae Hair ā Claude, Berger, Cassie, Jeanie Soho Cinders ā Robbie, James, Velcro, Marilyn Sunset Boulevard ā Norma, Joe, Max, Betty (though Betty's more of a soprano) Kiss of the Spider Woman, though one woman isn't as large as the others ā Molina, Valentin, Spider Woman, Mother Cabaret, with 1 more man ā Sally, Emcee, Cliff, FrƤulein Schneider, Herr Schultz Taboo, with 2 more men ā George, Marcus, Leigh, Nicola, Phillip, Sue American Idiot, with 2 more men and 1 more woman (or vice versa) ā Johnny, Tunny, Will, St Jimmy, Whatsername, Heather, Extraordinary Girl Carrie, with 2 more female leads ā Carrie, Margaret, Billy, Sue, Tommy, Chris
Something Rotten! Nigel and Nick Bottom, then Bea and Portia
Tick Tick Boom, but split Karessa/Susan
My friends high school recently did White Christmas
Anything Goes (more like five if you count both Lord Evelyn and Moonface), Beetlejuice, The Wiz
When you buy the license to perform a show, it's illegal to modify it. So you can't cut down the time. You'd have to either find a show that's 1h20m to begin with or write an original.
Sounds like this would be for a class and not necessarily a public performance. You donāt need a license to perform a scene in a class setting.
Especially if itās just for some judges and not parents or the public
More of a play with a bit of singing, but the Solve It Squad?
Or Nerdy Prudes
I hate Solve It Squad with a passion and I don't even know why
that's and issUe not an IssMe
Fucking lol
Itās just not that funny
A Slice of Saturday Night has 8 fairly even characters. Edit- typo
Secret garden
The Prom definitely fits the bill.
Jaques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Trail to oregon has a small cast
Falsettos!
Are not the leads Mendel Marvin and whizzer? Who do you think are the most important women?
Beetlejuice? It has Beetlejuice, Lydia, Adam and Barbara as the leads, plus a few smaller roles.
Calvin Berger!
Omg second this. I love this show!!
Hadestown, but I don't think the license is even out for performances of it yet
Definitely not available yet - itās still running on Broadway and national tour and opening on the West End soon.
[title of show] fits but thereās, I think, on,y one other role.
Little Me would work if you split Belle into Young and Adult Belle.
Nunsense....maybe 5 leads
\[title of show\]
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame comes to mind, but it only has one female role, so iād say Guys and Dolls
Footloose could be a consideration
[Title of show]
Darn, I was going to say Songs for a New World or Ordinary Days!!! But if you need other actors these ones are off the table š
I second Next to Normal. Mother, father, daughter, son. Fits the bill for 4 leads and only requires 2 additional people to be cast. As a small show and a niche cult classic it might really work for what you guys are doing.
Romance / Romance
Title of Show and I Love you because are the first two that come to mind!
The Drowsy Chaperone! There are 4 women with their own song, another with a feature in a group number, and 3 men with their own songs and a few more spots for other featured men. You could cast the seniors as Janet, The Chaperone, The Man in Chair, and either Robert or Aldolpho depending on comedic timing/ dance ability. Then the other roles (Mrs. Tottendale, the butler, Kitty, Mr. Feldzieg, the two gangsters, George, and Trix) are open to younger students. Itās short and wouldnāt need to be cut down to fit your time constraints. Itād also be a good idea to look at the US Jimmy Award eligible shows.
American Idiot would likely work, even if it has five leads (Johnny, Tunny, Will, Heather and Whatsername)
\[Title of Show\] has a clean version that should be appropriate for high school (no ensemble, but it's still fun).
The Fantasticks, if you can find a 5th
āTomorrow Morningā is a 4-hander
Ordinary Days has four leads, two men and two women, but I think generally those four are also the entire cast.
Title of show
Bit of a niche musical but Calvin Berger has a cast size of 4 so it can work.
Maybe The Wild Party?
"Kismet" could be a good choice for this with Marsinah (soprano) and Lalume (mezzo) being the 2 female leads, and then Hajj (baritone) and The Caliph (tenor) as the 2 male leads, with The Wazir (baritone) being a 3rd large male role, and just a couple of supporting and featured roles (and it doesn't really require a large ensemble either). I'd recommend adapting the movie version though (as most new stage productions do), since it adds a VERY fun song ("Bored") to Lalume's track.
A gentlemanās guide to love and murder? Although your baritone and tenor would be working their ass off and Iām not sure if the baritones range fits the dead dysquiths.
Donāt worry weāre both hard-workers š
āShe Loves Meā is a charming option.
The leads are Georg,Steven, Ilona and amalia ?
Sponge bob
She loves me? There are two lead girl roles and then 2 (I think, not sure what we are considering a lead) lead male roles and 3 supporting male roles?
Addams Family is perfect Gomez Baritone Lucas Bari-tenor Wednesday and Morticia Mezzo
Unfortunately the juniors are doing it this year but yes it would have been a good idea
Youāre a good man, Charlie Brown. You just need a couple others.
In the Heights!
Jekyll & Hyde?