A few weeks ago, I posted about engaging my theatre students in a conversation about their ideas for next year's winter musical. The email I initially sent spawned some great email exchanges and eventually we met for a "face-to-face" conversation over Google Meet. I was hoping the talk would give me some insights into their ideas about what makes a good musical (which it did), while also leading me toward a solid decision about next year's show (which it did not).
Their ideas about what to do varied widely. They seem to want more "serious" material; there was also a lot of talk about shows like Mamma Mia! and Shrek. I don't know that you can get a wider span from "serious" to Shrek. One thing I enjoyed seeing was how seriously they took the conversation and that they acknowledged how difficult it could be to select something that met so many factors. I'm a proponent of being open in my process so they can learn these things. I just wish it had brought me closer to a definite selection.
The choreographer and I have some ideas, so I am confident that we will choose a show soon. I wanted to get the students' input in order to build interest and increase participation in a program that was in decline when I began there last school year. In that sense, this was a "win" for us as a program. I loved how invested they were in some new ideas like drama club swag and smaller projects between shows. Those will be interesting ideas to continue exploring as we start the new year.
For now, I'm back to the drawing board... but leaning closely toward some more "classic" shows. They haven't done many of these in a while and I think there are a few that offer more "serious" fare than the more modern titles they threw around. One title mentioned in an email did not come up in conversation the way I thought it would. It seems a revival of an R&H standard piqued some interest, which I loved because I'm a proponent of R&H's work as experimental and darker musical fare. It was fun to hear it discussed that way. I will be adding the show to my ever-expanding and eclectic perusal list.
Theatre In Our Schools Month kicks off today and for the first time I am participating as the leader of a school drama club. Our state Thespian chapter shared a series of prompts for the occasion that were created by Thespian Troupe #5840 at Gloucester County Institute of Technology. I have adopted and shared these with the community at Lacey Township High School with the goal of getting as many students, teachers, staff, and community members involved in celebrating. While I look forward to seeing what they share, I am also excited to share a few things myself, particularly today with the prompt:
“Favorite song that you have performed or want to perform”
I am a huge musical theatre nerd. The history of the genre is fascinating to me and I have also been known to burst into song on occasion. This is something I usually try to keep under wraps, of course (unless I’m teaching upper elementary or middle school students whose appalled amusement is quite enjoyable), so it may come as a surprise to some reading this blog (and not quite a surprise to others, like those who live in my house).
Finding just one favorite song for this prompt is tricky. So here are a few that might fit the bill:
1. “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’!” from Oklahoma!
I’ve written about this song before and how much I like Hugh Jackman’s performance of it. This is an easy song to sing and I think I manage it pretty well in the car. Not a role I’d ever want to play, nor is it one in which I’d be cast. The character’s name (Curly) isn’t accidental!
2. “If I Can’t Love Her” from Beauty and the Beast
Similar to “Mornin’”, this is a great song to sing and way back when I was an auditioning actor (as opposed to a working one), this was one of my go-to songs. It fit my range well and the emotional depth of the song is moving. Terrence Mann sung the song well, but Josh Groben's pretty good, too.
3. “A Little Priest” from Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sweeney Todd is my favorite musical. It has all of the Sondheim qualities to enjoy and is an amalgamation of performance styles that feel appropriate to, if not actually of, the Victorian era in which the story is set. “A Little Priest” is a good music hall / vaudeville routine that swings across the emotional and psychological spectrum of the murderous, vengeful Todd. I have never played Sweeney Todd - and would gladly welcome the chance to do so -, but did perform the song during my freshman year of college. In my undergraduate program, senior Honors students research and present a performance thesis at the end of the year. I was cast with three other students to perform a musical revue that included “A Little Priest” and the preceding “Epiphany” (another excellent song).
Click here to see Angela Lansbury & George Hearn perform this song.
4. “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid
That may seem like a goof, but file this song under “favorite that you want to perform” for me. A few years back, I was teaching a playwriting residency to a large group of 4th and 5th graders. We were talking about how sometimes a play is fueled by a character who wants, or needs, something that they feel they must have. This song popped into my head and I went with it... actually, I began singing it… and it worked. Ariel has everything she could possibly have, but what she really wants is a whole world away from her. We all feel like that at some point in our lives. It is also a good touchstone for younger audience members from elementary school to high school who can’t wait to get older and get out into the world to see what is beyond what they’ve always known.
Obviously, I will never play Ariel, but if there was ever a “miscast” performance like they do at MCC Theatre’s annual gala, this would be a song I’d like to sing. Or perhaps even “Never Go Back to Before” from Ragtime. That’s a good one, too.
5. "Lily’s Eyes" from The Secret Garden
When this show opened on Broadway, I fell in love with it to the point of jealousy when my sister received a copy of the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. We lobbied to produce the play in college and when it was chosen for the season during my junior year, my friend Lou and I auditioned with “Lily’s Eyes”. We were cast in the roles of Archie & Neville Craven, respectively, and sang this song quite often. I couldn’t get enough of it. The song still moves me today and is absolutely the most favorite song I have performed.
For a while now I have been thinking about how much theatre - musical theatre in particular - has been a source of comfort and joy throughout my life. This morning, my commute was infinitely improved with the discovery of a long-lost Ragtime soundtrack. So, I thought it a good time to begin what I hope can be a regular series about show tunes. One song recently on my mind is “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” from Oklahoma! I realize there are some people who see Oklahoma! as naive, or even “cheesey”, and I will admit that I felt that way about it for quite some time. But after discovering the 1998 Royal National Theatre production on PBS a few years ago, I’ve been converted. That production, directed by Susan Stroman, had a realistic quality to it in which the characters felt as close to real people as a musical with dancing cowboys and farmers could possibly be. Plus, “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” is an easy song to sing and holds an interesting place in American theatre history with a connection to today’s “history maker”, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton. Both Oklahoma! and Hamilton are considered “ground breaking” in their time. We understand how that moniker can be given to Hamilton, but perhaps it is less obvious for Oklahoma! The Rodgers and Hammerstein staple was an experiment in musical theatre when it premiered in 1943. Musical theatre at the time followed a typical structure with song-and-dance numbers and action reminiscent of Vaudeville and other variety entertainments. However, when the curtain rises on Oklahoma!, Aunt Eller sits alone on stage as Curley enters the scene singing the opening number all on his own. In the HBO documentary Six by Sondheim, Stephen Sondheim, who was a protege of Oscar Hammerstein II, describes this as an example of how Hammerstein’s greatest influence in American theatre is his work as “an experimental playwright”. Sondheim himself would further alter the musical theatre structure with his self-described “conversational songs” and word play. Things brings us to Hamilton, which alters musical theatre structure again with the inclusion of rap and hip-hop into conventional theatre. More directly, there is a line of mentorship between these three artists. As Sondheim was mentored by Hammerstein, Miranda learned from Sondheim (who Miranda affectionately calls “Sondheezy”). (This lineage has a role in the history of American young playwrights programs, too.) This clip from the 1998 production at the Royal National Theatre in London is the version I enjoy the most. If you haven't seen it in full, check it out on the PBS website. I also use this video when lecturing about musical theatre, or in some playwriting workshops with young people. Hugh Jackman is a big appeal, especially to those students who know him primarily as Wolverine. (And wow, can he sing!)
