As a former director of high school theatre (thank you, Disney, for killing the phrase, "high school musical") I am stunned. Even in a district with HUGE transportation issues and a lot of kids who came from across town, I NEVER had people just leave. Granted, this often entailed being very creative with rides, etc., but we got it done. SHIT.
And Sondheim is NOT a good introduction to musical theatre for performers of any sort. Siriusly, unless you are a pretty damned good musician, it's difficult. My husband (a bassoonist with a degree from NEC and one from CIM) does pit stuff, but is not an huge musical theatre fan. Still, the first time he ever saw Into the Woods he was floored by the degree of difficulty for both the singers and the orchestra. And that show is easier than Sweeney. When I was directing the students would always beg to do Westside Story, but (sadly) I just did not think that we had the orchestral talent (and we were not allowed ringers), so I had to nix it. There is nothing worse than badly done musicals.
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Date: 2008-11-19 03:53 pm (UTC)As a former director of high school theatre (thank you, Disney, for killing the phrase, "high school musical") I am stunned. Even in a district with HUGE transportation issues and a lot of kids who came from across town, I NEVER had people just leave. Granted, this often entailed being very creative with rides, etc., but we got it done. SHIT.
And Sondheim is NOT a good introduction to musical theatre for performers of any sort. Siriusly, unless you are a pretty damned good musician, it's difficult. My husband (a bassoonist with a degree from NEC and one from CIM) does pit stuff, but is not an huge musical theatre fan. Still, the first time he ever saw Into the Woods he was floored by the degree of difficulty for both the singers and the orchestra. And that show is easier than Sweeney. When I was directing the students would always beg to do Westside Story, but (sadly) I just did not think that we had the orchestral talent (and we were not allowed ringers), so I had to nix it. There is nothing worse than badly done musicals.