It's a brave director who decides to stage a newly released musical in a school. Drama departments may choose cutting edge material for their studio plays and exam pieces, but when it comes to musical theatre, the temptation to stick to well-trod paths is very strong, not least because it is really useful if the cast and audience already know the songs. The big, brassy dance shows such as Guys and Dolls or Anything Goes provide feel-good fun for a large cast, and the stream of good tunes is enough to outweigh the flimsiness of the plot lines. Quirkier choices (Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors) are equally reliable audience pleasers, and if you've got the necessary vocal talent then the likes of Les Misérables or Evita will make for a truly memorable experience.
But the list of good musicals runs out quickly, once you discount those which are increasingly problematic in terms of content, or have limited ensemble action. Which is why, with a restriction-free school year tantalisingly close, you might want to consider something new.
Going big
There have been a number of recent releases from MTI Europe which might be of interest to those of you looking to stick with the familiar formula of well-known songs and a large ensemble. Probably the most interesting, musically and dramatically speaking, is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which uses songs from the 1996 film alongside many new numbers from the pens of Menken and Schwartz. The plot is as dark as the gothic setting, revolving around the very nature of morality, and will give pupils plenty to get their teeth into, not least as supporting roles abound – although there is only one lead female role. The orchestral score is epic and challenging, but MTI provides excellent and affordable backing track resources. We went down this route for a filmed production of Les Misérables earlier this year (see images) because Covid restrictions made a live orchestra unfeasible. It made some sections of the play more challenging for the singers, who had to follow the audio track rather than having a conductor follow them in recitative passages, for example, but the audio quality was superb, and we could, at least, rehearse along to the tracks.
The biggest challenge of staging a musical based on a Disney film (or equivalent) is that the individual character portrayals have become so iconic, even in animated form. To deviate too far from these is difficult and can result in flimsy imitations. That said, we staged a production of Beauty and the Beast a few years ago and it was a real pleasure; we avoided trying to replicate the aesthetic of the original stage production and thus the pupils were still able to make the parts their own. Hunchback is also, I think, significantly less well-known than many of the other Disney titles, perhaps because it's too dark for very young children, so an ambitious creative team will still be able to produce something unique. If you're looking for something with a lighter touch, The Little Mermaid stage musical (also available from MTI) is more immediately child-friendly, if rather more saccharine.
The other big challenge with this type of film-based show is the number of special effects required. This becomes very evident even when skimming the stage directions of Shrek: the musical, another newly-available MTI title. Pinocchio's nose grows; a donkey falls from the sky; seven-year-old Fiona morphs instantly into teenage Fiona who morphs into grown-up Fiona… There are usually ways to navigate around these moments – as we had to with the resurrection scene in Beauty and the Beast (a lot of smoke and falling rose petals and writhing) – but there's no doubt that the sheer technical requirements of a show like Shrek are prohibitive to schools without a well-equipped theatre and a very healthy budget. If you have those things, I think it would make a great production, and the central theme (who we really are, under the skin) is deep and meaningful enough to make it feel like more than a pantomime.
Closer to home
At the other end of the new release spectrum are two ultra-modern and hard-hitting musicals which can now be licensed from Nick Hern Books (NHB). Dear Evan Hansen and The Assassination of Katie Hopkins are both explicitly concerned with how we behave (badly) in the online world, and both stories start with an unexpected death which triggers a viral response. These behaviours have become more pronounced due to the pandemic, which makes these shows undeniably topical, though arguably some fun escapism is more what school pupils need after 18 months of seclusion and online learning. Each musical has a modest cast size of eight and the set requirements are a far cry from Shrek, though in some ways no less challenging. ‘A black, empty space, filled with screens', is all we are told in the libretto for Dear Evan Hansen, while the original Theatre Clwyd production of The Assassination featured over 2,000 separately-programmed lighting fixtures to create a pixelated screen effect. That said, I think both could be staged fairly simply with the help of a strong IT department and some tech-savvy pupils. In the event of another lockdown or continued audience restrictions, they would also have more ‘virtual’ performance potential than classic titles.
Of the two, Dear Evan Hansen is significantly more attractive as a potential school musical. The Assassination flirts with interesting ideas about the dangers of online debate, but is unremittingly gritty and lacks any upbeat message or sense of a solution. Dear Evan looks compellingly at the impact of online behaviour on teenagers, engaging with themes including depression, suicide and grief. This sounds like grim viewing, but – as with Les Misérables, (which covers similar territory in a very different way) – there is a redeeming message of hope. There is also a good deal of comedy within the script. It has a fair amount of adult content but no more than, say, Dennis Kelly's play DNA, which has become a staple of the school drama repertoire for older pupils. Much of the plot focuses on the relationships within families, so having pupils capable of portraying older characters (notably Evan's mother, Heidi) convincingly is vital. Some of the songs feel a little generic, but there are also powerful anthems (‘You will be found’) and lots of fun, up-tempo numbers (‘Sincerely me’). The pop/rock score could provide a great opportunity for a school with musical strengths in this area, though the complexity of the vocal parts shouldn't be underestimated and would require intense rehearsal with the band. There is some scope for inventive choreography, but this is not a dance show.
Magdalen College School's filmed production of Les Misérables
What's the goal?
Another new NHB release is the much-praised 2018 revised version of Sondheim's Company. Now with a female lead (Bobbie), the script packs more punch than the original, I think, and there are plenty of memorable songs. The story is deliberately and unusually jumpy, but the score is conventional and catchy. Again, it has a relatively small cast of 14, with five female roles. There are sex/drugs references aplenty, and the two older characters would require careful treatment, but for a talented Sixth Form cast in the right setting, this might prove an exciting project.
What none of these smaller shows has is a large chorus, in which less able pupils would be able to gain experience without feeling too exposed; all the roles are demanding and require confident solo voices. For me, putting on a musical is as much about the amazing, shared experience in the rehearsal room as about the end product. My own experiences as a director and musician have led me to write four original musicals which have all been successfully staged in Oxford. My primary focus was on creating pieces which were as much fun for the ensemble as the principals, and if you're looking for something new which has been written with schools or colleges in mind, then please do have a look at More Musicals.
Staging a brand-new musical is risky, there's no doubt, but the sense of shared ownership and discovery each time has been utterly worth the effort of creating something from scratch. Whether you end up opting for something new or an old favourite this year, I am certain that there will be a joyful sense of novelty about simply being back in a theatre with a live audience!
