maize Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Looking for a musical for a group of about 20 kids ages 6-14 to perform, ideally one without just a couple of main parts. Kids just want to participate and have fun. Recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Most of the Broadway Jr shows are great, but they are $$ to get the rights. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Check out Plank Road Press. They have nice revues that are inexpensive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Suessical - usually done with a large cast, but I once saw it expertly played by a company of 8. The music is great. Godspell and Annie come to mind as shows with multiple meaty roles. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Suessical - usually done with a large cast, but I once saw it expertly played by a company of 8. The music is great. Godspell and Annie come to mind as shows with multiple meaty roles. I agree w Seussical and Godspell. seussical’s music is awesome and the show is great for families - even little kids enjoy it. You can cut scenes easily without the audience losing the storyline. Godspell is awesome because you can choose the setting. I’ve seen it done as a modern day high school setting - makes costuming super easy. Can’t comment on Annie. I don’t care for the mean Miss Hannigan or the conniving Rooster And LIly. But it does have multiple meaty roles and catchy music. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) The junior shows are much easier for this age range. The music is modified to make it more singable and they are a much more manageable and audience friendly length. Most of them are well done. The Shrek Jr. and Shrek for young audience version are not my favorites even though I think that has potential to be a fun show. They just don't seem as well done as some. For a show with MANY good roles, Into The Woods Junior is a great show. These shows are expensive to license though if you have budget issues. If you're trying to do something to do something as a low budget workshop experience, my kids have done things where a director would pick about 5 songs related to a story, and the kids would write the story together the first part of the workshop and cast the show from there. If you're not selling tickets, there are no copyright issues here. ETA - Pioneer Drama has some classic children's stories in musical form that aren't too expensive as another option. https://www.pioneerdrama.com/Default.asp?src=top Edited March 18, 2018 by FuzzyCatz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 We are heading out in a few minutes to watch DD12 in her school musical, which is Fiddler on the Roof Jr. Tevye is the biggest part, and there are many mid-sized roles for boys and girls. Her school production is for grades 6-12. I don't know how much they had to pay for the rights, etc. They borrowed costumes from another children's theater organization. It's been really nice and is age appropriate, as long as no one minds the religious (Jewish) parts of the story and the fact that most of the kids are playing adults who are figuring out who to marry (no kissing, some hand-holding in our production). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) Aristrocats Jr. was a fun musical for my youngest ds's theatre group. Fun music, not too many parts, simple set. As pp have mentioned, the licensing rights will cost. Phantom of the Music Room was another musical my dc did. I think it was really inexpensive to get permission to use and for scripts. The music is based on well-known classical music with lyrics added. There's a possibility for a pit band, too, and this doesn't require too high skill level. There production my dc did didn't have any dancing or blocking for the music, so it was really simple, relatively speaking. Edited March 18, 2018 by wintermom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 A newer one that is just fantastic is "We Are Monsters" really fun, great message with good music 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Looking for a musical for a group of about 20 kids ages 6-14 to perform, ideally one without just a couple of main parts. Kids just want to participate and have fun. Recommendations? Budget will be the determining factor. The "Jr" shows mentioned above are perfect but $$. Or, there are a number of companies that have shows that no one has ever really heard off but are still fun and low budget. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 I got curious as to exactly what expensive means in this context, and found this: https://www.mtishows.com/help/cost And I looked at Plank Roal Press as well, which has the revues: https://www.musick8.com/html/store_page.php?display=subcat&cat_id=13&subcat_id=5&subcat=All-School+Topical+Revues It looks like a group can get a revue kit for $100 or less, sometimes a good bit less; this is going to be something without familiar characters and songs. The Broadway or Disney route is going to be $500 plus. So I guess that the first decision for any group is going to be, what's in the budget? Then, who is the audience, how much will we charge for tickets, and what other expenses will we have? I know that, in my area, schools and local theater companies alike put on quite a few productions. There is definite competition. If tickets are more than a few dollars, say in the $10 to $15 range, people expect it to be Disney or Broadway Junior. Even $5 a ticket is tough for unknown revues, because that's the group price for most of the "known" plays. The group that does the best with unknown plays is the local performing arts school, because they have the theater and budget already. It's not a disaster if they don't meet expenses, and it's not like their family isn't going to go see it :lol: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 I would love to do a broadway jr (or maybe one of the shorter KIDS shows). I'd have to see how much families are willing to pay for what will necessarily be a very amateur production--with kids doing a lot of their own costuming etc. For a small performance we can use the library recital room I think; free but we are not allowed to charge for tickets. So we would charge for kids to be involved and that would have to cover everything. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 If you are literally not charging for tickets and performing in someone's backyard or in a church room or the like with zero tech, then honestly, if you want to fly under the radar, then you can easily do so. Whether or not you ethically feel okay with doing that is another question. But just so you know. Ds does a lot of musical theater. His best experience was doing Thoroughly Modern Mille and Hairspray, but they might or might not fit your group or goals. I agree with Birdie as a good option for kids. And most of the junior versions - Into the Woods Junior is good. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 An update about Fiddler on the Roof Jr. We just returned from the performance. There is a pub scene with drinking, and Tevye has a hangover the next day. And there is a scene with ghosts. These kind of things may or may not be issues with your group, so I thought I'd mention them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 An update about Fiddler on the Roof Jr. We just returned from the performance. There is a pub scene with drinking, and Tevye has a hangover the next day. And there is a scene with ghosts. These kind of things may or may not be issues with your group, so I thought I'd mention them. Fiddler is one of my all time favorite shows. I wonder how the Jr version compares to the original? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 The junior shows are much easier for this age range. The music is modified to make it more singable and they are a much more manageable and audience friendly length. Most of them are well done. The Shrek Jr. and Shrek for young audience version are not my favorites even though I think that has potential to be a fun show. They just don't seem as well done as some. For a show with MANY good roles, Into The Woods Junior is a great show. These shows are expensive to license though if you have budget issues. If you're trying to do something to do something as a low budget workshop experience, my kids have done things where a director would pick about 5 songs related to a story, and the kids would write the story together the first part of the workshop and cast the show from there. If you're not selling tickets, there are no copyright issues here. ETA - Pioneer Drama has some classic children's stories in musical form that aren't too expensive as another option. https://www.pioneerdrama.com/Default.asp?src=top Pioneer drama looks like a great resource, I am browsing it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 18, 2018 Author Share Posted March 18, 2018 If you're trying to do something to do something as a low budget workshop experience, my kids have done things where a director would pick about 5 songs related to a story, and the kids would write the story together the first part of the workshop and cast the show from there. If you're not selling tickets, there are no copyright issues here. Can you tell me more about this? I do not understand the ways copyright and performance rights work for songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) Fiddler is one of my all time favorite shows. I wonder how the Jr version compares to the original? I haven't seen the original since childhood. But the play director mentioned that he was very careful to choose a Jr. show that maintains the character and elements of the original, and one that is fun for the high schoolers as well as the middle school students. Okay, I just read an online synopsis of the original play, and the Jr. version contains everything I read. But DD thinks the director added the dream sequence in, because the Jr. version did not include it. Edited March 18, 2018 by Storygirl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Can you do a cabaret night and just do select scenes from well-known productions? This is a way to give everyone a big roll without a big budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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