High school musicals are moving beyond Disney's High School Musical.
As popular taste in musicals has shifted from old standards like Annie Get your Gun, Sound of Music and Oklahoma, mainstream high schools have also graduated to edgier productions. The musical Rent, recently performed by a school in Agoura, California, has begun to creep into theater department curriculums. No "surrey with the fringe on the top" here, Rent tackles such hot button issues as heroin addiction, bisexuality and AIDS.
Progressive drama teachers have been pushing the musical theater for some time. One momlogic mom remembers:
"We did Hair in high school and some of the kids in the shop were supposed to pretend they were smoking fake joints in the pre-show, but they smoked REAL joints on stage in front of the teacher--it was crazy!! With all of the incense in the room no one caught them."
What do you think, should high school drama departments stick to G-rated plays or explore more alternative productions?
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filed under: tween & teen logic
Email11 comments so far | Post a comment now >>
i see nothing wrong with it. no matter what, there will be kids doing drugs and sex with or without these plays. if anything G-rated plays are kind off boring. at least more students would particapte with these “explore more alternative productions”
- Cilia
R is the new PG
- Anonymous
I definitely think kids’ freedom of expression is important and if a high school wants to perform a musical that deals with deep issues then that’s great, especially a musical with amazing songs (like Rent) because it teaches lessons and it’s not like high schoolers don’t know what these issues are or will be offended - it’s the parents we have to worry about offending. Kids are extremely open minded. Unfortunately, edgy plays and musicals would never make it anywhere near the stage at my school: I go to an all-girls Catholic prep school and even though Rent teaches valuable lessons and we’ve done “Seasons of Love” at the talent show, our homophobic principal wouldn’t let us do that musical.
- a teenager (no really)
My daughters high school is currently having auditions for sweeny todd. My daughter is auditioning for the part of joanna. I see nothing wrong with it at all,actually i am very proud of her and the school for going out of the “norm” of annie and other classics. I think its time to step it up.
- Anonymous
Hiding the realities of life is no way to have a working relationship with our children. Giving them an opportunity to express themselves through relevant art give us the chance to find out where there heads are.
- Da Dad
I tell my teen, I know she’s bombarded with sexual references, negative images, the threat of violence and she shouldn’t have to deal with it @ home. Home should be a respite from all the ugliness in the world. So should school. I think college is different, but highschool should protect them as much as possible also. So some topics should be handled delicately, and I wouldn’t want to see drug use glorified. They shouldn’t have to see all the ugliness right in their own living rooms. I’m not saying parents should pretend it doesn’t exist & they should bring up subjects & try to prepare their children as a form of protection. Also, my kids go to parochial school, but I wouldn’t want abortion addressed or portrayed either, & their school is rabid enough to try.
- Molly6
There is nothing wrong with Rent. If musicals were restricted to highschoolers on the basis of drugs, alcohol, and sexuality that would make Les Mis and Anything Goes inappropriate shows.
- a_thespian_in_hs
There is nothing wrong with Rent. If musicals were restricted to highschoolers on the basis of drugs, alcohol, and sexuality that would make Les Mis and Anything Goes inappropriate shows. relax. remeber they are in highschool they can handle it.
- a_thespian_in_hs
There is nothing wrong with Rent. If musicals were restricted to highschoolers on the basis of drugs, alcohol, and sexuality that would make Les Mis and Anything Goes inappropriate shows. relax. remeber they are in highschool they can handle it.
- a_thespian_in_hs
I think they should do more byebyebirdie so people can play awesome roles like the mom.
- Putti
It amazes me that works of art tackling controversial topics to entertain and teach the audience are repressed from what are supposed to be educational environments. Rent does not glorify drugs, AIDS is a serious issue that needs addressing, and homo/bisexuality is a real thing that is constantly discriminated against. I went to a school where drugs, STDs, pregnancies, and violence were commonplace and I turned out fine partly BECAUSE of stories like Rent that I could relate to. Parents need to wake up and realize their teens can handle it. Actually, I find High School Musical to be more detrimental to young minds than either Rent or Sweeney Todd. No moral message in it at all, just a brainless exercise of musical entertainment. It’s an insult to musicals that challenge our minds.
- Domo
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