La Primavera

A little madness in the Spring

Is wholesome even for the King,

But God be with the Clown —

Who ponders this tremendous scene —

This whole Experiment of Green —

As if it were his own!

--Emily Dickenson

I love springtime! I love the freshness in the air, the busy chirpping of birds, and the budding of new life. This is the time I feel most inspired to start afresh and make new resolutions...to keep the house clean, my lazy bum active, and my outlook on life vibrant...why can't New Year's just be in Spring?!

Although less relevant to birds and buds, springtime also brings such funtimes as April Fool's, Spring break, and, my favorite, the showcase of the local high school musical. On this latter subject I have a few thoughts. This past weekend our local high school put on the show "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" which Justin and I went to go see on opening night. Considering we live in a small, relatively isolated town, I thought the kids did a really good job. Of course it wasn't a Tony performance, but if anything it was upbeat and the few kids who could really act/sing made it worthwhile. After the show, I starting thinking about musicals that high school kids SHOULD NOT put on. Here's the top 5 list I came up with (as you can see I am getting addicted to lists...but oh well):

#5 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL--Enough already! I feel like the whole HSM phase is like a bad case of acne that just won't disappear. It sounds cute right? Real high school kids re-enacting the love and drama of Disney's new generation of Mouseketeers? WRONG! For all those high schools considering on cashing in on this craze don't do it...for the love of all that is good, DON"T DO IT! Because the original production was, at best, tolerable (if you like that whole Disney-superficial-teenage-popstar thing), any re-make will really be torture. Also, no offense to anybody in high school, but for reals, high school drama it NOT exiciting...musicals are either good when they are about hardcore, people dying for a secret love, kind of drama or when their about feel-good, orphans finding new families, kind ot drama. Nothing in between really works for musical theater. Again, this is a major NO-NO for anyone.

#4 CATS-Although this is probably not a musical most high schools would even consider given the complexity of the costumes, it is still an option and that alone makes it vulnerable to being undertaken by either 1) a really desperate or 2) an overly ambitious high school. Let's just say that brightly colored spandex and furry tails are better left for the professionals and my favorite PBS show from the 80s Zoobilee Zoo (bring back memories anyone?!)

#3 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA-Ahh, another Andrew Lloyd Weber classic. Like Cats, this one is also vulnerable to the overly desperate and/or overly ambitious students of the arts. However, the reasons why this is a NO-NO doesn't have anything to do with costumes; instead, it has to do with talent and sex appeal. First of all, while some Broadway roles can be undertaken by less-than-great talent (or least forgiven for their attempts), the role of Christine is reserved only for the greatest of the great...I have yet to hear a 16 girl hit those Sarah Brightman notes. Second, the Phantom is scary yes, but he is also meant to be extremely sexy in a pompous, social recluse, Mr. Darcy kind of way. For all those sappy Pride and Prejudice addicts out there you know what I mean...trying to cast some Peter Brady for the Phantom is like trying to cast someone other than Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy...it's just not the same.

#2 HAIRSPRAY-Okay, well this might seem like a good option for the high school theater club...great story, lots of dancing, and a re-newed comtemporary appeal. But however shocking this may sound, this story was much better as a movie instead of a musical. Sure the music WAS great in the re-makes (Broadway and Hollywood), but somehow when the focus of the story changed to the music instead of the cheeky, somewhat trashy acting (that was only found in the original), it lost a lot of its charm. Briefly stated, Hairspray is a satire about race, class, and image and is better showcased through the twisted humor of John Waters than on the stage of musical theater. Besides, nobody quite plays Tracey Turnblad and her mom like Rickie Lake and Divine.

#1 RENT--Actually, as a kid I LOVED the music to this musical...I still find myself randomly singing "Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes...." Then when I grew up I finally realized what the storyline was about--AIDS, inner-city poverty, and homosexual love. Not that these aren't important issues to talk about in society, but somehow I just don't see high school kids pulling this one off. For one thing, I know this musical would NEVER happen in my town (probably better it didn't too!), but also I think that this musical applied to the high school arena would have the same effect as watching self-taught singers/dancers/musicians try out for those talent reality show--ARKWARD--for both the performers and the audience! However, come to think of it, I would really like to see an adaptation of this musical to fit the scene of the struggling to survive artists/musicians in country-bumkin-landia...anyone up to see SHARECROPPER?

--A