What some school somewhere should do
When I was in junior high school (I'm showing my age here, but this was about 15 or 16 years ago!), our music department involved itself in a concept that I felt was really clever. We would take a popular movie (usually kids' films, but occasionally we'd do something more "adult") and adapt it VERY loosely as a series of musical/acting skits. The most originality was shown in our adaptation of FORREST GUMP, in which a young teenaged actor playing Gump (and he did a splendid job, I might add!) sat on a bench in the middle of the stage and told the audience stories about the 1960s. And then, interspersed with these scenes, we'd have recreations of musical moments from that decade (the Beatles appearing in America set to "Help!", for instance).
I thought this was really great. We were making FORREST GUMP our very own. And because we were just a small primary school, we didn't have to pay any royalties! (Incidentally, we DID have a gifted musical staff and most of the time, I believe, they composed music for us to perform.)
So what does this all have to do with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER? I've thought about it and concluded that that movie would be perfect for adaptation for a school play! It's got a strong story, a youthful viewpoint, and plenty of color and humor. (It wouldn't have been done at my school, though, because we were a Christian school and anything having to do with vampires was frowned upon, but I'm sure it would be allowed SOMEwhere.) More than anything else, though, BUFFY has the kind of "darkness" (maybe just below the surface, but there nonetheless) that makes for great drama and action.
So, in the spirit of our FORREST GUMP tribute, I've thought of some musical skits that could be included in a modest dramatization of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. A particularly good one would be from early in the film, when the kidnapped Cassandra wakes up in Lothos's lair, sees Amilyn, and asks: "Where am I?" And the actor/singer playing Amilyn could respond:
"Welcome to the abandoned land/Come on in, child/Take my hand/Here, there's no work or play/Only one bill to pay/There's just five words to say as you go down, down, down....
"YOU'RE GONNA BURN IN HELL!"
Genius.