I browsed through this board to make sure this hasn't been discussed before, and it hasn't!
I'm playing Corny in my school's production of Hairspray, and I wanted to start a thread for people who participated or are doing so in local Hairspray productions. This is a thread to share our experiences while we presented an amazing movie in our own way!
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I am very suprised that a school production is legal.
shareI don't think I really understood that. How is a local school production illegal? Has your school never had a The Sound of Music or Annie production, or anything else??
The Journal of Saint Anna; coming soon to a bookstore near you.
For an ameture/school production to be legal, the rights of the show have to released. It is not normal for those rights to be released until over a year after the Broadway production, and post Broardway tour have closed. Any ameture production before the rights are released is ilegal. All I was saying is that I'm suprise the rights have been released so soon.
shareIs it possible to do this play without black kids? There are only like 3 that I know of in my whole school.
I got my eye on you!
Well, if that makes a difference, I'll tell you that we're using the Broadway script and not the movie one, and it is the actual script that the school specifically ordered. So I guess that makes it legal; you thought we were producing the movie? Sorry if I come off as confused; I am
Thanks for your reply
And Spideyfan, we have several dark-skinned kids in our school, and the director always tells me that he'll "figure it out." So I guess no worries there!
The Journal of Saint Anna; coming soon to a bookstore near you.
Hey Pazuzu, yeah my school is doing this production, and I'm playing Penny!
I think there's loads of schools doing this play because there was a high demand for scripts, and it took months for them to delieved to our school.
Haha, my best friend is playing Corny, he seems a fun character to play.
but you made me do when I don't like dancing in the alley with the street rat night life.
That's great! (I love playing Corny!!) And do you sing Penny's part as well? Cause in our school, for it to be a truly special play () we have to sing, act, and dance.
The Journal of Saint Anna; coming soon to a bookstore near you.
Yes I have to sing, haha and dance too. My school's got it's own theatre and they're like obsessed with making it a great show! We did We Will Rock You last year and it was really good, so they wanna make it better, which means rehearsing nearly every night! Lol, its good though
but you made me do when I don't like dancing in the alley with the street rat night life.
Yeah, I think it's a great idea. It wouldn't be too interesting to have us prncing around on stage, mouthing the words to songs sung by James Marsden and Amanda Bynes! We Will Rock You? I don't know that play (weird for a person like me!) Tell me more about it.
I've been in 2 plays before; Fagin in Oliver Twist, and Riff in Westside Story. How about you?
The Journal of Saint Anna; coming soon to a bookstore near you.
We Will Rock You is about overthrowing a corporate dictator in the future using the power of rock & roll; it uses songs by Queen for its entire score.
sharewe had a production at my High School and i played Velma Von Tussle. i am obssessed with the show so i was thrilled to get the role. The show is amazing to be in IF DONE RIGHT- by this i mean, quality acting, costumes and sets. just because you are a high school or whatever dosent mean you should give a show time and effort to look the best possible.
shareWe Will Rock You is an amazing musical! Yes it's set in the future and all music has been banished, and a few characters go on a quest to help bring music back into the world. All of the songs are Queen songs.
Yeah and well I was just a dancer in that, I had a few lines but nothing special. I'm happy to have a pretty good role in this play though, haha.
but you made me do when I don't like dancing in the alley with the street rat night life.
Thanks for the info! Sounds interesting; I'd like to check it out soon. Do you think its by coincidence, jealousy or other factors that there are several movies/plays based on songs by famous bands, such as We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia! (the 2001 play), and Across the Universe? I'm pretty sure there are others, no?
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I don't think it's coincidence or jealousy. I think it's because they make a lot of money.
shareAh well, I guess you're right... You didn't tell me; are you in a Hairspray production?
The Journal of Saint Anna; coming soon to a bookstore near you.
Nope. I wouldn't mind trying out for Corny or Wilbur if I had the chance, though.
sharehttp://mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000297
It is illegal to do an amateur (high school) production of Hairspray right now. It is restricted. This is where you get the rights. The scripts are probably available to order and "preview" before you pay to produce it. Only certain professional theatres/community theatres have the right to produce it at this time.
I love Jesus Christ and am 100% proud! ~ I am a Legally Blonde-ite!
Well, don't ask me but I'm pretty sure what my school's doing is legal!! And as I said before, I'm pretty sure ours is based on the broadway musical and not this movie... And how come other ppl have said they were in their own school productions? Are they doing anything illegal too??
To Capt, good choices, though I still think Corny's the best!!
The Journal of Saint Anna; coming soon to a bookstore near you.
Idk either but (not to be rude) stop saying that you aren't doing the movie version... You CANT do the movie version! Haha! I want our schoolbto produce it just as much as the next person. I would like to play (in order by most):
1. Link
2. Corny
3. Edna (if fate were to permit it) :P
4. Council Member
5. Mr. Pinky/Spritzer/Guard
My drama teacher says I can emulate Harvey's voice pretty well for an Edna... Idk if doing that would be rude, though. Link is my favorite character! :D i would love to play him more than anything! Lol
I love Jesus Christ and am 100% proud! ~ I am a Legally Blonde-ite!
Haha don't worry; you didn't sound rude!! I still don't think I get your point, but I'll take your word for it:P
Haha that's a nice list you've got there, but what about Wilbur? You wouldn't want to play him? I'm actually recording Mr. Pinky's voice in "Welcome to the 60s" for lack of vocal participants!
Do you think, if you had a role, you'd sing for it as well?
The Journal of Saint Anna; coming soon to a bookstore near you.
Bump!
The Journal of Saint Anna; coming soon to a bookstore near you.
It is no longer illegal, at least in the UK anyway, the license for schools has only recently been released resulting in a high demand for schools across the country for scripts, and thats left my school with 4 weeks left to do the show and we've hardly done anything! Haha
but you made me do when I don't like dancing in the alley with the street rat night life.
Our deadline for opening night is was pushed from 27 February to 21 March, which gives us about a month to make up for all the time we wasted... we haven't done anything as well!! Also, I asked our director, and he told me not to worry about the legal matters. Well, my guess is he's probably right and what we're doing is perfectly legal!
The Journal of Saint Anna; coming soon to a bookstore near you.
[deleted]
Yes, its okay now to perform Hairspray in schools.
but you made me do when I don't like dancing in the alley with the street rat night life.
I don't know about Hairspray, but my school did Les Mis and that's still on the West End. The stipulation was that a few minor changes had to be made, for example we sped up all the songs by a small amount (I'm not really sure why) and we had to put Les Miserables: The School Edition over all our programmes etc. But it was totally legal.
shareA couple theories about speeding up the songs...
1) [If it was your director's decison:] It shortens the show; Les Mis is really long, & not a lot of people have patience to sit through long school plays.
2) [If it was a requirement:] It messes with the mood of the songs, so people still have to see the professional production for the full emotional impact.
Oh, yeah, we did Les Mis, too, so I guess they did release the rights.
No one fell asleep and we didn't speed up the music (lots of tears at the end though). :/ Really sad musical (kind of ironic since it's a musical). lol
We had to change a lot of lyrics, though, so they were appropriate for the younger audience members, especially out of the Lovely Ladies song. o.O
Anyone know when Wicked's rights will be released?
I don't know about Hairspray, but my school did Les Mis and that's still on the West End. The stipulation was that a few minor changes had to be made, for example we sped up all the songs by a small amount (I'm not really sure why) and we had to put Les Miserables: The School Edition over all our programmes etc. But it was totally legal.
I wish our school could do Hairspray. We don't have any black drama kids though. :/ I think we're doing Urinetown this year (I was in West Side Story [we all had to dance lol], Les Mis and Aida when my school produced those shows).
Hairspray would be awesome. Our choir director is really serious about theater, so we might be doug Hairspray soon.
Our school is doing hairspray this year. I auditioned for Amber:)
http://oi54.tinypic.com/2v2abn6.jpg
I'm playing Edna, and my best friend is playing Wilbur, and I'm really looking forward to it! I was surprised by how different the show was compared to the movie, but the stage show is so much better, and I'm really excited to be one of the first guys to play Edna in a high school production!
I don't read the script. The script reads me.
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That's not a law; that's a contract worked out by the script publishers. And it doesn't happen with every show, or every time.
shareMy school did this last fall. I worked backstage for it. Let me tell you, I could not get the songs out of my head for months. It was a pretty fun experience though.
share