I am going up with a show on Monday night that is an interesting way to let students explore gender bending, gender identity and same-sex relationships, as well as "conventional" relationships that have a twist as well. We are doing a "miscast" cabaret that we've titled BEND. We've created a story line for each performer that is woven through songs from different musicals. Because this is a concert/cabaret and nothing is "in situ", only individual song royalties are in play, so this should be covered by your district ascap/bmi licensing. Here are some program notes, just to illustrate a bit what we are doing:
Our story this evening is not your typical "miscast" cabaret. Rather, we are reinterpreting and revisiting the music that has made us laugh and made us cry, therefore BENDing the songs. Taking a solo and turning it into a duet, seeing two woman sing a love song originally performed by a man and a woman, or listening to a song typically filled with a full orchestration stripped back with nothing more than an acoustic guitar.
Enter our company of characters. Each and every song you see tonight has been carefully selected to create a storyline for each performer, weaving a framework of songs across the musical theatre canon. Three couples will travel the road of love and loss, and discovery and doubt, accompanied by an all-knowing overseer, a wandering romantic and a fierce, inspiring drag queen.
Some examples of what we are doing (there are 3 couples, m/m, f/f, and m/f):
Marry Me a Little - sung by a woman to a man where she proposes to him. The bend is that it is a male song, and also that "conventionally" the man usually proposes.
There are Worse Things I Could Do - turned into a duet with two men, without pronoun changes.
Some Things are Meant to Be - sung by two men as a break up song instead of about the death of a sister.
Her Voice - sung by a woman without pronoun changes.
Nothing Short of Wonderful - sung by a man getting ready for a date instead of a woman.
Natural Woman - sung by an alumni who is a local and well known drag queen.
And my favorite number is Losing My Mind - we are doing this with a young man singing it with acoustic guitar and his arrangement is stunning. Very very different from the original, and I've never heard Sondheim done quite this way before.
There are a total of 35 songs that we weave the different characters through, with an ending ensemble song that wraps everything up. The difficulty was narrowing down the songs to make sure that each could be justified with the story line without dialog - so just with the written lyrics and staging.
We are having a BLAST, and I can't wait for the show Monday night. It should also be noted that this is a fundraiser concert and not part of our regular season, and includes 3 alumni. So we have a little more leeway on content. However, the songs are actually quite tame (There are Worse Things is the raciest of the bunch), but we've put a content warning on it because of the same-sex couples (which should actually be G rated...but that's a whole 'nother rant.)
I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but it's a great way to explore gender bending/expression/issues. S.
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Shileah Corey
Mountlake Terrace WA
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-06-2015 13:17
From: Jessica Harms
Subject: Gender Bent or Gender Blind Shows
My students are really interested in this concept, but I've never seen it done with anything besides Shakespeare. Does anyone know of any shows that allow you to do this? Are good for this idea?
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Jessica Harms
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School
Lawrence MA
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