Open Forum

Hello, Fellow Theatre Educators,

I am in a great situation where we have a lot of boys in the program for next year. That being said, we also have a lot of talented girls, so I am trying to find a play that honors both.  In the past few years, our fall plays have been Midsummer Night's Dream, Clue, The Crucible, You Can't Take It With You, and Pride and Prejudice. I am curious as to what your favorite productions have been when you have a large number of talented male actors since that is not as common in high school. I also don't want to pick something that doesn't have some good female parts. I am open to dramatic and comedic ideas.  Thanks so much!

Current ideas include Romeo and Juliet, Grapes of Wrath, Radium Girls, and Our Town. I'd also love to do Arsenic and Old Lace, but I know that really limits the girls, as does most of the comedies I'm thinking of.  

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Heathe Stecklein
Theatre Director/Teacher
Vista PEAK Preparatory High School
CO
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The Good Doctor (Neil Simon) - 10 vignettes in 2 Acts with connecting narration that can be independently cast with 1 male lead, the Narrator, that carries through. If all cast independently:  up to 13M, 9W, 3 either.

Almost, Maine - 9 scenes (1 in 3 parts) - up to 10M, 9F. 1 scene can be played 2M or 2F.  All scenes about "love."  Warning: 1 scene is same-sex: author stated NOT sexual love.

Once I solved same happy challenge by doing both the male and female female versions of Simon's The Odd Couple over two weekends; with each cast performing a total of 3 times.  Each is 6 of __ + 2 of __, so 8M, 8F.  The opposite cast was the "cleaning crew" for the "pig sty to house beautiful" set change we played as a comic riff to the "Lone Ranger" section of the "William Tell Overture".  The "2" of the opposite cast were interior decorators overseeing the make over, the 6 - the crew. The 2 got in disagreement with Felix/Flo about throw pillows and a few other decorative froo-froo, with multiple changes, with Felix/Flo sending everyone packing and doing final change to last notes of music. Crew was told to have fun both creating organized chaos as well as their reactions to finding "stuff"as they cleaned. 

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Douglas Fox
Theatre Educator, retired.
NC
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GUYS and DOLLS! if you're looking for a musical. We also did Inherit the Wind when I had a lot of boys. The Scottish play...

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Ava Grimm
Theatre Arts/Theatre Tech
Skyline High School
Dallas, Texas
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While you are looking at plays by Shakespeare, consider The Comedy of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing.  The Comedy of Errors is great for working on comic timing.  There are 4 great parts that should be played by women, 7 for men, and several that could be played by men or as breeches roles.  It starts with a LONG monologue--(blame Plautus!)--but that is a good opportunity for a dumb show.  My students enjoyed playing the waves that separate the babies.

Much Ado is also great fun with several excellent parts for women and the remainder written to be played by males. 

I think both would resonate in today's world. 

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CJ Breland
Retired Theatre Arts Educator
NC
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I had this wonderful "problem" for several years. Ken Ludwig's plays work well. We particularly loved Midsummer/Jersey, written for high school students. Romanoff and Juliet by Peter Ustinov was also a huge hit, as was The 39 Steps with an expanded cast.

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Elisabeth Ledwell
MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-09-2024 11:11
From: CJ Breland
Subject: Favorite high school plays with lots of male parts that still have good female parts

While you are looking at plays by Shakespeare, consider The Comedy of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing.  The Comedy of Errors is great for working on comic timing.  There are 4 great parts that should be played by women, 7 for men, and several that could be played by men or as breeches roles.  It starts with a LONG monologue--(blame Plautus!)--but that is a good opportunity for a dumb show.  My students enjoyed playing the waves that separate the babies.

Much Ado is also great fun with several excellent parts for women and the remainder written to be played by males. 

I think both would resonate in today's world. 

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CJ Breland
Retired Theatre Arts Educator
NC
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I would highly recommend Radium Girls and Arsenic & Old Lace we did both shows to much success. And both have a lot to offer as far as character creation/development goes for guys and girls. 

You may consider taking a look at The Play That Goes Wrong. It has a lot of excellent characters for guys and girls and is such a riot. Talk about comedic timing to the max. Love this show!   Treasure Island by Ken Ludwig is another solid piece with a number of guy roles and it's got opportunities for sword fights. Who doesn't love a good sword fight?    I have yet to do one, but there are a number of Three Musketeers scripts out there too. Obviously a lot of guy roles, the number of women's roles vary by script/author. 

If you want to tackle Shakespeare my students loved Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing and Midsummer Night's Dream.  A lot of strong roles for guys, obviously, but the girls have their fare share of the spotlight too.

Best of luck in your search!

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Jillian Lietzau
Lutheran High School
CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-09-2024 11:11
From: CJ Breland
Subject: Favorite high school plays with lots of male parts that still have good female parts

While you are looking at plays by Shakespeare, consider The Comedy of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing.  The Comedy of Errors is great for working on comic timing.  There are 4 great parts that should be played by women, 7 for men, and several that could be played by men or as breeches roles.  It starts with a LONG monologue--(blame Plautus!)--but that is a good opportunity for a dumb show.  My students enjoyed playing the waves that separate the babies.

Much Ado is also great fun with several excellent parts for women and the remainder written to be played by males. 

I think both would resonate in today's world. 

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CJ Breland
Retired Theatre Arts Educator
NC
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"The Man Who Came To Dinner" would be a fun option.  

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Hans Offenfrish
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This new adaptation of the Elephant Man story may be a good option for you:

https://www.yourstagepartners.com/elephant-man

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Brendan Conheady
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