Open Forum

Hello! Part of this is to vent and part is for advice. I live in a small mountain town in Colorado. We have a very small program and like a lot of people are having to rebuild after COVID. Last year we limped through Mamma Mia… oof it was hard! Our biggest issue was trying to find males to be in the show. The ones we did convince to be in it barely showed up. It was like they knew we were desperate and could show up whenever they felt like it cause we didn't have any other option? Then we had to postpone due to COVID which REALLY knocked the wind out of our sales.

Needless to say I'm feeling a little discouraged and uninspired at the moment. Maybe I'm being a bit… dramatic! My music director and I are having a hard time picking a musical for this year. We need female heavy & crowd pleasing. All of our funding depends on the amount of audience members (fundraising is very hard in our tiny town) so something well known would be preferable. Past shows have been… 
Mamma Mia 
Legally Blonde
Cabaret
Footloose
Grease
The Music Man 

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Jordanne Bradley
Drama Director & Auditorium Manager
Estes Park High School
CO
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First, we feel your pain! Rebuilding a program is tough. I'm sure others will have lots of ideas, but from my experience, Sister Act is a great option. The show has name recognition and an overwhelming female cast. My kids loved the music, and you could even get a male faculty member to play the bad guy. I got a small grant to bring in a pro to play the romantic male lead. He did masterclasss and provided a role model for my students.

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Frieda Gebert
Drama and Speech
Boyle County Schools (Retired)
Danville, KY
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Some girl heavy musicals are Frozen, Sister Act, Bring It On, and The Sound of Music (if you think about the nuns). Maybe consider allowing middle school boys to audition? I find that our middle schoolers are sometimes more reliable because they don’t have jobs & such. Best of luck, I hope you find something!:)

Lori Bush
Director of Theatre Activities
Pike County Middle School
Pike County High School

Sent from my iPhone

Please look at The Hello Girls, The Hello Girls - Theatrical Rights Worldwide. We piloted the school edition, and it's one of the best pieces I've ever done. The music is awesome, the roles are meaty, and the story is so inspiring. Plus there are lots of cross-curricular opportunities with your history department. The audience won't recognize the title, but they will LOVE the show and tell everyone they know to come see it. I think you can do it with a minimum of five guys -- three of which have to carry solos. There are some tight but awesome harmonies throughout the show. Hit me up if you have more questions.

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Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Shenandoah Valley Governor's School
VA
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We were in the same boat last year. We had a handful of boys and only one of them was a really strong singer.  We went with Mamma Mia because it did have a lot for the girls. Even our ensemble girls developed backstories for their characters and had a lot of fun coming up with unique interactions and character traits.

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Jeremy Grant
Madison Southern High School
KY
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I have a girl heavy cast as well. I chose Seussical Jr (we are a middle school) this year. Of course, you may want to to the whole show. There are several shows where you can cast male roles with females as long as you have some altos. Honk, Shout, and Sister Act are some good choices. I also considered Godspell (Jesus could be played by a female and add a new spin to the show). For a straight play, Steel Magnolias is a good choice. I'm sure there are more. Hope this helps.

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Jody Key
West Hall Middle School
GA
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If you're looking for a classic, you might try Gypsy.  It's female-driven, has lots of great parts and great songs.  Two of the male roles, Pops and Mr. Goldstone, are one-scene each, don't sing and could be played by faculty members who want to be involved but don't want much commitment.   That leaves you with two male roles and a few newsboys.

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James Thomas Bailey
Director of Theatre Arts
Justin-Siena HS, Napa CA
Artistic Director, CSz Los Angeles
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For sure have been there! I think High school version of Chicago would work. You would only need 2 male singers. The school edition is good for less advanced singers. We did a simple set and glitzed it up and I had all my girls in Black dance leos and skirts. We did do some tap for couple od songs, which is not a requirement but really fun!!


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Megen Gilman
Theatre Director
North High School
CO
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Looking at some of your previous shows, have you considered Xanadu? Only two men total really (and only 8 women if you want to go with a smaller cast)! Looks like your school has done some successful jukebox musicals. 

I also feel like if you were able to do Cabaret in the past your district should have no problems with Chicago. Again, only two guys, and you can go as big as you want with the female dance ensemble. 

I think Sister Act is surprisingly well written but please only do it if you have a black actress who can play Dolores. A local school did it with a white actress a few years ago and there were major complaints. 

I have three strong musical female leads next year and while I have a couple of strong actor boys, none of them can really sing at all. So I'm doing 9 to 5. Not the greatest music but still a fun show and my kids are very excited about it. 

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John Monteverde
Drama Teacher
A3: The Academy of Arts & Academics
Springfield, OR
john.monteverde@springfield.k12.or.us
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Original Message:
Sent: 8/13/2022 3:02:00 PM
From: John Monteverde
Subject: RE: Please read my sob story…struggling to find a musical

Looking at some of your previous shows, have you considered Xanadu? Only two men total really (and only 8 women if you want to go with a smaller cast)! Looks like your school has done some successful jukebox musicals. 

I also feel like if you were able to do Cabaret in the past your district should have no problems with Chicago. Again, only two guys, and you can go as big as you want with the female dance ensemble. 

I think Sister Act is surprisingly well written but please only do it if you have a black actress who can play Dolores. A local school did it with a white actress a few years ago and there were major complaints. 

I have three strong musical female leads next year and while I have a couple of strong actor boys, none of them can really sing at all. So I'm doing 9 to 5. Not the greatest music but still a fun show and my kids are very excited about it. 

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John Monteverde
Drama Teacher
A3: The Academy of Arts & Academics
Springfield, OR
john.monteverde@springfield.k12.or.us
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I feel your pain. I am also from a small community, and I also struggle to find male singers. Last year we did the 57th Annual Mathlete Sum-It from Theatrical Rights Worldwide. It isn't a familiar title, but the music director and I both agreed that the songs were easy to learn--and TRW provides tracks if you can't have a live band. Everyone loved it, but we did have to promote it a lot more without title recognition. Cast is five girls and one boy.

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Jennifer Freyer
Harlan County High School
KY
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Hi!

Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka was a massive hit for us last spring!! Huge name recognition, tons of families brought their children, (the Candy Man threw candy into the audience at the end of his song - and all the kids rushed out of their seats for it); super bright and fun sets and costumes, doable music, and TONS of good female roles (each gets a song or moment to shine): Violet and Mrs. B., Augustus and Mrs. G., Veruca, Mrs. Teavee, Mrs. Bucket, the Grandmas, the Cooks, Squirrels, and Kids (dance and sing a lot), and of course, the Oompas!

Both our Charlie and Augustus were played by females, and they knocked it out of the park! The music is in a range that would allow for Willy to also be played by a female, for sure. 

The show also kept our techies busy, busy, busy. Super fun and memorable. It has the potential to be a huge success for your program!

Best wishes.

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Mrs. Holly Wood
Teacher and Director of Troupe #860
Burlington, Washington
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