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  • 1.  Barnum?

    Posted 05-12-2016 08:13

    Hello again,

    Okay--so originally was thinking Footloose as our musical, but was informed by my music director that there are too many tenors (or more precisely, we don't have enough tenors) so.....  Has anyone done (or thought about doing) Barnum?   If so, any advice?

    Thanks,

    Holly

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    Holly Thompson
    Worthington OH
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  • 2.  RE: Barnum?

    Posted 05-13-2016 07:39
    I did Barnum  years ago, and loved it. Be prepared to spend some significant time on circus skills, and figure out ahead of time how to deal with the tightrope walk that closes Act One. We used an actual tightrope, and I was stunned at the engineering that had to go into it. Even then, the pressure on the end tied around a two foot diameter tree outside the stage door began to pull the tree toward the theater! Yikes!

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    "The mission of The Sharon Academy is to nurture intelligent, independent, and creative thinking in a small school community, awakening students to their immense potential and the difference they can make in the world." 




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  • 3.  RE: Barnum?

    Posted 05-13-2016 09:55

    Barnum is a great show, especially if you have a strong male you want to showcase. I agree with the other commenter on spending time on circus skills. The Michael Crawford version of the show is available on DVD so you can watch that to get an idea (if you haven't already). We enlisted our school's dance team/tumblers for some of it. 

    The biggest bits are making sure your Barnum and Cherry can juggle and the tightrope at the end of Act 1. Our tightrope was actually about 3 inches wide and black with the "tightrope" on the DS edge--the rest was black and allowed for it to look like a tightrope while giving the actor a bit more leeway. 

    The score is SAB and pretty traditional for the most part. It shouldn't offer too many challenges to the cast. 

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    Patrick McGuire
    Drama Director
    Round Lake High School
    Round Lake, IL

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