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  • 1.  Play for Middle School Production

    Posted 07-11-2017 16:31
    Hello,

    My husband and I direct the middle school production at our school.  Any suggestions for a play with a cast size of 20-25 kids?  The kids really want to do a murder mystery, but we are open to other ideas.  What plays have your middle schools done recently?

    Thanks!

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    Anne Friederich
    JH Troupe Director/JH Tech Director
    7th/8th Grade Science Teacher
    Postville IA
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  • 2.  RE: Play for Middle School Production

    Posted 07-12-2017 07:56
    Hi Anne! Check out the Middle School forum as well. You can search for previous threads on this topic, too.

    We did A Midsummer Night's Dream or The Night They Missed the Forest for the Trees last spring and my kids loved it. Other recent non-musicals were Cinderella: The Untold Story and 30 Reasons Not To Be in A Play. 

    For musicals, Dear Edwina Jr is fantastic. It's not difficult to stage (one set!!) and it's very much an ensemble show. There are lots of featured solos and several group numbers as well. The music is fun and very singable. It's a harder sell because they've never heard of it, but my kids fell in love with it.

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    Dianne Rowe
    Birmingham AL
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Play for Middle School Production

    Posted 07-12-2017 08:16
    It's a little quirky, but we loved The Hound of the Baskervilles: A Comic Thriller Starring Shirley Holmes and Jennie Watson" from Dramatic Publishing.  It is listed as 6m, 7w, plus 11-40 extras, but some of the "extra" parts are decently sized, and there are multiple ensemble/group scenes.  The crew comes on stage at the end, which they loved!



    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Play for Middle School Production

    Posted 07-13-2017 11:39
    Hi Anne, 
    My students wanted to do a murder mystery last year and we found Who Killed Elvis? by Craig Sodaro. It was great fun and the audiences loved it. The year before that we did Night at the Wax Museum, also by Craig Sodaro. Pioneer Drama owns them. Both large cast, both crowd pleasers. 

    We have also done the version of Midsummer already mentioned. It is a great way to get middle school students to do Shakespeare. We have used the script twice, eight years apart, and both times it was a huge success. 

    Break a leg!

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    Tina Tutt
    Middle School Theatre Teacher'
    Middle School Theatre Director
    Battle Ground Academy
    Franklin, TN
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Play for Middle School Production

    Posted 07-14-2017 07:49
    My students really enjoyed "Murder in the Knife Room" by Jonathan Rand and "The Bold, the Young, and the Murdered" by Don Zolidis.

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    Frieda Gebert
    Drama and Speech
    Boyle County Schools
    Danville, KY
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    Original Message


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