Hi Jennifer. When I directed Wizard I was in a facility without a fly space. I did not fly anyone. I built a platform upstage and the witch melted using a trap door-like system with a hydraulic jack underneath and obviously a lot of fog from a fog machine blowing up to cover the trap door. The balloon at the end was done with a wench and a couple of pulleys and only lifted up about a foot, then was pulled off right. This was not my favorite effect but it worked. The flying monkeys did not fly but instead came in through the audience and created a bunch of havoc so the fact they did not fly was completely missed by the audience because the audience was so distracted with them being in their faces. We did a creative dance for the tornado scene and used large fans positioned at front of house behind the audience members.
While I directed this particular show at a community theatre, I also got younger kids involved as some of the munchkins and that sold a lot more tickets. I had a cast of 64 and that show sold really well.
When I directed The Music Man at the high school a few years ago, I cast about 15 non-high school students as members of the boys band and, of course, those 15 extra children generated a lot more ticket sales. I did not cast younger students
instead of HS students but and just
supplemented my cast of HS students with younger students so no high school student was overlooked for any role for a younger child and thus no resentment. Actually, it cultivated a really tight bond between the younger kids and the older ones, some of which, took on a mentor role.
I am considering Wizard for similar reasons and would absolutely cast younger students to generate additional ticket sales and help rebuild the program in upcoming years.
Scott
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Scott Usher
Hartland High School
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-26-2021 09:57
From: Jennifer Gunther
Subject: Next Year's Musical
Hello,
I am in the process of picking my shows for next year. Like most programs, we will need to rebuild both financially as well as student involvement. We were able to have productions this year, but Covid hit my program pretty hard.
I want to choose a musical for the fall that will bring in the kids to audition as well as the audience. I definitley want to do something heartwarming and not too serious. I am leaning toward The Wizard of Oz, or possibly Bye Bye Birdie. I don't have the strongest of singers, but I do have 2-3 strong girls and 2 strong boys. I am concerned about the cast size of Bye Bye Birdie. Has anyone done it with a smallish cast (like 20 or so?) I don't know how many students will audition. For Wizard of Oz, I am a bit concerned about how to do the set and the special effects. Has anyone done the show without flying their witch?
If you have directed either show, please let me know any tips/tricks/advice. Thanks!
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Jennifer Gunther
Teacher
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