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  • 1.  Female Heavy Comedy?

    Posted 08-21-2018 10:41
    Hey everyone!

     I am in the process of rebuilding a program at my new school and we are trying to put on a comedy this fall. I have a group of about 20 kids, most of them are females. Any ideas/suggestions for a solid, female-heavy comedy? I have thought of The Odd Couple (Female Version), but want to see what everyone out there has done in the past or what they suggest.

    Thanks!


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    Carlos Jordan
    TC Theater Director
    Tampa, FL
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  • 2.  RE: Female Heavy Comedy?

    Posted 08-21-2018 11:07
    Not specifically female heavy casts, and only 10 characters in each, but were very popular and helped build the program when I arrived at my school a decade ago. Fools by Neil Simon or Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 by John Bishop. If you are looking for something larger you might try one of the Don Zolidis full lengths.

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    Shira Schwartz
    Chandler Unified School District
    Chandler AZ
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Female Heavy Comedy?

    Posted 08-21-2018 16:49
    I love The Odd Couple, but before you make your final decision please be aware that you cannot edit the script in any way.  When I sent a request to edit the stronger curse words, I was told in no uncertain terms that the script was not to be altered or softened ...period.  Be sure your Admin is comfortable with the language.  

    Depending on how many males you have in your program you might want to consider something like Play On!
    My kiddos really enjoyed that show.

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    Amy Learn
    Ballwin MO
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Female Heavy Comedy?

    Posted 08-22-2018 06:46
    Echo on The Odd Couple front. Even though Neil Simon is 91, he is highly protective of his work. You can't use anything of his, even for auditions, without paying royalties.

    You might check out My Sister Eileen (24m, 6f) adapted from the stories of Ruth McKenney by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov. Don't be daunted by the number of men. Most are supernumeraries and a lot of doubling and gender switching is possible.

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    James Van Leishout
    Olympia WA
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Female Heavy Comedy?

    Posted 08-22-2018 10:19
    Grimm Spectaculathon has a lot of characters.  We do a lot of gender bending.  We had a guy play the enchantress and a girl play the wolf.  It's fairy tale madness and silly and fun.  Gender really isn't important at all.  We also produced The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) with a heavy female cast.

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    Carol Knarr Gebert
    Jay County High School
    Portland, Indiana
    cgebert@jayschools.k12.in.us
    419-910-1287
    Thespian Troupe #574
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Female Heavy Comedy?

    Posted 08-22-2018 10:19
    Carlos,

    Look carefully at the community and the cast - don't be afraid of Shakespeare (midsummers night etc) as it is royalty free - and can be "gender bent" / "neutral" depending on your community!

    The program I inherited had a teacher who had taught 30+ years and 40+ students on the thespian roll.  Needless to say they were incredibly loyal to the former instructor - so only 9 showed up for the first auditions!  

    When I took the job I was given the advice by a college to start small - figure out who your TED'S are (tactful energetic and dependable people) before you do a large cast show.  I took this individuals advice and !  I picked The Curious Savage (5m 6F) by John Patrick, as it is a comedy in the classic sense with a feel good ending.  The show offers characters that can be gender neutral (Dr. Emmitt and Nurse Willie), and is really approachable.

    Long story short the hangers on were beyond jealous of the show, and couldn't wait to be a part of something that was "better than what had been happening."  Casting since became easier as over time you see who will work with you.  Be aware that folks might not know the jobs of the theater so don't pick a show that will kill you!  You probably will end up chief, cook, and bottle washer until you get things organized - so plan on being the director, parent, stage manager and technician for your first couple of shows.  Like Tom Sayer you will  have to "find the fence that needs painting" to challenge students to become theater students to "show they can paint!"

    Theater teachers burn out because they are 1. Enthusiastic and passionate about art.  2. Unable to be patient  3. Feeling a need to prove themselves.   All good impulses - but they are impulses that need to be tempered with a large dose of reality!  Pace yourself and allow quality to override quantity!

    if you are female heavy Ann of Green Gables is pretty     approachable and depending on your community / administrators  the following titles:

    The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman (12 women, 2 men)

    A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro  (6 women, 1 man)

    Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by Alan Ball (5 women, 1 man)

    The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca, adapted by Emily Mann (11+ women)


    Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Jay Presson Allen (11 women, 3 men)

    Uncommon Women & Others by Wendy Wasserstein (9 women)

    Radium Girls by DW Gregory (4-5 men, 5 women with doubling)

    The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood (13 women)

    Picnic At Hanging Rock (adaptation) by Tom Wright and Joan Lindsay (18 women, 8 men)

    descriptions can be found at: 

    https://performerstuff.com/mgs/ladies-choice-large-cast-suggestions-for-female-heavy-plays-part-1/


    Oh and someone else recommended plays by Don Zolidis - he has some wonderful scripts that are a lot of fun and are by nature "gender neutral!"  Besides being funny they are scripts written by a guy who used to teach middle school - so if he can survive that he's got to be someone special!
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    Robert Holter
    Helena MT
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Female Heavy Comedy?

    Posted 08-23-2018 07:03
    A shortish fun one is "Final Dress Rehearsal" by Jack Frakes. All female cast.

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    Tom Schulz
    Singapore
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    Original Message


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