We did the show this spring in Salem, OR.
The students really enjoyed it, and it drew students in to audition who would not usually have been involved in a more traditional musical production.
Some other thoughts that veer a little more from your initial questions....
The back section of the script offers suggested content/language edits to better align with community standards; we used most, but not all of those edits.
Marketing a piece like this is key, as audiences weren't sure what to expect, In retrospect, I would have done more to prepare them. For example, some grandparents loved it; others frowned through much of it.
We provided scene-by-scene summaries in the program to help audiences follow the stories, as they are somewhat lost behind the language and the beats.
The provided accompanying tracks were excellent; we used those with the DJ on stage, though we did use Audacity and Q-lab to insert extra music where needed (the chase scene) and cut some sections to align with provided edits. It takes a skilled DJ/Sound person to get the timing right on starting the tracks, so rehearsal with that is essential.
This does need a strong music director who can beat box and who can teach beatboxing, as it is pretty integral to several numbers. We were very fortunate that the local University A cappela group's beatboxer was available and he coached us and lead all-group warmups, which were incredible in thermselves.
My group took an excerpt of our show to the freestyle event at our State Conference and drew in students with a beatboxing circle as a warmup, which they treasure as a memory, too.
Hope that helps.
------------------------------
Julianna Gibbons
Salem OR
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 05-23-2017 07:35
From: John Perry
Subject: Bombity of Errors?
Has anyone produced this show? How did it go? Did the students like it? Did it sell?
I want to do a rap/hip hop show butIn The Heights is out of our range.
------------------------------
John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
------------------------------