Open Forum

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

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Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
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Original Message------

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

No bonus points for me, as this is pretty standard fare when it comes to school shows, but there's always Once Upon a Mattress with music by Mary Rogers.

And, course, there's the body of work with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, including Seussical, Once on This Island, and Ragtime.  My favorite of the Flaherty/Ahrens bunch is A Man of No Importance, which is maybe less school friendly, but is a show I directed and loved in community theatre.  There's also Schoolhouse Rock Live!

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Ryan Moore
Theatre Teacher and Forensics Coach
Royal Oak MI
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2018 14:27
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Musicals BY women

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

Fun Home gets bonus points for being written and composed by women, Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, and based on a graphic novel by a woman, Alison Bechdel.

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C. J. Breland
Asheville High School
Asheville NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2018 07:25
From: Ryan Moore
Subject: Musicals BY women

No bonus points for me, as this is pretty standard fare when it comes to school shows, but there's always Once Upon a Mattress with music by Mary Rogers.

And, course, there's the body of work with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, including Seussical, Once on This Island, and Ragtime.  My favorite of the Flaherty/Ahrens bunch is A Man of No Importance, which is maybe less school friendly, but is a show I directed and loved in community theatre.  There's also Schoolhouse Rock Live!

------------------------------
Ryan Moore
Theatre Teacher and Forensics Coach
Royal Oak MI

Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2018 14:27
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Musicals BY women

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

Quilters and The Secret Garden

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Holly Thompson
Worthington OH
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2018 14:27
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Musicals BY women

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

So many great suggestions!  I have done Legally Blonde and Quilters in my small high school, and they were two of my <g class="gr_ gr_184 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="184" data-gr-id="184">favorites</g>.

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Janette Clark
Drama Teacher
Minneapolis KS
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2018 07:30
From: Holly Thompson
Subject: Musicals BY women

Quilters and The Secret Garden

------------------------------
Holly Thompson
Worthington OH

Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2018 14:27
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Musicals BY women

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

Last year we did the The Secret Garden-Pioneer Version. Songs are different, some characters are smaller like Father & Uncle. Very good version with a recognizable name.

Maria Stadtmueller
St. Augustine School
Kendall Park, NJ

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Original Message------

So many great suggestions!  I have done Legally Blonde and Quilters in my small high school, and they were two of my <g class="gr_ gr_184 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling multiReplace" id="184" data-gr-id="184">favorites</g>.

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Janette Clark
Drama Teacher
Minneapolis KS
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I give her a shout-out every chance I get.  Check out Mary Hall Surface. Fantastic, beautiful, child-friendly magical realism, type shows. She and composer David Maddox definitely have a style of their own.  I have done Perseus Bayou (won us a state competition) and Sing Down the Moon (super popular with a huge range of ages, my four year old is still singing the songs). She also does cast recording that are available for sale on Amazon, great for previewing. Most are available for licensing through Dramatic Publishing. Some I think you have to contact her.
Publications

Maryhallsurface		remove preview
Publications Mary Hall has published more than 15 plays, two books of monologues for middle school students and three national award winning original cast albums. View this on Maryhallsurface >

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Analiese Hamm
ECHS Drama Director
Statenville GA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2018 14:27
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Musicals BY women

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

I second a lot of these recs, and would mention Thoroughly Modern Millie from Tesori as well. Also: I have recently been listening to Shaina Taub's As You Like It and find it very charming. There is also Bubbly Black Girl Shess Her Chamelion Skin. 

There are also a number of golden age shows that have female writers (Kiss Me Kate, On The Town, once Upon a Mattress). 

Fyi: Samantha Brown is now The Mad Ones. 

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William Addis
Chair of Visual and Performing Arts
Westtown School
West Chester PA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2018 14:27
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Musicals BY women

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

Runaways (Elizabeth Swados) and The Secret Garden!

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Becca Lillias
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2018 14:27
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Musicals BY women

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

Dear Edwina by Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler.  It's a ton of fun and easy to stage.  It's only an hour long, so would be perfect for outreach or summer camps.

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Dianne Rowe
Birmingham AL
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2018 10:06
From: Rebecca Lillias
Subject: Musicals BY women

Runaways (Elizabeth Swados) and The Secret Garden!

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Becca Lillias

Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2018 14:27
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Musicals BY women

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------

"Sympathy Jones"  shout out to composer and lyricist Masi Asari one of our very own Thespian Alums. Book by Brooke Pierce.
Published by Playscripts
This is the story of a young woman who dreams of being a star...a star spy, that is. Sympathy Jones is a spunky receptionist at a New York City intelligence agency who studies Indonesian martial arts in her spare time and is constantly angling for a promotion, to the amusement of the manly spies who inhabit her 1960s world. When a top-secret file is accidentally left on her desk she seizes the opportunity to embark on an adventure of her own, and in the process discovers that daring to save the world against impossible odds is not nearly as glamorous as she thought it would be.  Even the best spies need some help from their friends along the way.http://sympathyjones.com/

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Jill Campbell
Pine Grove Mills PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-26-2018 14:27
From: Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Subject: Musicals BY women

Just to take a slightly different angle on our frequent search for musicals with lots of women, throw out your favorite musicals BY women (music, lyrics, or book) that might work in a high school theatre program. Bonus points for suggestions off the beaten path.

------------------------------
Cassy Maxton-Whitacre
Theatre Department Coordinator
Fishersville VA
------------------------------