Choosing a new musical!
Applause was all I could hear in the hallway as I walked toward the green room. The roar of support was coming from our Newsies cast as our Dear Edwina cast walked off the stage on their opening night. I saw looks of honest support and excitement on the faces of our older Newsies cast members between the ages of 9-16. The younger group of Dear Edwina performers were in awe of their fan club. These 4-9 year olds were being welcomed backstage with the kind of ensemble support that is, in my mind, one of the best things about theater.
One of the things that we think a lot about when choosing our shows is what the life lessons are and can we get behind the big picture of the story. With Dear Edwina it was about “singing your own song” - understanding that sometimes there aren’t report cards or trophies for the unique gifts that each person brings into the world. And if the way that you are celebrated looks different, that is okay! A hug from your sister could be better than any trophy. But this story also acknowledged the fact that it is okay to have feelings of doubt or disappointment. This felt like something we could definitely get behind as teachers especially in the arts— especially at a place like Music House, where so many of us (teachers and students alike) are interdisciplinary artists and love creating and exploring new territory that may not fit neatly into pre-established boxes!
When it came to choosing Newsies, one of the things that got us excited was that it is a story about the power of the ensemble and the importance of collectivity. And of course, what better way to ensure that theater students form a strong ensemble spirit than by ensuring that they are embedded in a story that evidences that very phenomenon! Yes it is a cliché to say “there are no small parts,” but what Newsies allowed us to do was ensure that our young performers learned how amazing it can be to fully immerse yourself in an ensemble and be a part of a group. And furthermore, ensuring that that group took care of others—even when they were seemingly on the “other side.” The character Davey makes sure to teach his fellow newsies how important it is not to see the scabs as their enemies, because they were in fact fighting for them too!
There’s no better show than a show that makes everyone wish they were one of the ensemble cast instead of everyone fighting to be the star. Newsies not only did that because it’s so fun to be a Newsie but also because it is built into the values that the show is written on. So, when I saw our Newsies cheering on our Dear Edwina cast, I was overwhelmed and delighted but I was not surprised. This is what Music House Musical Theater is all about.
Then came February 7th. The day we had to finally decide what shows to do next. For the first time, I felt like I didn’t want to move on to new shows! Usually, I’m sick of waking up with the same songs stuck in my head! We read a bunch of shows, we had students vote, and we read some more! But at a certain point we had to scrap all of our previous choices because we needed to find something that got us just as excited and would lead to beautiful lessons like Newsies and Dear Edwina. So, when we chose Footloose and Aristocats KIDS, it was because they too, in their own ways, are shows that value togetherness over opposition. They are shows about coming together and healing and of course they are full of FUN!
Many students of mine will know that I’m a real nerd, and I love getting really conceptual about stuff like language and writing. One of the things that I harped on in Newsies was that they couldn’t throw away the word “we” in the song Carrying The Banner. They would rehearse and it would sound like “(mumble)be carRYIN THE BANNER THROUGH IT ALL!” but the lyrics were “WE’ll be carrying the banner through it all!” So WE talked about why it was important to really emphasize that word “we”, everytime they sang it, in any song in the show! Because the show was all about the WE, the collective, the ensemble! In these upcoming shows, there is a similarly important word—the title song from Aristocats is “Ev’rybody Wants To Be A Cat!” and in Footloose’s titular song we’ll sing “Everybody cut loose, footloose!” And now I’m just realizing that Music House’s motto is “where everybody is somebody” So I guess the theme for these upcoming shows is EVERYBODY!
We’d love to see you in our upcoming musical theater classes- The Artistocats KIDS for ages 4-9 and Footloose the Musical for ages 9-16. Find more information and register here!
-Maire O’Neill, Music House Theater program coordinator and Director of Productions
