Good points Susan...
Meeting Monday morning-ish to decide??? 1pm? Everybody cool with that?
Just one last thing...I really really think we should do... a fashion show...
Just putting it out there...
Good luck with the study peoples,
Steve
=)
Heya,
I never said Jamie's decision would be the final one. I explained to Alan on the phone last night that I'm bringing a list of potential musicals to Jamie and seeing what he thinks would be the best. It's up to us to decide which one works best for our society. Afterall, Jamie knows very little about DCU Drama. But there's no point picking a show and hoping he'll be fine with it. Yea we're paying him, but he was hired on the basis that we're doing the Hot Mikado and unfortunately that's changed. He definitely needs to be involved in the decision making process here.
On the topic of West Side Story. Yes, absolutely amazing show. But why put on something that we already know has to be on a "smaller scale" than something else done in Dublin last year. Why not put our mark on something that people will remember DCU Drama doing? Something new!
As for being a student amateur society - this is true. However, we're going in new directions for this musical and I dont believe that we should downsize ourselves in any way shape or form. The Helix is an extremely well known and professional venue - and we secured it.
When talking to Lorna, Chair of the Teachers Musical Society ( a society full of semi-professional drama teachers) she argued that us being in the Helix puts our show on a much bigger scale. Its due to the fact that the Helix has patrons and the drama scene in Dublin often bases their schedule around things that happen in the Helix. This came from someone with a budget of 75,000 euro for her version of the Hot Mikado. Yet, she felt threatened by a group of students with one of 20,000. I definitely think we need to bank on the fact that this show could be HUGE!
Yes, Fame and Little Shop have been done, and yes they are definitely weaker than the epic West Side. The fact that they are on the list was a mistake on my part. I was making a very general list when I spoke to Eoin last nite. However, he forgot to mention the stronger shows on the list. Like,
Thoroughly Modern Millie - which won Best New Musical in 2002 at the Tony's. The rights are just out and its never been done in Ireland (dont call me on that....its an educated guess). The cast is large with 6 or 7 leads, split between males and females. It's high energy, fun and absolutely and utterly Brand Spanking New!!
Also strong on the list is Smokey Joe's Cafe. Another newbie on the rights release list.The show is described as- Broadway's longest-running musical revue,
and it's set in the 1950's rock scene. It highlights the best songs by the legendary song-writing duo, Leiber and Stoller. Included numbers are "Neighborhood", "Fools Fall In Love", "Yakety Yak", "Charlie Brown", "Jailhouse Rock", "Hound Dog", "Love Potion #9" and "Stand By Me". The Cast is split pretty evenly, 5 male leads, 4 female and the orchestration is small (meaning within our price range!) yet effective.
The following is a list of musicals I have researched. None of them are gonna be perfect for us - I can't decide that on my own ya know? But I picked them based on cast size and how well known they are:
Calamity Jane
Singing in the Rain
Copacobana
Disco Inferno
The Full Monty
High School Musical
Into the Woods
Jeckyll and Hyde
The Pyjama Game
Seussical
Smokey Joe's Cafe
Thouroughly Modern Millie
The Music Man
West Side Story
I'll bring the list to Jamie, get his opinion - and Alan and I will chat to the committee during a meeting. When is the earliest we can have this meeting? I need to get back to Weinberger ASAP.
I think the important thing for us to do is keep calm about this situation. We can totally sort it!
Suz
On 12/01/07, Susan Bourke <squeakysusie@gmail.com
> wrote:
When was the last time that DCU Drama performed it?
On 1/12/07, Eoin O' Callaghan <supernova6@gmail.com
> wrote:
I would be wary of Jamie's decision being the final one. Since
we're paying him 3,000 euro to direct, the least he can do is take on board the opinions of those who'll be paying him...I don't think it's good enough for him to turn around and say, "I don't want to do this show" or "I wouldn't be comfortable doing this show". Since this is only a "hobby" to him anyway, I don't think he should really be bothered by what show we do.
After an impromptu rendezvous with two other committee members, we got talking about West Side Story once again. Before jumping the gun with the "We've already done it" argument (which is definitely a valid point), the list that will be looked over by Jamie at Saturday's meeting will include Fame and Little Shop of Horrors, two infinitely weaker shows, that DCU DRAMA have also put on before...
Yes, West Side Story was performed in the Gaiety...in October 2006. We're putting on our show a full six months later. What needs to be remembered is that we are an amateur student
society and therefore can not (and never will) compete with the Gaiety when it comes to audiences for any show- least of all a well-loved musical.
The show is well-known, the songs are well-known, the story is well-known. It's definitely formulaic but that's clearly not a bad thing. It puts bums on seats and that's what we need. Orchestration can be whatever the musical director wants (and yes, the Gaiety's version probably did have a huge orchestra- showcasing again how we really shouldn't be trying to compete with them regarding anything to do with a production- lets not kid ourselves) but it's all relative. Simply put, a show like this is just as affective on a smaller scale as it is on a big one.
Bottom line is that the show is very do-able- costumes are incredibly basic but effective (white tee-shirts and jeans for the guys, plain dresses for the girls), cast is well-balanced (3 lead guys, 2 lead girls and as big an ensemble as you want). DCU DRAMA's last production of it went down a bomb, by all accounts. I think this is an ample opportunity to do it right this time.
Hopefully, some of you might agree with me on this.
Eoin.
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