My drama club advisor is taking suggestions for our fall play. Does anyone know of any good straight plays with a large cast so she can put more people in the show? She would prefer it to be a comedy, but drama is fine too. Thanks!
WELL, an obvious one to me would be Fame. It's sorta a comedy, but with a definate serious side. It's quite dated though, so some of the jokes are extremely lame.
Grease is another good one. I mean, who doesn't know Grease?
High School Musical is a possibility. It's good for a high school coz there's plenty of parts, it's a comedy to a certain degree, and your students will most probably know it and like it.
All three of these shows are available off MTI.
A little known fact is that in the original screenplay, Pan's Labyrinth was Pan's FLAByrinth. Hmmmmmmm...glad they changed it.
Are there straight play versions of Fame, Grease and HSM?
Broadway is a very special place, filled with very special people - people who can sing and dance, often at the same time! They are a different people, a multi-talented people, a people who need people and are, in many ways, the luckiest people in the world.
I second You Can't Take It With You. One of the greatest comedies ever written. Another show that's loads of fun is Dirty Work at the Crossroads. When I was in high school the musicals we did were Of Thee I Sing, Camelot and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella.
Inherit the Wind could be a good large cast drama, and many high schools do To Kill a Mockingbird or Up the Down Staircase.
Check the Samuel French, Dramatists Play Service or Dramatic Publishing Company websites for more titles.
You could do what my sons school did this year.. they did 2 plays actually. The Curious Savage and part 2 the Savage Dilemma. They are all set in the Coisters, a home for mental patients. Its both funny (never distasteful) and a drama. Each play can stand on their own or you can watch them back to back, or even as one longer play. When doing both plays you can have at least 25 total actors. They are wonderful
Don't do Arsenic and Old Lace. Small, small cast. We had to double cast the female roles and change Witherspoon to a girl just so the roles would be equal.
If you can get the right leading man, The Man Who Came to Dinner is a great choice. I speak from experience -- I did it when I was in the 10th grade and everyone loved it. Might also consider You Can't Take It With You -- they're old, but they're funny.