How To Pick A Show

How do I pick a show? That’s a tough question and one that I tackled parts of in my Masters Thesis. For that, I focused on what content is appropriate for high schoolers to present in a musical (vocabulary used, costuming worn, props in use, ideas the musical would present, etc.). Anytime I direct a show I’m considering these things from a level of my comfort, my performers’ comfort, and the comfort of the audience that will see the show. The tough part is that the audience sees the show last, and is the one group that I can’t check in with along the way. 

Sometimes we pick a show based around who we hope will audition. In the summer of 2024, we saw a big bunch of guys with some comedy chops. For the following year, we figured we’d put them to use in Guys and Dolls in the summer of 2025. 

I also consider variety; when I was in high school, a friend lamented starting high school with Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma and ending it with Roger’s and Hammerstein’s State Fair. I don’t think she has been in any shows, aside from the four she did in high school. When I pick shows, I think of her. So, I try and make sure that every four years the high schoolers have four unique shows. Different styles, different composers, different stories. I think we do a pretty good job of this, but you’d have to ask the kids. 

This year, the story is what drew us in. Amy (our assistant director) and I had watched Bright Star as a potential BDHS show that neither of us knew. We went in blind. Twice Amy chided me for even considering this show. The first instance was that she watched a production that pushed boundaries way more than we will. The other is the end of the first act. (I won’t tell you what happens, because spoilers.) But at the end of the show, she had changed her tune. Her new take was that we needed to do this show. Then, it was just a matter of the right time and the right kids. For us it wasn’t a possibility at BDACT until all the students who did Big Fish had graduated (to stick with our variety goal). Once that happened last summer, we were ready to go. 

After the show was selected, the next step is making it our own. We are working to help you, the audience, through Alice’s storytelling through special staging decisions and lighting techniques. You might not consciously notice, and that’s okay, so long as you hear her stories.

When I took my niece to New York recently, I got ideas of how to add more choreography to the show while watching Hell’s Kitchen based on that production’s presentation. On the subway back to my friend’s, I was already texting John Dobbratz (our choreographer) the idea. He quickly picked up what I was describing and has already begun to execute the vision. 

We’ve assembled a great cast, pit orchestra, and crew to tell this story. We hope you’ll join us for this heartfelt show. If we do it right (and we’ll try our best) you’ll leave with happy tears. 

Oh, I forgot to mention that Steve Martin (the one from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles or Only Murders in the Building) helped write the show. In addition to comedy, he has played banjo from a young age. And not just recreationally—Martin has five Grammys, two for comedy specials and three for his music. His partner for the show was Edie Brickell who you might know from her band Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians and their ‘one hit wonder’ “What I Am” from 1988. Martin and Brickell have collaborated on an album of bluegrass, this musical score, and even a performed together in a documentary focused on folk music in addition to performing and touring together.