Is Mamma Mia appropriate for a high school musical?

[Anonymous]

Super tame compared to the shows our high school does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but have you all read Shakespeare? The jokes are very bawdy and there are rape jokes too.

Exactly!

And don’t get me started on Catullus. OP would super clutch her pearls.

It's Shakespeare. Like the kids would even understand what any of it meant. And there is a difference between a risque joke and bawdy line thrown in here and there versus the central idea of the entire play being very morally questionable.

The themes in Shakespeare’s plays are universal. If they’re acted well, they’ll be understood whether or not students pick up every word—and the point of performing them & reading them in school is to teach critical reading skills and understanding.

But best not introduce Romeo & Juliet; it’s about teenagers who have sex then kill themselves because they can’t stanf to be apart and their parents don’t approve.

I think PP is unaware that Catullus isn’t Shakespeare ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s fine; high school musicals don’t all have to be sanitized.

Grease is a mainstay in high school musicals. The most famous song (“Summer Nights”) has a lyric about whether or not Sandy “put up a fight” in the backseat. A side plot is about Rizzo thinking she might be pregnant.

Even Oklahoma isn’t all wine and roses. Curly sings a song to Jud in which he essentially suggests that Jud commits suicide. Ado Annie is “Just a Girl Who Cain’t say No.”

And on and on...

I remember when we did this musical at my HS the lyrics were changed to something like "was it a magical night?" instead of "did she put up a fight?"

The school did Rent the year before I started there, but I remember seeing it with a friend and instead of HIV/AIDS, it was changed to diabetes. My niece's HS in MA did Rent two years ago and made no changes.

They seem to do less changing these days.

[Anonymous]

Our school did the musical version of Brokeback Mountain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s fine; high school musicals don’t all have to be sanitized.

Grease is a mainstay in high school musicals. The most famous song (“Summer Nights”) has a lyric about whether or not Sandy “put up a fight” in the backseat. A side plot is about Rizzo thinking she might be pregnant.

Even Oklahoma isn’t all wine and roses. Curly sings a song to Jud in which he essentially suggests that Jud commits suicide. Ado Annie is “Just a Girl Who Cain’t say No.”

And on and on...

I remember when we did this musical at my HS the lyrics were changed to something like "was it a magical night?" instead of "did she put up a fight?"

The school did Rent the year before I started there, but I remember seeing it with a friend and instead of HIV/AIDS, it was changed to diabetes. My niece's HS in MA did Rent two years ago and made no changes.

They seem to do less changing these days.

LOL!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mamma Mia! is a PG-13 movie. Did they make it racier for this high school performance?

It's a play about a woman who had sex with three men in the span of 1-2 weeks. It deals with this in a light hearted, fun manner. Do you really think this is an attitude that should be promoted in a HS play?

No one is going to start sleeping around with lots of people just because it was part of a play.

Ok and no one is going to start using the n-word just because it's part of a song, but I wouldn't expect the HS chorus to bust out a Snoop Dog song either.

Actually, I do think the rap lyrics make it more acceptable to throw around the N word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but have you all read Shakespeare? The jokes are very bawdy and there are rape jokes too.

Yeah

But the language goes over most people's heads.

How many kids really get the meaning unless it's explained to them?

True; and therefore women, being the weaker vessels,
are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push
Montague's men from the wall, and thrust his maids
to the wall.

RJ 1.1

[Anonymous]

No, I don’t have a problem with a musical about an adult woman having sex with more than one man in a month. Not even performed by teenagers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, I don’t have a problem with a musical about an adult woman having sex with more than one man in a month. Not even performed by teenagers.

OP, I applaud you for having high standards. We need more parents like you. We also need more wholesome plays with female characters. I vote for Little Women.

[Anonymous]

My public high school did A Chorus Line back in the 80s. Scandal!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Super tame compared to the shows our high school does.

Geesh, what are they performing? Best Little Whorehouse in Texas?

[Anonymous]

Ok. Maybe they should perform Hair next. And anyone who complains about them appearing naked on the stage is just a prude.

[Anonymous]

When I was growing up, my high school performed the play “Gypsy”. So they had like 3 girls with scenes that I think they were strippers. This was in FCPS. But it was all very sanitized. They also did Grease. I never noticed that lyric.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you might fit in better in a parochial school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry but have you all read Shakespeare? The jokes are very bawdy and there are rape jokes too.

Yeah

But the language goes over most people's heads.

How many kids really get the meaning unless it's explained to them?

True; and therefore women, being the weaker vessels,
are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push
Montague's men from the wall, and thrust his maids
to the wall.

RJ 1.1

If your kid is studying R & J in high school and doesn't get that it's about an older teen or adult male having sex with a 13 year old, withins days after he met her, then either he/she wasn't paying attention or whoever was teaching him did a lousy job, or most likely both.