JK's TheatreScene: Back to School with a Broadway Curriculum

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Back to School with a Broadway Curriculum

Back in the "old days," like when I was in school, today, the first day after Labor Day, would have been the first day of school. But here in the Burlington area of Vermont, the kiddies have been back in school for a week or more.

I bring this up because Friday morning, as I was driving to work, I got stuck on a two lane road behind a cheese wagon loading up the little ones for elementary school. I don't know how it is around where you live, but here the little guys are picked up at the end of their driveways (at least on this route) rather than gathering at pre-determined bus stops. This means that every 20 feet or so we stopped. (Note to Self: Leave 5 minutes earlier!) Well, it was Friday, right before a three day weekend, and my mind began to drift... you know how sometimes you are driving and all of a sudden you are some place miles from where you last remember driving?... No? Hmmm maybe I share too much... but I digress...

My mind wandered and I started thinking: If school curriculum was made up entirely of plays and musicals, which ones would be in which subjects? (Naturally, most, if not all, of these overlap...)

American Literature (taught by Mark Twain, who appears in Big River):

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Cats
Gatz
The Grapes of Wrath
Little Women
Seussical
Tarzan
Wicked

British Literature (taught by Drood's Chairman):

Camelot
Dracula
Frankenstein
Jane Eyre
Jekyll and Hyde
Mary Poppins
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Oliver!
The Secret Garden
A Tale of Two Cities

World Literature (taught by Zeus, who appears in Xanadu):

Beauty and the Beast
The Diary of Anne Frank
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Les Miserables
The Lion King
Man of La Mancha
Once on This Island
Peter Pan
The Phantom of the Opera
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Shrek
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Xanadu

English (taught by a post-Birdie Albert Peterson):

The Miracle Worker
My Fair Lady
The Story of My Life

Mathematics/Science (Chemistry taught by Henry Jekyll):

Breaking the Code
Copenhagen
Proof

Psychology (co-taught by Drs. Fine and Madden of next to normal):

Carrie
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Lost in Yonkers
The Mousetrap
next to normal
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Spring Awakening

Sociology:

The Addams Family
American Idiot
Avenue Q
Company
Doubt
Grand Hotel
Hair
Hairspray
La Cage aux Folles
The Little Foxes
A Little Night Music
Next Fall
Rock of Ages
West Side Story

American History (taught by Benjamin Franklin of 1776):

1776
Angels in America
The Capeman
The Civil War
The Crucible
Grey Gardens
Meet Me in St. Louis
Miss Saigon
The Music Man
South Pacific
Yank!

World History (taught by Che of Evita and the Emcee of Cabaret):

Billy Elliot
Cabaret
Chess
Evita
Fela!
Golda's Balcony
Journey's End
Passion
The Sound of Music
Titanic

Business (co-taught by J. Pierpont Finch and Chuck Baxter):

9 to 5
How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying!
Promises, Promises

Music (taught by Mozart himself, of course):

Ain't Misbehavin'
Amadeus
Beatlemania
Black and Blue
Buddy
Jersey Boys
Memphis
Million Dollar Quartet

Women's Studies (taught by Matron Mama Morton):

Chicago
Hello, Dolly
Mame
Mamma Mia!
Vanities

Theatre Arts (Acting taught by Ms. Darbus of High School Musical; Dance taught by Zach of A Chorus Line; Musical Theatre taught by Stephen Sondheim, who actually appears in Sondheim on Sondheim):