Recently, I read that little children were going to perform the musical "Cats" at the Orlando Youth Theatre. I wrote the theatre and received a response from Marketing and Special Events Director Katie Corrie. It's amazing what you can learn if you just ask. Score one for Orlando Youth Theatre.
Hi Mark,
RENT School Edition has been adapted to be appropriate for both a cast and an audience of 13-19 year olds. The contract specifically states that the cast members must be in high school. They have removed one song "CONTACT", some of the song lyrics have been changed and some of the language is edited out of the script. All of the main characters remain - some of the minor ones have been changed or removed. Jonathan Larson's estate took painstaking effort in making this ground-breaking, controversial musical appropriate for upper level school students. It is most definitely a "cleaned up" version without taking out the heart of the production. The musical at OYT will not be presented with a track but with a band, primarily comprised of young musicians.
The version of Cats we are presenting is also one that has been adapted for younger performers.
You'll find that more and more musicals are being adapted to create a school version, so titles that were originally too long or inappropriate for schools are being shortened and "cleaned up." The Music Theatre International's "Junior Series" is a popular example of this movement. MTI hosts an annual Junior Theater Festival where they invite youth theater groups across the nation to participate in workshops, are adjudicated on a performance and have the opportunity to be in the audience for a premiere of a new "Junior" show. OYT's youth performance troupe Orlando Kids on Stage are traveling to this year's festival in Atlanta, January 16-18, 2009. More info on the festival can be found at http://www.traveladventures.com/uploads/programs/JTF_2009_Brochure.pdf.
It is important to note that since starting this theatre company and academy 10 years ago, Artistic Director, Tim Hanes, has believed strongly in providing opportunities for young people to perform all types of material, from very kid-friendly titles like High School Musical, Seussical, and Beauty and the Beast (our 2009 youth summer stock show) to darker, more controversial fare like RENT School Edition, Sweeney Todd, Urinetown (seen at the Orlando International Fringe Festival in 2008) and Les Mis. We are very fortunate to have the reputation of providing terrific theatrical experiences, high quality productions, and have attracted the most talented teens in Central Florida to bring these important stories to life. We are also realistic, and know there will be parents and teens that are more conservative and may not feel comfortable with Rent School Edition. We have offset that by providing an older cast version of High School Musical 2, so everyone can comfortably participate in great theatre at Orlando Youth Theatre.