Douglas Carter Beane’s words of wisdom about the collegiate musical, past and present. And a word to the wise, he’s included some spectacular clips of true gems, so be sure to click on the screengrabs below to check ‘em out! …
Boy, Broadway sure loves its forms and settings, doesn’t it? All you have to do is say “Backstage,” “Cruise Ship” or “Fish Out of Water” and the musical titles all start floating into consciousness, and with Lysistrata Jones, it is easy to see that one of my favorite genres of musical comedy is the “Scholastic Musical Comedy.” These shows allow the audience to be transported to a more carefree time in their lives (high school, college) and slyly find resonance in their own current existence.
I think it’s safe to say that the Scholastic Musical began quite soon after musical comedies began. A few decades after The Black Crook came the series of musicals known as the Princess Musicals. These shows in no way take their name from an affectionate term for Jewish daughters, but from the theater in which they all originally appeared. The Princess was a tiny theater, seating only about three hundred people—sort of the Off-Broadway of its day. And In the teens of the last century, Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse and Jerome Kern wrote a series of musicals (Very Good Eddie, Oh, Boy) that essentially defined the musical comedy style. But the question arose, was New York sophisticated enough for a smart musical comedy? The trio decided to set their first big Broadway musical on a college campus. Leave it to Jane opened at the Longacre Theatre (just across the street from us!) and was an immediate sensation. Here’s a clip of the (very) MGM version.
And, as you can see from the audience response in that clip, Broadway was in love with musicals set in college. The next musical coming ten years later, opened at the 46th Street Theater, and was one of the biggest hits of the 1920’s, Good News.
George Abbot, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, three of the best purveyors of musical comedies of the 30’s, found huge success when they went to college in the southwest in Too Many Girls at the Imperial Theatre. Here’s the trailer for the movie, which along with total theater devotion has some of the best claims ever.
(And yes TV geeks, that’s where Desi met Lucy.)
Many more collegiate musicals followed: Best Foot Forward!, Legally Blonde, Hair (well, alright, they all dropped out, but they started in college). This whole thing is an Encores season just waiting to be announced!
But perhaps the biggest scholastic musical of all time took it a little younger, from college to high school. It opened Off-Broadway in 1972, and its advertising executive famously said, “I don’t think there’s anything we can do with these reviews. It’s a disaster. Close it.” Well, they didn’t—they moved it to Broadway, where it became the longest-running musical of its time. Oh, and it’s been revived twice on Broadway.
So, there you are. There’s a little glimpse of some of the Broadway Grandaddies and Broadway Grandmommies of Lysistrata Jones. She’s home at last … and proud to be where she belongs.
Look – you do some crazy things in college, and while your parents probably know that, they don’t need to see that. Now that Facebook is getting more and more difficult to understand, I’ve made some life adjustments so that I can be proud of anything that pops up on my profile. I’m passing on my wisdom to you. Please use it wisely.
NEVER STOP SMILING AT A PARTY. Do you want to spend hours on Sunday night untagging yourself? I don’t think so. Every cell phone is a camera, and every camera is an opportunity for you to have some crazy picture taken of you that can make you look like you HATE LIFE. And you don’t. And if you do, it gets better. Just search that phrase on YouTube. Some great people agree with me.
ONLY CHECK-IN AT UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS. “Lysistrata Jones just checked in at The Eros Motor Lodge.” Can you imagine? You might need to go to a house of hootchie-mommas to do some creative research or to meet a Governor, but that doesn’t mean you want your Nana knowing what you did with the Halloween money that she sent you.
DON’T POKE PEOPLE. It’s rude. They need to get rid of that feature.
Most importantly… GET OFF OF FACEBOOK SOMETIMES!! Contrary to my childhood fear that Facebook was simply a book full of faces, Facebook is actually an amazing social tool that can totally spread information like wildfire. But it’s ALSO a way to not make real friends! People also have bodies! Which can get you in trouble too. Actually… you know what? Stay on Facebook.
They say you’re supposed to do what you’re passionate about, but I can’t figure out what exactly that is!There are so many things that I love!
I love fashion. And I, like, love good music. And I really love fighting for progressive causes that empower people, furthering a mentality that promotes equality and a healthy distribution of opportunity to all persons on this earth.
Wait – this blog entry has actually been really helpful for me…
Earlier I advised on how to handle group projects, but what happens when your own squad of friends gets out of whack? Whatever’s bugging you guys, defuse the tension by following these few steps… you don’t want to turn out like these ladies pictured above.
1. Watch what you say: Pick your words wisely and never give in to saying something you’ll regret!
2. Meet face-to-face: No personal problem was ever solved over an impersonal chain of emails. Schedule a time for all to meet so that everyone can listen to everyone.
3. Don’t hold grudges: Just give it up and move on!
They’re heeeeeeere! The parental unit will be back on campus soon so this will be your first test to show them that you (their pride and joy) can hold your own at college.
Here are five steps to proofing your room for their arrival:
1. Hide any and all traces of non-parent-friendly behavior. This includes bottles, wrappers, receipts… you catch my drift, just don’t let them catch on!
2. Make your bed. It’ll make your room look nicer and your parents will probably want a place to sit as they ask you all sorts of questions about your “new life” at college.
3. In case they decide to peruse your drawers or closet, make those areas look presentable too. They do NOT need to see what you plan on wearing to some upcoming homecoming bash…
4. Keep your textbooks (especially the ones for the advanced classes they never took) and maybe a few old papers (with “A”s on them) prominently displayed on your desk.
5. Find that family portrait they tucked away in your boxes and put it on your nightstand. It’s always been there, right?
Happy Post-Columbus-Day-long-weekend!!! Maybe every weekend is a three-day for you, since Friday classes barely exist on some college campuses (which may lead to this). But for the rest of us, the extra day off was a perfect time to head home… And let me tell you, I didn’t realize how much I had missed it until I got there.
I used to complain all the time about the lack of privacy pre-college, but this weekend, home was such an escape from sharing a dorm with three roommates. And the delicious home-cooked food (eaten at an actual dinner table) was way better than over-priced take-out or the cheap microwaveable stuff I keep here in my dorm.
But what excited me the most about home were the small details around the house: the nice towels, the softer toilet paper, the good water pressure in the shower… it was basically a spa oasis! How did I not realize this before?!
Last but not least, the familiar voices wishing me “good morning” and “good night” were, dare I say it, heartwarming. Guess I can still get all that love here at college if I called home more often… dialing up the parental unit right now!
When an instructor assigns a group project, bet your mind heads in one of two directions: (1) “Sweet, I can take the backseat!” or (2) “Crap, I’m going to have to do this all myself.”
It’s no secret you learn a lot about your team members and their working styles from these projects… kind of like in cheerleading! Here’s how to land the grade you want without getting upset with your group:
1. Pick a captain: A squad can’t get anywhere until the captain rolls out the routine for you to learn. Assign someone to take the lead—maybe it’s you!—who can map out what needs to be done. Also, no one will get anywhere if everyone takes charge at once, so decide early on who should do this to avoid tensions down the road.
2. Set your schedule: Think cheerleaders start prepping the week before a competition? Think again, because the final result takes weeks, if not months, of practice. Make sure to set daily or weekly goals so that you begin the project like champs.
3. Reinforce each other: The success of the cheerleader pyramid rests in everyone’s mutual support. Remove one member and the whole thing falls apart! Check in with each other periodically to make sure all members are on top of their deadlines. That way, nobody has to cover for anybody at the last minute!
“wud u send me ur notes fr class 2day? I cudnt go cuz i 4got 2 set my fone”
Bet you’ve encountered poorly crafted texts like this before, right? Are you, too, beginning to wonder where any shred of etiquette has gone since 2000, when people started texting. Back then it was cool to use shorthand to keep texts 160 characters, but now it should be pretty cheap to write everything you need. Here are some quick tips on how to text well:
OK
Logical abbreviations you might use in an email, like Fri, Sat, Sun
Common acronyms like OMG, LOL, NVM that even your parents might understand after one explanation
The occasional emoticon, just don’t go overboard – two per text are plenty!
NOT OK
Unnecessary acronyms, because even hbu is very a/s/l, you know, like in those creepy MySpace messages you got back in middle school
Numbers in words: L8R is so Avril Lavigne circa 2002 in “Sk8er Boi”
Most important: DO NOT press send before double-checking the “Send To” box!
In general, if you have enough characters, write it right! Your thumbs won’t be any more sore from tapping those extra two or three letters, and you’ll look less like an airhead when you actually know the difference between your and you’re, instead of just copping out with a ur.
“wud u send me ur notes fr class 2day? I cudnt go cuz i 4got 2 set my fone”
