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Theatre Arts - Upper School Past Productions

Upper School Theatre Arts | Past Productions

Scene from Chicago: Teen Edition

 

2023-2024 Season

Chicago: Teen Edition

SD Theatre Arts students gave the audience “the old razzle dazzle” during this year's performances of the hit musical, Chicago. Featuring Bob Fosse-inspired choreography by Director of Performing Arts Erica Smith, with additional choreography and dance coaching by Alyssa Carnahan and Doree Clark, the SD Theatre Arts cast and crew put on an inspired show that elicited a standing ovation by the packed house, leaving the audience with smiles from ear to ear.

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Disney's DESCENDANTS, The Musical

 

2022-2023 Season

Disney's DESCENDANTS, The Musical

Unique to this year’s spring musical production, Middle and Upper School students shared the stage. “Connecting the Middle School and Upper School through one big musical theatre collaboration has been a dream of Head of School Cecily Stock’s for many years,” says Erica Smith. “I am so excited that this is the year, and this is the show. Our script introduction reads: ‘At its core, Descendants is a musical about empathy, tolerance, and acceptance.’ What a wonderful way for our students to unite in the common cause of creating art for social change.” 

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The 39 Steps

 

2022-2023 Season

The 39 Steps

This fast-paced and action-packed show is one mad caper after another, including mysterious spies, murder, an evil professor, master criminal, international manhunts, outrageous Scottish accents… an innocent man trying to save his nation while on the run for his life… music halls… thugs and thuggery… a chase on the top of a train… a chase under the Firth of Fourth Bridge… a chase on the Scottish moors… a chase by an airplane… all of which are achieved by innovative use of props, sounds, and the creative genius of our actors and tech crew! The audience was highly entertained and left the theatre still laughing out loud.

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US Matilda the Musical

 

2022-2023 Season

Roald Dahl's MATILDA the Musical

Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical is the Tony Award-winning masterpiece from the Royal Shakespeare Company that revels in the anarchy of childhood, the power of imagination and the inspiring story of a girl who dreams of a better life. Packed with raucous dance numbers, catchy songs and a huge ensemble of wacky characters, Matilda is a joyous, soulful, magical romp, celebrating the irrepressible spark inside all of us.

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Mamma Mia!

 

2021-2022 Season

Mamma Mia!

On the eve of her wedding, a daughter's quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother's past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago.

The story-telling magic of ABBA's timeless songs propels this enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship. A large cast, non-stop laughs and explosive dance numbers have made Mamma Mia! a smash hit. A mother. A daughter. Three possible dads. And a trip down the aisle you'll never forget!

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On the Razzle

 

2021-2022 Season

On the Razzle

1880’s, Vienna: we follow the adventures and misadventures of Weinberl and Christopher, clerks in an upscale Grocery store, who sneak off to Vienna in search of excitement, because everyone needs a good razzle before life slows them down!

The play is bursting with wordplay, puns, malapropisms, sight gags, physical comedy, several intertwining plots, and zany characters!

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Forgotten Voices

 

2020-2021 Season

Forgotten Voices

From the lavish parties of the San Rafael elite to the tiny fishing village of China Camp and the wretched barracks of the Angel Island Immigration Station, four families struggle to make a life rich in meaning against a backdrop of enormous cultural change. This unique and entirely original musical production is not to be missed!

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The Woman in White

 

2020-2021 Season

The Woman in White

A compelling tale of love, betrayal and greed! With a score by Andre Lloyd Webber, this stunning musical is adapted from Wilkie Collins’ sensational Victorian thriller about a man whose life is changed forever after a chance encounter with a mysterious woman with a chilling secret. Combined with this tale of disturbing intrigue are elements of romance, comedy, and dark secrets, and the answer to the age-old question, “I have a secret, but can I trust you?”

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Into the Woods

 

2019-2020 Season

Into the Woods

The Tony award winning Into the Woods is a musically brilliant, funny and heart breaking show that takes everyone's favorite storybook characters and brings them together for a timeless, yet relevant, adventure...and a rare modern classic.

A Baker and his wife are desperate to have a child; Cinderella despairs of missing the King's ball; Jack’s mother sends him off to sell his best friend (an ancient, milk-less cow) so that they can eat. When the Baker and his wife learn that they cannot have a child because of a Witch's curse, the two set off on a journey into the shadowy woods beyond their home. Everyone's wish is granted, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later with disastrous results.

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Noises Off

 

2018-2019 Season

Noises Off

A wild romp, full of physical comedy and sight gags, Noises Off is a play-within-a play where if it can go wrong, it will.  A British acting company is touring England in “Nothing On,” a farce starring a famous comic actor, Dottie Otley.   Called “the funniest farce ever written,” Noises Off takes us through a disastrous dress rehearsal, backstage during a performance as relationships are beginning to explode, and finally to an unhinged performance, which brings down the house in more ways than one.

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Rent

 

2018-2019 Season

Rent: The Musical

Based loosely on Puccini's La Boheme, Jonathan Larson's Rent follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS in the nineties. These young bohemians are all unique, flawed, and lovably human, as they deal with the extreme highs and lows of new adulthood. How they strive to grow and respect each other's differences across huge caverns of disagreements (ultimately caring for each other as a community who "measures in love") provides the narrative thread to this groundbreaking, rocking and exuberant musical.

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Almost, Maine

 

2017-2018 Season

Almost, Maine

What makes people fall in love? What makes people fall out of love? Almost, Maine follows nine stories, all taking place on a cold February night in the mythical town of Almost, in the state of Maine. Underneath the Northern Lights, the residents fall in and out of love in unexpected, sometimes poignant, often hilarious, and always magical ways.

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A Chorus Line

 

2017-2018 Season

A Chorus Line

Winner of six 1997 Tony Awards, Chicago is an electrifying tale of fame, fortune, and all that jazz, with one show stopping song after another, and astonishing dance numbers that will make your heart beat to that razzle-dazzle rhythm. Set in 1920s Chicago, the tale focuses on two women both accused of murdering their lovers, and their insidious journey to freedom - justice be damned!

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Footloose

 

2016-2017 Season

Footloose, The Musical

One of the most explosive movie musicals of the eighties bursts onto the live stage with exhilarating results! When Ren and his mother move from Chicago to a small farming town, Ren is prepared for the inevitable adjustment period at his new high school. What he isn't prepared for are the rigorous local edicts, including a ban on dancing instituted by the local preacher, determined to exercise the control over the town's youth that he cannot command in his own home. When the reverend's rebellious daughter, Ariel, sets her sights on Ren, her roughneck boyfriend tries to sabotage Ren's reputation, with many of the locals eager to believe the worst about the new kid. The heartfelt story that emerges is of a father longing for the son he lost and of a young man aching for the father who walked out on him. To the rockin' rhythm of its Oscar and Tony-nominated top 40 score (the soundtrack album reached number one on the Billboard charts and has sold over 15 million copies!) and augmented with dynamic new songs for the stage musical, this show features a huge cast of characters and a story that moves and inspires!

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Two Gentlemen of Verona

 

2016-2017 Season

Two Gentlemen of Verona

William Shakespeare’s fast-paced comedy of love, friendship, and transformation, The Two Gentlemen of Verona is packed with great characters: the two Gents themselves, strong, resourceful, and witty women, comic and saucy servants, tyrannical fathers, ridiculous fops, sword-wielding outlaws, and Launce’s famous dog, Crab.  A lively comedy with serious themes of betrayal of love and friendship, redemption, and forgiveness.  Shakespeare, of course, balances these elements with loyalty, faithfulness, honesty, and comedy.  The show is a journey, both physical and emotional, taking the characters on a roller-coaster of emotions and metamorphosis.

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Chicago

 

2015-2016 Season

Chicago

Maurine Dallas Watkins was a journalist and playwright who penned theatrical material while working as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Her most notable play, CHICAGO, was based on some real-life murder cases in the 1920's, and was later developed into a musical of the same name, garnering awards for both stage and film interpretations. We are delighted to announce that the Upper School Theatre Department will be one of the first high schools in the country awarded the performing rights to present this #1 longest-running American musical in Broadway history. Come watch us Razzle Dazzle 'em with this exciting piece of musical history. CHICAGO, The Musical, will have auditions the second week of school.

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As You Like It

 

2015-2016 Season

As You Like It

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” Jaques declares famously in this joyous comedy. And the players on the stage of As You Like It run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime as Shakespeare romps through all the facets of love: romantic, familial, and between friends. A comic masterpiece of character, situation, and wit, the play is filled with music, performed live by a small ensemble and set in the 1960's. As characters flee the dangers of the court and enter the enchanting world of the Forest of Arden, some will find love, some will flee love, some will surrender to love, some will remain aloof from love, but all will emerge from the forest better for their adventures within it.

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Young Frankenstein

 

2014-2015 Season

Young Frankenstein

It’s Alive! From the creators of Broadway‘s record-breaking musical comedy sensation, The Producers, comes Young Frankenstein, a monster of a hit musical based on Mel Brooks’ classic comedy film masterpiece. This wickedly inspired re-imagining of the legend of Frankenstein is the story of the bright young doctor Frankenstein who travels to Transylvania to complete the masterwork of his grandfather by bringing a corpse to life. Full of slapstick comedy and double entendre, Young Frankenstein is a scientifically proven, monstrously good time at the theatre. 

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The Three Musketeers

 

2014-2015 Season

The Three Musketeers

All for one, and one for all!

The greatest swashbuckling adventure of all time and packed with swordfights, The Three Musketeers is a rollercoaster tale of honor, intrigue, love, revenge, deception, valor, friendship, heroes, heroines, villains…and the ultimate villainess.

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Argonautika

 

Summer 2015 - In the American High School Theatre Festival at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival

Argonautika

Goddesses…Heroes….a young sorceress…a journey into the unknown…Harpies…Gods…nymphs…Cupid…prophecies…good…evil…magic…an impossible quest…eternity…all these come together in Mary Zimmerman’s marvelous Argonautika. Zimmerman spins the tale of Jason and the Argonauts in her stunning signature style of physical theatre, magic, music, beauty, poignancy, and earthy humor. Sent on the quest for the Golden Fleece, the young Jason is befriended by the Goddess Hera, and protected by the Goddess Athena. Jason gathers together the heroes of Greece as sailors for the Argos and the adventure begins. After struggling with Gods, monsters, and the difficulty of keeping a group men on-task, Jason finally reaches the island of Colchis, where the Golden Fleece is guarded by a dragon who never sleeps. Hera and Athena know Jason will never obtain the fleece – or survive - unless he is aided by the teenaged sorceress-princess, Medea, daughter of the King of Colchis…perhaps Aphrodite and her son Cupid can be of help?

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Cabaret

 

2013-2014 Season

Cabaret

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome… to Cabaret, Kander and Ebb’s legendary musical about British nightclub singer Sally Bowles, American writer Cliff Bradshaw, and the decadence of 1929 Berlin. With mounting fear and uncertainty outside, the bawdy Emcee lures you into the world of the Kit Kat Club where your troubles are left at the door. A charmingly dark musical about finding your heart while the world loses its way.

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Treasure Island

 

2013-2014 Season

Treasure Island

Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel of adventure on the high seas, Treasure Island is the ultimate pirate tale, following the swashbuckling adventures of young Jim Hawkins and the most famous pirate of all time, Long John Silver. Action-packed with sword fights, battles, damsels in distress, treasure, adventure, and yes, pirates!

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The Bomb-itty of Errors

 

2012-2013 Season

The Bomb-itty of Errors

What happens when a show closes and a director comes in to tag the set that is still in place? Preparations occur for the debut of The Bomb-itty of Errors, a four-actor Ad-Rap-Tation, hip-hop theatre retelling of Shakespeare’s play. Part play, part rap concert, Bomb-itty was nominated for Best Lyrics at the Drama Desk Awards, for the Outer Critics Circle Awards, and received the Jefferson Award in Chicago and the Grand Jury Prize at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen.

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The Comedy of Errors

 

2012-2013 Season

The Comedy of Errors

What happens when two sets of identical twins, separated at birth, unbeknownst to each other, end up in the same town on the same day? Comic chaos! The Comedy of Errors is Shakespeare’s hilarious take on mistaken identity, filled with sight gags, physical comedy, lightning speed word-play, and crazy coincidences. Each character is a comic gem in this ingenious romp set in 1920’s gangster-era Chicago.

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Spamalot

 

2012-2013 Season

Monty Python's Spamalot

Stolen whole cloth from the classic film comedy, Monty Python & the Holy GrailSpamalot is a highly irreverent parody of the legendary tale of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, featuring a bevy of beautiful show girls and hilarious dance numbers, not to mention cows, killer rabbits, and French people.

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The Drowsy Chaperone

 

2011-2012 Season

The Drowsy Chaperone

Long before audiences would flock to see the latest production by big names of Hollywood such as Elton John, musical theatre was dominated by composer/writer duos who specialized in the art form and turned out hit after hit. The Drowsy Chaperone is a send-up of those good old days and the fans who remember them fondly. The musical is narrated by "The Man in the Chair," who entertains the audience with his memories of shows past. As he listens to songs on his record player, characters from his favorite musical invade his apartment—each of whom has a story to tell, a song to sing it in, and a hysterical personality with which to tell it.

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Crimes of the Heart

 

2011-2012 Season

Crimes of the Heart

Winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle Award, Crimes of the Heart weaves the tale of the Magrath sisters of Hazelhurst, Mississippi, whose journey is quirky, poignant, hilarious, and, ultimately, triumphant as they negotiate their way through Lonely Hearts clubs, down-in-the-dumps singing careers, and arrests for attempted murder. This remarkable play manages to walk a fine line depicting events which are simultaneously grim and hilarious, portrayed by wonderful and complex characters driven by ulterior motives. 

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Eurydice

 

2011-2012 Season

Eurydice

Eurydice is a beautiful tale of love, loss, and remembrance involving the imaginative and contemporary retelling of the Greek myth "Orpheus and Eurydice". The bride, Eurydice, dies on her wedding day, and her young groom travels to Hades to try to retrieve her. While she is in the underworld, Eurydice is reunited with her father, and struggles to retain the memories of all she has left behind. With memorable images of the king of the underworld riding around on a tricycle and the traditional Greek chorus replaced by three comedic stone people with very different "rock" personalities, the ebb and flow of life and loss is beautifully told in and around a pool for a set and a house made of string.
 

 

The Merry Wives of Windsor

 

2010-2011 Season

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Sir John Falstaff has plans. Plans for easy money. What could be easier than seducing Mistress Ford and Mistress Page, two well-to-do wives in Windsor, and getting into their husbands’ coffers? Little does he know he will be outwitted every step of the way as the Merry Wives lead him on a merry chase fraught with frustration. Hidden in stinking laundry baskets, dumped into rivers, disguised as old women, chased by husbands, Shakespeare’s most hilarious character has finally met his match!