Take it to the Chorus: Musicals with a large ensemble

At our 4-19 all-through school in North East England, the annual musical has always been a key part of the calendar. Over the last few years, we have managed to recruit large numbers to our shows – the last three drew casts of over 100 from a cohort of approximately 850. The school is separated into three distinct tiers: first (EYFS-Y4), middle (Y5-8) and senior school (Y9-13). As a department of two, we are responsible for the music provision across the entire age range of the school. While this comes with its challenges (jumping from Y13 analysis to Y1 from one lesson to the next can be a little jarring!), it affords us a level of autonomy and control not available to many other departments. In 2016 we made the decision to combine year groups for the annual musical, having previously limited shows to one of either our middle or senior schools. The initial reasoning was that our original plan of alternating year on year between a middle school show and a senior show left many kids by the wayside. We also thought that it may be difficult to maintain momentum – for some year groups there could potentially be a three-year gap between shows.

Having had casts of around 60 in our middle school shows, we were relatively comfortably with a large ensemble (at my last school I had been lucky to break 40). Because we had previously struggled to recruit for the senior-only performances, we assumed we would have similar numbers when the cohorts were combined. However, as always, music teaching is full of surprises.

Who to cast?

When we opened up our casting to pupils from Y5-13, we were instantly offering an extra-curricular opportunity to a far wider range of pupils. From the first lesson of the autumn term – while pupils were labelling books – my colleague and I spread the news of our plans for the summer production. We made an early decision to only cast from Y7 upwards for the principal roles. We had initially thought that this may put off some of our younger pupils, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. Several pupils confided in us that the certainty of going into the show knowing they would not have to compete for a specific role was very reassuring, particularly when the alternative would involve going toe-to-toe (in their eyes) with the older pupils.

In previous schools, I'd held very limited auditions and, in one instance, cast the principal roles without audition. In retrospect it had an obvious impact on recruitment. Why bother putting yourself up for the show when, by the time you've heard about it, the main parts have already gone? I now realise that having the auditions open to the vast majority of the year groups involved is one of the strengths of our current system and one that feeds our recruitment. That said, we are always very clear with pupils from the outset that the auditions are only for the principal roles and that anyone can be a member of the chorus without audition.

Selecting a show

A large cast usually means managing a large chorus. This rules out a number of shows, although even in productions written for smaller casts (e.g. Little Shop of Horrors), there are sometimes opportunities for adding a chorus where they may not have originally featured. The first show we put on with our new larger cohort was the evergreen Grease, followed by Guys & Dolls and The Addams Family. With a large ensemble drawn from such a wide range of ages, our choices are rather limited. We spend a long time debating our choices and reading perusal copies. Be aware that, if you're planning on putting on shows with primary year groups, even ‘schools’ editions of some shows can still be rather risqué. As mentioned, our primary concern is whether we can justifiably include a large chorus without it seeming tokenistic. Grease and Guys & Dolls worked particularly well in this regard. They have a clear (and, crucially, cheap) costume theme and great songs for the ensemble, spread out evenly across the run of the show.

Both Grease and Guys & Dolls also played well to our cohort due to the make up of their named cast. Both shows feature a core line up of main players surrounded by myriad named parts who may only have a line or two. It never fails to amaze me the amount of kudos pupils will wring out of a part that has a name attached to it, regardless of how long they're onstage. Over time we've also realised the benefit of having groups within the chorus such as the Salvation Army Band in Guys & Dolls or the cheer leaders in Grease. These groups may have little to do aside from wearing a slightly different costume but it affords pupils a badge of pride and keeps them coming back. With our large number of younger pupils in the chorus, we've found it particularly important to find such parts for the older members of the chorus so they're not seen to be ‘in with the young ones’.

Another key consideration is the degree to which you cut elements from the show. We have yet to put on a show in its original form; we always cut sections. With a large younger chorus it isn't feasible to expect them to sit quietly while a small number of principals wade through a vast amount of exposition. A general rule of thumb I've found useful is that, if a song hasn't made it onto the Original Cast Recording album of the show then we can probably afford to cut it!

When to put on the show?

There will be a number of significant issues to consider when deciding when to put on your show. Exams are a big consideration but it's also worth taking into account other regular events across the school (including but not limited to your department). Our productions are always towards the end of the summer term. We have a very hectic autumn term in the run up to Christmas so rehearsing or putting on a show in the first term isn't practical. Having the show towards the end of the school year allows us to begin preparations in the spring term with rehearsals beginning apace after the Easter holidays. The pattern we've settled into is to have auditions after Christmas and cast the show before February half term. We then have a full half-term of weekly rehearsals with the principal cast before beginning full-cast rehearsals after Easter.

If you're setting up a production from scratch or planning on moving to a different time in the school year it would be worth speaking directly to your line manager. Large-scale productions are impossible without the support of the senior leadership team (SLT). Even if you're an old hand, it doesn't hurt to keep SLT in the loop. As well as all considerations regarding timings we also run any casting past SLT before publicising it. We've yet to have any definite rebuttals but there have been a couple of times where we've been advised to speak to pupils and their families to outline the commitment they're about to undertake.

From an SLT point of view, there may be specific times of year that simply don't work with the whole-school calendar for a variety of reasons that may not be immediately apparent. Make sure to present as much detail as possible. When are your regular rehearsals going to take place? Are you planning on running any rehearsals during school time? Which buildings/rooms do you need and when? This leads us on to a slightly pricklier topic.

Funding

One of the advantages of a larger cast is that you can rely on larger ticket sales. Younger pupils are also more likely to bring more people (by the time pupils get to the age of 13 and 14 it suddenly becomes mortally embarrassing to have mum, dad, both sets of grandparents and your next door neighbours cheering you on whereas 10 year olds take it in their stride). The rights for musicals are eye-waveringly expensive, no matter how cheap you try and make them. There are notable exceptions (the school's edition of We Will Rock You and, currently, Andrew Lloyd Webber's School of Rock for example) but it is likely you will need to have serious discussions about how the show is going to be paid for. We are incredibly lucky to be supported by our school PTA who pay for any licensing (see p38) and tech support on the understanding that we pay back as much as possible out of ticket revenue. With three shows each year, we have yet to make a loss, thanks, in no small part, to the revenue brought in as a result of our larger casts.

The biggest contributing factor when it comes to ensuring larger casts is the rolling stone effect achieved by previous successful shows. We have developed a tradition of Y4 pupils coming to watch our dress rehearsal during school time. As well as serving as an effective transition activity, it means that each year we have a new year group of recruits enthusiastic about joining in with the big kids. Clearly we have not been able to do that this summer, so only time will tell if we manage to maintain the momentum in a post-Covid world – I look forward to the challenge.