Parade: This show is set during the civil war, and based off of actual events. It takes place in Georgia, just as the war is beginning. The first song we sing, "The Old Red Hills of Home", is a Chorus number with two soloists, and is about a young and old soldier going off to war, and sets the tone for the show. It centers around a Jewish man who married a southern girl. Their marriage is more out of convenience than love, but they are more or less happy. The man works at a pencil factory, and something happens there that will change his life. A little girl is murdered. Because this is a time filled with racism, not only do they not think of asking any of the slaves that were working there at the time what happened, but they also instantly accuse the hated Jew of the murder. Much like the Salem witch trails, three young girls come forward and falsely accuse him, providing fake evidence that he also...well, what you might call forcibly slept with the murdered girl. His wife comes forward, and sings "You Don't Know This Man", an emotional song about pleading for her husband to have a second chance. It turns out that he does get one, and the girls even admit to being bribed, but the night before his second trial, the Governor sends a group of men including the murdered girl's boyfriend to lynch him. The show ends with his death. It is really sad.
South Pacific: A simpler show that I do not really know the plot of. It was written a long time ago, and centers around a love story. The song that was sung from this show by a soloist and the female chorus was "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy". It was funny because it included a minute long dance break, and instead of dancing, the soloist had to run around being vaguely happy and skipping, and then sang the lyrics "I'm as corny as Kansas in August"...Heh.
Ragtime: Another show I did not sing in, it is set around the turn of the century, and is super complicated. It centers around three groups: The Rich White People, Harlem, and Immigrants. The story weaves together a psychic little boy, a beautiful vaudeville star, historical figures like Henry Ford, J. P. Morgan, and Emma Goldman, an Immigrant Artist and his daughter, and two Harlem lovers. It gets intense, with both acts ending in the death of a main character. It would take too long to explain it all, so go look it up if your interested. The songs that soloists sang from it were "Journey On" a duet between the stiff upper-class gentleman setting off for the North Pole, and the poor Immigrant coming to the New World. The second song is "Your Daddy's Son" sung by the Harlem girl to her fatherless child after she nearly kills it in rage, fear, and grief of her lover abandoning her.
Oklahoma: I know nothing of this plot. But hey, the music must be easy, right? All you do it be all cowboyish, right? Think again. This show has a crazy harmony, with six parts, and a fast tempo. We sang the title song. It was hard.
Carousel: A show I know nothing about. We sang a chorus number with nice harmonies called "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Sweeney Todd: This show is about a barber who was falsely convicted of a crime and exiled by a judge who wanted to steal his beautiful wife away from him. He then comes back, wants revenge, and meets a failing meat pie selling woman who was in love with him all those years ago. She helps him get revenge, and when they are almost found out, he has to kill the man that threatened to reveal their secret. The woman gets the bright idea of baking him into a pie, resulting in the song "A Little Priest" about how all the new meat pies would taste based on the profession of the meat. They do continue to kill those who won't be missed, and make them into pies. Meanwhile, the barber's daughter has been locked away with the judge, and has gone a bit insane. She sings "Green Finch" a song talking to birds about the metaphor between the caged song birds and her own life. Again, a lot happens in this show. Look up the rest.
Merrily We Roll Along: This show is unique in that is moves backwards in time. It starts after the friendship of the three main characters, and in a way their lives, have fallen apart, and then works back to when they were just starting out. We sang to choral numbers "The Hills of Tomorrow" a song sung at the beginning and end of the show at two different High School graduations, and "Our Time", a song almost at the end which is about starting out, and how the world is an open door. It's actually sad, because the audience can see where these hopeful and optimistic twenty year olds end up when they're in their forties.
Anything Goes: Um, this one...happens on a boat? I forget how it goes, but there are three friends on the boat at some point who sing a song called "Friendship". Other than that I have no idea what the show is about.
Into the Woods: My favorite show. Ever. It weaves together fairy tales, including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Bean-stock, Little Red Riding Hood, and a story about a baker and his wife who want a child, but are cursed, and must appease a witch to have the curse removed. Act one goes to Happily Ever After, and act two goes right past it into how all their wishes go wrong, and people die, and the giant's wife wants revenge, etc. Someone sang "Moments in the Woods", a song near the end of act two that the baker's wife sings after having some quality time with Cinderella's Prince Charming. In the end she discovers what the woods are for, and decides to go home and lead a normal life, and then she is stepped on by a giant and dies. Cheery, right?
West Side Story: You all know this one. Really. Or at least you should. We sang the tonight quintet, at the end of act one.
Les Miserables: This is a show set in France, based off if a book by the same name...it follows an escaped convict with a good heart, two young lovers, a revolution, and many more things...it is also complicated. A soloist sang "I Dreamed a Dream" and we all sang "One Day More".
