Whedonesque : Comments on 19735 : Dr. Horrible gives twitter-approval for a high school stage production.

Awesome. I'd so love to go see this live.

The Bloor Cinema here in Toronto is auditioning for a shadow cast for Dr. Horrible, and also one for Once More With Feeling. Go down to Silver Stage Auditions for April 4.

[ edited by redeem147 on 2009-04-02 16:28 ]

redeem147 | April 02, 16:26 CET

I wonder if they took out "The hammer is my penis" line because it's a high school production. I know my hs drama club teacher would have insisted on it.

phyrelight | April 02, 16:42 CET

I wonder if they took out "The hammer is my penis" line because it's a high school production. I know my hs drama club teacher would have insisted on it.

Don't tell your drama teacher what "Nothing" in Much Ado About Nothing is (was) slang for then....

zz9 | April 02, 17:12 CET

Maybe if they staged a production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' they'd cut Nothing out ?

Saje | April 02, 17:14 CET

Does this twitter post mean that there is now a protocol for rights for stage adaptations of Dr. Horrible?

We've had a couple of enquiries sent to us and I just tell them to email the Dr. Horrible website (that was the advice given to us). So that's our protocol at the moment. There's also a full stage version of Dr. Horrible done by some college students lurking around on YouTube .

Simon | April 02, 17:18 CET

Both links are the same. Shouldn't the headline link be to the twitter post itself?

This looks fun. I'd love to go to a Dr. Horrible play if there was one in my area.

electricspacegirl | April 02, 17:31 CET

My 9th grade English teacher delighted in pointing out all the dirty jokes in Shakespeare.

But really, cutting out lines or scenes for various reasons isn't exactly rare.

nasarius | April 02, 17:59 CET

Does anyone know protocol for getting the rights to Once More With Feeling? Can't exactly email Joss...

rocknjosie | April 02, 18:00 CET

rocknjosie, OMWF is much more complicated, you have to go through 20th Century Fox and there have been problems getting permission lately. Joss (and his family) own all the rights to Dr. Horrible so I think they are making it WAY easier than would normally be the case with any licensing.

embers | April 02, 18:37 CET

As far as appropriateness goes, what about the whole "we do the weird stuff" bit? Personally I find that more awkward coming from high schoolers than a penis joke, hehe.

fortunateizzi | April 02, 19:17 CET

And how will Captain Hammer announce "We totally had sex?" We totally shook hands? We totally had some?

Nebula1400 | April 02, 19:23 CET

Where are they going to get a horse?

The One True b!X | April 02, 19:33 CET

How is Captain Hammer going to make his entrance?

Sunfire | April 02, 20:08 CET

Will the background woman in the laundromat fold the same pink shirt over and over again?

The One True b!X | April 02, 20:12 CET

Will people from outside the States complain about not being able to see it?

Simon | April 02, 20:16 CET

How are they going to deal with the volume of auditions for the Bad Horse Chorus?

Sunfire | April 02, 20:18 CET

How are they going to make a working freeze ray? Especially without the newtonium?

rocknjosie | April 02, 20:51 CET

Isn't superpowers required for the audition?

korkster | April 02, 20:53 CET

Wonderflonium

Deanna_Lynne | April 02, 20:54 CET

I wish I could see this (and the college version too) because they WILL have a lot of things to over come to stage this for the... er... stage. It would be delightful to see how they over come all the challenges!

embers | April 02, 21:03 CET

I wonder how much fighting over the role of Fake SMG there will be.

The One True b!X | April 02, 21:03 CET

@Simon I love you.

The real question is will the randomly insert High School Musical songs when they can't sing the inappropriate lyrics?

BrownCoat_Tabz | April 02, 21:18 CET

I live in the Miami Valley, I think this is the school right down the street from me. I will confirm it with a friend that teaches there. If it is I will go see it and post a review here.

I am very interested to see if they cut out the words or not, they are a very progressive private school from my understanding, so they might leave the dirty words/lines intact.

Jayne's Hat | April 02, 21:52 CET

W00t! Now to get my nephew (AKA future-Hugh-Jackman) and his high school on board...

Maeve | April 02, 21:56 CET

For the re-enactment at Dragon Con last year they used a suitcase dolly for the van. When the Captain hammer character jumped on it it broke. I wonder if they ever got charged for breaking hotel property. :)

I would assume something similar could work for a stage version. They might dress it up a bit more though since the movie will not be playing right next to them.

Jayne's Hat | April 02, 22:09 CET

I talked with the school's PR guy and we're going to be doing an interview for Jossd. So I'll be sure to ask the relevant, burning questions! :D

BrownCoat_Tabz | April 02, 22:12 CET

The high school has a PR guy?

The One True b!X | April 02, 22:18 CET

Yes, yes they do. :)

BrownCoat_Tabz | April 02, 22:20 CET

That's just insane.

The One True b!X | April 02, 22:21 CET

My guess - it's probably their Development/fundraiser person handling PR.

QuoterGal | April 02, 22:26 CET

My high school definitely didn't have one of those.

Sunfire | April 02, 22:27 CET

My high school spring musical in (?1964?) was "South Pacific", and the School Board decreed that we would not perform the horrible, illegal, "You've Got to be Carefully Taught". Our teachers told us this, we publicized the order and that we didn't agree ... and we then did the song anyway, in its place in the show, to cheering crowds in every performance. :)

They fired the drama teacher two years later. :(

htom | April 02, 22:28 CET

Yes, this is the highschool near me, so I will try to go see it and report back on how they did it for anyone interested.

Of course if BrownCoat finds out from the PR guy that they are removing all the dirty words and suggestive lines I might not bother. I really have a problem with editing important parts of the story because of censorship. But it is a non-religious private school so we will see.

I mean knowing that his penis is the hammer is important!
I am being serious.

Jayne's Hat | April 02, 22:29 CET

Yeah, I'd betcha it's this person who does their PR. If they retain an additional PR person or outside firm, then I'm stunned.

QuoterGal | April 02, 22:31 CET

Haha my high school had a PR person. Even an attendance lady to double check that people marked absent on rolls weren't there. The fees per term were obscene.

pixiedust | April 02, 22:35 CET

Most private and charter schools have PR people or a PR person. They rely on private donations a lot and need to keep a good public image.

The Charter school where I taught had a full time PR lady that also ran the website. In fact the founder of the charter school started out in Public Relations and fund raising. She couldn't run a school worth a crap, but she could raise millions in funding.

Jayne's Hat | April 02, 22:47 CET

Maybe they can afford a horse.

jcs | April 02, 23:21 CET

As I mentioned to Tabz on twitter, it also looks like the traditional power conflict, however mildly, is going on between Communications and Development, since the school website says *both* offices handle PR.

Some non-profit things never change...

Maybe someone has donated a horse to their in-kind program.

QuoterGal | April 02, 23:23 CET

I am sure some of the students at that school probably belong to one of the nearby riding clubs.
So it would not surprise me if they had a real horse.

They will probably just have a horse costume for safety and health code reasons though.

Jayne's Hat | April 02, 23:30 CET

We loaned the high school one of our horses for Oklahoma. One daughter was in the ensemble, the other was props mistress. If the school allows a horse on the stage, and you can find a quiet one, it would work.

One of our other horses is about the right color to play Bad Horse, but he might not be as well behaved.

jill | April 02, 23:53 CET

I wouldn't think that the color of Bad Horse would be an important sticking point, the gender might be, but actually the Lone Ranger's stallion was always played by a mare.

embers | April 03, 03:07 CET

And Lassie was played by a laddie.

redeem147 | April 03, 03:16 CET

Is this what passes for approval these days? Maybe they're giving them props for courage, in the face of the inevitable crushing lawsuit. Or maybe they're literally giving them props. ('cause you can't put on a show without props)

AlanD | April 03, 05:03 CET

lol! I hope they're not facing a crushing lawsuit, I'd really like to see this happen. It'd be great if you could scout it out and report back Jaynes Hat!

My only thought when I read this post was that finally they're getting around to giving out copyrights etc, because thus far it's been a very informal process and they've said they are still reviewing the number of applications they've received. But this production (unlike the Trinity College production recently) is actually charging admission, so either they've paid for rights or are going to get in a lot of trouble.

juliadray | April 03, 05:25 CET

One of our other horses is about the right color to play Bad Horse, but he might not be as well behaved.

Sounds perfect.

jcs | April 03, 06:18 CET

This is great as I want to do an adapted Dr Horrible production with my class in September, and really wasn't looking forward to dealing with copyright issues.
I teach the Fifth Grade so I've had to do a LOT of editing. For example-
In 'So They Say', the 'sleep with' and 'weird stuff' have to go, so-
This is so nice I just might beat up the doctor twice
Check out my muscles and all, when I flex em you can tell I’m real tough
Fans: We think you’re real tough!
And in 'Everyone's a Hero' I can't say 'sex' so
So I thank my girlfriend Penny
Yeah, she’s totally the best
And nor can I get away with calling people 'alcoholic bums' so
A hero doesn't care if you're a bunch of lonely people with no chums

I'm hoping I can film DR H's blog entries beforehand and show them through a data projector. I'm also toying with NOT having Penny die in the end, but turning her into the REAL 'brains' behind Bad Horse and having Dr H and Bad Horse/Penny galloping off into the sunset.

Sacrilege?

missb | April 03, 10:31 CET

Yes, Sacrilege Missb.

I don't think you will have copyright problems, because that is a totally different show. :)

Seriously though, if you have to change it that much, why bother doing Dr. Horrible?

You also have to ask yourself if you want to do it because your students and their parents love it, or because you love it. I can't imagine that a lot of elementary school kids really understand Dr. horrible or get any of the humor. Plus the parents might get all upset because they saw it and are afraid you will not edit it. They won't care about the truth jut the headlines.

Next on Fox News: a 5th grade teacher puts on a performance of that internet musical with the gay guy from How I Met Your Mother. The web show includes several sexual innuendos and brutally kills off the female lead. Should this teacher be fired!

Yeah I hate Fox news.

Jayne's Hat | April 03, 15:23 CET

Interesting points, Jaynes Hat.
I hadn't pondered my own motivations for the production, I just wanted to do something that the kids might find fun and motivating. Our school policy stipulates each class must perform a 30 minute play/musical each year, and I may possibly go bonkers if I have to see yet another class poorly belting out 'Tomorrow' or 'Edelweiss'.
We're a bit of an 'left-leaning-artsy-fartsy' school, so I don't think any of my parents would have issues as long as I adapted the script and took out the sexual references and, well, death. A surprising number of my kids have actually seen it online, yet ironically I would lose my job if I showed it to them.
Last year I did 'Star Wars-Condensed' and the kids and parents really got into it, so I need to top that this year.
But I will certainly keep your concerns in the back of my mind, in fact, I might even change the name to 'Dr Terrible' just to cover my own backside.
Or perhaps I should just do the 'Prop 8' musical from Funny or Die instead? (j/k!)

missb | April 04, 01:10 CET

Missb, your life might be made a little easier if you change:

"Check out my muscles and all, when I flex em you can tell I’m real tough "

"Why don't you check out my muscles? When I flex 'em you can tell I'm real tough." or even, "Why don't you check out my muscles? See how I flex 'em? You can tell I'm real tough."

That way "muscles" stays the stressed word.

streetartist | April 04, 04:39 CET

April 02 2009