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Aragon Drama is concluding the year with a livestreamed performance of “Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits,” which will take place on May 21 after lots of organization. The musical satirizes different popular Broadway shows such as “The Lion King,” “Annie” and “The Phantom of the Opera,” and will be shorter than is typical of Aragon Drama’s fall productions.
Director and drama teacher Shane Smuin originally did not have plans to organize any shows for the 2020-2021 season and only became open to the idea later in the school year.
“I didn’t want to do anything because I didn’t know what the students’ responsibilities were going to be in Zoom and school,” Smuin said. “Last semester was definitely bizarre. An activity we did [for Advanced Drama] was useful, productive and fun, and since it worked well, I decided to do a musical.”
The cast is virtually preparing and rehearsing through Zoom, which poses some technical challenges.
“[Rehearsal isn’t] going to be in person, which is a nightmare from an actor’s perspective, because sometimes computers will glitch, you can’t hear people correctly or you have to turn on original audio, and it’s all over the place,” said senior cast member Alex Bloom. “I feel like we’re going to make it work for this show in particular because we know [Zoom difficulties] better than we did last year, and we’re working with what we have with the COVID-19 situation.”
“Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits” is artistically different, as it’s mainly comedic and structured in a unique way.
“In this show in particular, there’s zero plot, and it’s mostly a comedy and variety show rather than a traditional musical,” Bloom said. “We’re taking all these songs from very popular Broadway shows like ‘Wicked’ and ‘Chicago,’ and we’re basically parodying them.”
Preparation for the musical began on April 12 when students returned from spring break. TThe production will be livestreamed on Zoom.
“We’re using a software program called Soundtrap to record the audio sides [of] the show, and the actual actors [performing] is something I’m hoping that we’ll be able to do in person on camera,” Smuin said. “Once we’re in person and recording in front of a camera, the actors are actually going to be lip syncing to the singing that they’ve already [pre-recorded]. They’ll get the recording of the music the day before, so they can listen to it. In the actual rehearsal, they play their audio, sing along with it, and we give them feedback on what to fix.”
Although cast members usually spend six to eight weeks preparing for musicals, they will rehearse under a shorter four-week schedule this time around.
“[Usually] we have vocal rehearsals on Mondays and Wednesdays, and [the performers] learn maybe two songs at the most per vocal rehearsal,” Smuin said. “But this time around, we have to do one or two songs every day and not just Mondays and Wednesdays. Since there’s no blocking and choreography, we’re getting away with that.”
Senior cast member Danny Rose thinks that this particular musical is easier to perform virtually relative to others.
“I think part of [why the musical is more doable] is the fact that the show is designed for a small cast,” Rose said. “Usually we have big musical numbers and dance numbers, but for this show we have just one singing soloist and occasionally an ensemble part. Having more solo work in a smaller cast without having to focus on the razzle-dazzle parts like [groups of people] dancing makes it easier for us to [rehearse] individually and then come back as a whole to perform in person.”
However, Rose still has some misgivings about rehearsing virtually and then performing for the audience to watch online.
“Obviously, it’s not the same rehearsing so far away from each other as we’re not getting the same feeling of community from being inside the theater every day and laughing with each other,” Rose said. “But we still have to try to sing and perform with joy. [The show] won’t only be a great experience for us, but it also will make the audience have a great night once they see our final product.”
While Aragon Drama has announced who will be taking part in the show, the individual casting for each character has not been disclosed. Each cast member will be playing multiple different characters from a mix of original Broadway shows in the musical.
