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Issue Date: December 2, 2007
High School Musical: The play's the thing
Today's 13-year-old stagehand could be tomorrow's Broadway hitmaker. Just ask Thomas Schumacher.
By Brian Truitt
"If you take all of the major sports teams in New York and put them together, Broadway sells more tickets. But more than that, theater is our shared language."
So claims Thomas Schumacher. And he should know. He's the producer behind the biggest Broadway beast ever, the blockbuster Disney show "The Lion King," which has grossed an estimated $3 billion worldwide. As one of the country's leading Broadway boosters and now president of Disney Theatrical Productions, Schumacher wants to spread the gospel all the way into America's school auditoriums.
His new book, "How Does the Show Go On?," is a primer on everything you always wanted to know about the theater but never asked, written with children in mind. It opens like a stage curtain -- from the middle -- and introduces young readers to the range of crafts behind all that Broadway dazzle, from the lobby to the backstage marvels of makeup and costumes. Plus, what's a theater book without some theater lore, such as the origins of the word "box office," the definition of a "swing" actor and why people never utter the word "Macbeth" inside a theater? (Shhh! It's cursed!)
Inherent in Schumacher's message is that theater isn't just for actors -- or, for that matter, adults. Instead, it's a colorful and fantastic part of the American landscape for all ages -- and a catalyst that brings communities together, with professionals, amateurs and audiences. In other words, theater is a lot bigger than most might think, he says. And young people can be the beneficiaries.
"If you're a kid and you get a chance to be a part of a play, whether you're on stage or offstage, whether you build scenery or help with costume changes or do makeup or work with the lighting crew, you're part of a team that is working together," Schumacher says.
Unfortunately, he laments, all is not well in today's magical world of school theater: "Today, there are high school musicals being done at a level far superior than anything in my generation. That said, there is much less being done today than back then."
Schumacher's own theater experience began in grade school. By the time he was in high school, he was acting in such classics as "The Music Man" and even directing community productions. "Literally, at the same time one set of kids were outside playing Pop Warner football," Schumacher, 49, recalls, "I was in the theater learning how to tap dance."
Now, he's doing what he loves. "I really believe in these school programs," Schumacher says. And he is steadfast in the belief that arts curricula are critical to a child's development. Kids learn about what they can do in a theatrical setting and see it as a career, a hobby and a family. Not to mention that among a certain school-age set, Disney's hit "High School Musical" movies have again made it cool to be involved in musical theater "for pretty much everybody," he says.
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You don't have to be the tallest, you don't have to be the prettiest, and you don't have to be the best dancer," Schumacher says. "But I always tell kids to learn more about it and go be in a play in your community. It's not about becoming an actor -- it's becoming part of the theater."
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