Dave
10 Nov 2005, 14:39
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhentertainment/285780294032772.shtml
A high school vocal music and drama teacher's connections to the music industry has put the lyrics of a music icon into the hands of Athens High School students.
Rock 'n' roller Marvin Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, has given the school rights to 18 of his songs, which will be performed beginning Friday in an original play written around the music.
Meat Loaf's "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," was a major hit in the late 1970s, and his '70s album "Bat Out of Hell" is the third-highest-selling album of all time, according to http://www.imdb.com, an online music database. He made what is considered one of the biggest comebacks in music history with the 1990s release of "Bat Out of Hell 2: Back into Hell," which sold nearly 18 million copies worldwide.
The school play, "Rock and Roll Dreams," written mostly by students, is a story about a group of 20-somethings who move to Los Angeles to buy a theater and compete in the L.A. theater scene. The idea was conceived by play director and Athens High School vocal music and drama teacher Donley Niskanen.
"Rock and Roll Dreams" also contains five songs written by Niskanen to help propel the story forward in places that the Meat Loaf songs didn't fit.
The students' creativity goes beyond writing musical productions, however.
Nearly everything about the Athens High School performance of the musical is built from the ground up.
"It's a lot of people's ideas together," said Crystal Schreiner, 16, a sophomore. Schreiner plays the character Val Russo, who is trying to make it big as an actress in Los Angeles.
"It's our show," said 16-year-old Dina Guralski, also a sophomore. "We can do what we want, we can change what we want." Guralski plays Azure, who also wants to be an actress.
The stage on which the students will perform was built from scratch with plywood, two-by-fours and plenty of hard work, necessary because the school, which was built in 1967, doesn't have a state-of-the-art auditorium in which to perform plays.
The lighting comes from the stage lights that Niskanen collected while playing in his own rock band.
Acquiring the rights to Meat Loaf's songs is a story in itself.
While performing in his own band, Niskanen became acquainted with Kasim Sulton, who has played bass guitar with a string of A-list rock stars that includes Joan Jett, Cheap Trick and Todd Rundgren. He also is Meat Loaf's musical director.
Last spring, Niskanen
e-mailed Sulton with his idea for the play and asked the rocker to help him secure the rights to perform Meat Loaf's songs.
"He took the idea into a meeting the following week with Meat Loaf and Meat Loaf's songwriter-partner, Jim Steinman," Niskanen said. "They both loved it."
From there, Niskanen and his students were off and running. About 90 of the school's slightly more than 200 students have worked on the production in some capacity, whether writing the play, performing or building sets.
This isn't the first time Athens High School students have performed an original work based on rock songs. In 1996, students staged "The Elder," which was based on songs made popular by KISS, a highly theatrical group of 1970s rockers who wore elaborate makeup. That production drew so much attention that they took the show on the road and performed it again by invitation in June 1997 at the Andrew Johnson Theater in Nashville, Tenn.
"The Elder" featured about two dozen songs written by Niskanen.
Performing something that no other school in the world can do "means a lot to all of us," said Jenna Petrie, 18, a senior. "We all have become a family throughout all of this." Petrie plays actress wannabe Lexi Wilder.
It will be something students will remember forever, said Ben Endres, 14, a sophomore. Endres plays Kaz, the theater caretaker.
"We get to be one of the few ever to be in an original musical," Endres said, "which is something special."
On stage at a high school near you
A high school vocal music and drama teacher's connections to the music industry has put the lyrics of a music icon into the hands of Athens High School students.
Rock 'n' roller Marvin Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, has given the school rights to 18 of his songs, which will be performed beginning Friday in an original play written around the music.
Meat Loaf's "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," was a major hit in the late 1970s, and his '70s album "Bat Out of Hell" is the third-highest-selling album of all time, according to http://www.imdb.com, an online music database. He made what is considered one of the biggest comebacks in music history with the 1990s release of "Bat Out of Hell 2: Back into Hell," which sold nearly 18 million copies worldwide.
The school play, "Rock and Roll Dreams," written mostly by students, is a story about a group of 20-somethings who move to Los Angeles to buy a theater and compete in the L.A. theater scene. The idea was conceived by play director and Athens High School vocal music and drama teacher Donley Niskanen.
"Rock and Roll Dreams" also contains five songs written by Niskanen to help propel the story forward in places that the Meat Loaf songs didn't fit.
The students' creativity goes beyond writing musical productions, however.
Nearly everything about the Athens High School performance of the musical is built from the ground up.
"It's a lot of people's ideas together," said Crystal Schreiner, 16, a sophomore. Schreiner plays the character Val Russo, who is trying to make it big as an actress in Los Angeles.
"It's our show," said 16-year-old Dina Guralski, also a sophomore. "We can do what we want, we can change what we want." Guralski plays Azure, who also wants to be an actress.
The stage on which the students will perform was built from scratch with plywood, two-by-fours and plenty of hard work, necessary because the school, which was built in 1967, doesn't have a state-of-the-art auditorium in which to perform plays.
The lighting comes from the stage lights that Niskanen collected while playing in his own rock band.
Acquiring the rights to Meat Loaf's songs is a story in itself.
While performing in his own band, Niskanen became acquainted with Kasim Sulton, who has played bass guitar with a string of A-list rock stars that includes Joan Jett, Cheap Trick and Todd Rundgren. He also is Meat Loaf's musical director.
Last spring, Niskanen
e-mailed Sulton with his idea for the play and asked the rocker to help him secure the rights to perform Meat Loaf's songs.
"He took the idea into a meeting the following week with Meat Loaf and Meat Loaf's songwriter-partner, Jim Steinman," Niskanen said. "They both loved it."
From there, Niskanen and his students were off and running. About 90 of the school's slightly more than 200 students have worked on the production in some capacity, whether writing the play, performing or building sets.
This isn't the first time Athens High School students have performed an original work based on rock songs. In 1996, students staged "The Elder," which was based on songs made popular by KISS, a highly theatrical group of 1970s rockers who wore elaborate makeup. That production drew so much attention that they took the show on the road and performed it again by invitation in June 1997 at the Andrew Johnson Theater in Nashville, Tenn.
"The Elder" featured about two dozen songs written by Niskanen.
Performing something that no other school in the world can do "means a lot to all of us," said Jenna Petrie, 18, a senior. "We all have become a family throughout all of this." Petrie plays actress wannabe Lexi Wilder.
It will be something students will remember forever, said Ben Endres, 14, a sophomore. Endres plays Kaz, the theater caretaker.
"We get to be one of the few ever to be in an original musical," Endres said, "which is something special."
On stage at a high school near you