Please note: First Date is a new musical with the script subject to change.
Adult Language
First Date is a contemporary musical that contains both strong language and sexual references; it is not suitable for very young theatergoers.
Violence
None
Sexual References
The entire play takes place during Aaron and Casey's first date: most of it occurs in a restaurant. Both characters, however, imagine encounters with past sexual partners who interfere with this budding relationship; they also imagine that they hear their best friends, who offer dating tips (other customers in the restaurant intermittently take on these roles). In particular, Aaron imagines Gabe, his cocky, arrogant friend who considers himself a ladies' man, giving him (bad) advice from the "Gabe School of Dating." The main characters also ask and answer questions during their dinner together about their past relationships. One character (Casey's best friend Reggi) is gay.
Drugs/Alcohol
The characters drink wine and beer. They also discuss past drug use (one has used drugs, the other has not).
Damn Yankees, a classic American musical, is a modern version of the story of Faust, the legendary sorcerer who sold his soul to Mephistopheles in exchange for magical powers. Set in the 1950s, this tale focuses on Joe, a devoted baseball fan in his forties, and a mysterious figure who calls himself "Applegate." Applegate has an irresistible offer for Joe: he can be twenty-two again, join his favorite team, the Washington Senators, and become a hero by helping the Senators beat a team that then seemed invincible—the New York Yankees. Joe agrees to leave his wife and home behind, but he insists on an escape clause so that he can return.
Adult Language
Very mild, only a few "hells" and "damns."
Violence
Lola tells a story about a man she seduced (on Appleby's orders) who embezzled money, lost his wife, took to drink, and finally, when she left him, jumped out a twenty-second-story window.
Sexual References
These are very mild and consist of innuendoes. Applegate enlists his assistant, Lola, to seduce Joe, who misses his wife. Despite her best efforts, Joe tells her "I wish I was two people, but I'm only one – and I'm married." Later, when Joe believes he is trapped and can never go home, he and Lola will briefly dance, kiss, and embrace during the song "Two Lost Souls."
The Washington Senators sing about the strict rules they live by during the season: no late hours, no drinking, and no women. Three players tell stories about intimate encounters with women that go nowhere because each man realizes he must remain devoted to the game. Sample lyric:
"Man, her perfume sure did smell sweet / Got her up to my hotel suite / She killed a pint of gin more or less / The lights were low, she slips off her dress / But then I thought about the game! / The game! The game! / Yes, I thought about the game! / The game! The game! / Though I got the lady high / I just left her high and dry / 'Cause I thought about the game!"
Drugs/Alcohol
Appleby is seen smoking a cigarette. Applegate's assistant, Lola, gives him a glass of "demon rum," but she sneaks in four pills to make him sleep. Lola and Joe drink and dance together as they sing, "Two Lost Souls."
This musical is based on Puccini's opera La Boheme, which portrays a group of poverty-stricken artists living unconventional (or "Bohemian") lives in the attics of 19th-Century Paris; the opera's young lovers are tragically separated when one dies of the ubiquitous Victorian plague, tuberculosis. Rent, on the other hand, is set in late 20th Century New York; its characters are young filmmakers, songwriters, street musicians, and performance artists who live in an industrial loft. They struggle with romantic relationships, creative blocks, rent payments, drug addiction, and with the new plague called AIDS.
Rent is not suitable for very young audience members. Parents and concerned theatergoers are advised to read the following descriptions carefully.
Adult Language
The "f" word is used half a dozen times, always an expletive rather than as a sexual term ("This is f—king weird!"). A few 4-letter vulgar words are also used ("You're full of shit!" "Don't get pissed!") as well as the occasional "damn."
Violence
One character, Collins, is mugged while using a pay phone (the attack is shown in mime). A riot occurs (offstage) when police attempt to remove homeless people from a vacant lot.
Sexual References
Mark, a filmmaker, is mourning that his girl friend, Maureen, has left him for a woman. Later he and his girlfriend's lover, Joanne, will lament (in the "Tango Maureen" number) that she has cheated on them both. Another character, Angel, is a cross dresser (or "drag queen"), often referred to as "she;" Angel helps Collins after he is mugged and they confide in each other that they have AIDS—and fall in love. Roger and Mimi are also HIV-positive. One character will die of AIDS.
In the song "La Vie Boheme," the artists sing in tribute to the unconventional life, to "Emotion, Devotion, to causing a Commotion,/ Creation, Vacation,/ Mucho Masturbation." They also sing to:
"Faggots, lezzies, dykes, cross dressers too
To you and you and you, you, you
To people living with
Not dying from disease
Let He among us without sin
Be the first to condemn."
Drugs/Alcohol
Some of the characters are addicted to drugs and some are recovered addicts. Drugs are frankly portrayed as both seductive and lethal, a menace to the characters' health and happiness. Roger, a songwriter, has been off drugs for half a year and recognizes Mimi's symptoms (shivering, sweating); he finds her "stash" and hides it. In one song, Mimi and a group of other junkies pursue "The Man," a drug dealer, asking:
"Got any D, man? /Got any C, man? /Got any X /Any smack/ Any horse/ Any jugie boogie/ Any blow?"
(slang terms for angel dust, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, and crack).
Rated: PG-13
Memphis is loosely based on the life of Dewey Philips (called Huey Calhoun in the script), the first white disc jockey to play black music on the air during the segregated 1950s. Memphis may not be appropriate for all audiences.
Adult Language
It contains one use of the “f” word as an expletive and some milder adult language, mostly “damns” and “goddamns.” It also includes a few coarse expressions (sample: “I’m gonna make me a shitload of money”).
Violence
Some racially motivated violence is seen or described in the play. Huey Calhoun is seen by two white men as he kisses his black girlfriend; the men attack the couple with baseball bats. Delray shows Huey a scar he received when he drank from a “whites only” drinking fountain. Gator, a bartender in Delray’s club, never talks: “When he was 5, he seen his daddy lynched right in front of his eyes. Nobody’s heard him talk since.”
Alcohol/Drugs
Characters are seen drinking and after the racist attack on Huey and his girlfriend, he becomes addicted to pain pills.
Sexual References
Some of the song lyrics contain mild sexual innuendoes. Sample: “Come on, baby, won’t you scratch my itch / You got me boilin’ at a fever pitch / I tried some love cream / Rubbed some honey on it too / But the only thing that can cure / My itch is you.”
Rated PG
The Addams Family is based on the cartoons about a spooky family living in a run-down Victorian house published in the fifties and sixties by Charles Addams. Much of the quirky humor consisted of the family’s emotional reactions being the reverse of what would “normally” be expected. Addams himself insisted that his characters were not “monsters” but rather “non-conformists.” The Addams Family is rated PG and is suitable for most audiences. Concerned parents and theatregoers are encouraged to peruse the following guidelines carefully:
Adult Language:
Very mild. There are a few “hells.” A couple of vulgar expressions are used (“Stay out of my shit;” “Sit your ass down”).
Violence:
Wednesday is seen torturing her brother Pugsley on a rack, but this is part of the Addams family’s “difference” from others; Pugsley appears to be enjoying it. Wednesday is also seen with a cross-bow, with which she has killed a petting zoo’s goose for the family’s dinner and she accidentally kills a small bird while singing with it.
Sexual References:
These are implied rather than explicit. Gomez, for instance, hints about services provided to Queen Isabella by his ancestor, “Alfonso the Enormous,” and describes another male ancestor wearing a dress as “Wednesday’s uncle, twice removed . . . They removed it once, but it grew back.”
Morticia and Gomez Addams are a very affectionate married couple; they dance a passionate tango in the second act. Gomez refers to his wife as “A duchess in the parlor, a genius in the kitchen . . . and a gymnast in the bedroom.” Exchanges like the one below are typical:
GOMEZ: Tell us what it is every Addams hopes for!
MORTICIA: Darkness and grief and unspeakable sorrow.
GOMEZ: (Overcome, embracing her) I love it when you talk sexy!
Alice, the mother of Wednesday’s boyfriend, would like her own marriage to have more of a spark to it. When her son reacts with shock, she says, “Lighten up, Lucas. Parents do it. Live with it.”
As portrayed in the original Charles Addams cartoons, Morticia wears a very low-cut black gown.
Alcohol/Drugs:
Morticia refers to Grandma as “smoking weed in the attic.” Pugsley is seen puffing on a cigar. Lurch, the butler, serves wine to the family and guests; Alice has a li
Rated PG
Elf is a family show and is appropriate for all audience members.
Elf is the tale of Buddy, one of Santa’s elves, who discovers that he is a human. His mother died soon after he was born, and when Santa visited his orphanage, he crawled into Santa’s bag and was taken to the North Pole by accident. When Buddy grows up, he goes on a quest in search of his father, who never knew that he was born.
Adult Language:
There is a little very mild adult language, including a reference to a children’s book as “Jingles the friggin’ pony.” One character abandons her diet to go out for chocolate, declaring, “Screw you, Jenny Craig!” Buddy’s new girlfriend offers him a deal: “You try to be less elf-y, I’ll try to be less bitchy.” There are also a couple of “hells” and “damns.”
Sexual References:
None except the statement that Buddy was the result of his dad’s “secret love affair” while he was in college.
Rated PG
Meredith Willson’s The Music Man is a family show and is suitable for all audience members. Set in small-town Iowa in 1912, it tells the story of Professor Harold Hill, a glib con artist charming enough to hoodwink the skeptical and tight-fisted citizens of River City – all except the lady piano teacher, who remains suspicious. The Music Man contains no sexual references, no adult language, no violence, and no drug or alcohol use.
Rated PG
Grey Gardens has been hailed as a “spellbinding account of American fallen royalty.” It is the tale of Edith Bouvier Beale and her adult daughter, “Little” Edie, cousins of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Once bright stars in East Coast society, they are now notorious recluses, living in a dilapidated 28-room mansion that is teeming with stray cats and poignant memories.
Adult Language
There is some mild adult language, almost all of it consisting of “hells,” “damns,” and half a dozen “Goddams.” Much of the salty language comes from Edith’s father, Major Bouvier, who comments that a character has “fingers as soft and pale as a 10-dollar whore” and observes of another, “If she were a whole horse instead of just its ass, I’d shoot her.” He also notes that Edie’s mother “drives her suitors away faster than a social disease.”
Sexual References
Sexual references are generally not explicit. “Little” Edie and her suitor, Joe Kennedy, Jr., admit to having done more than kiss and more than holding hands. Some of the show’s conflict occurs because “Little” Edie’s past experiences with other suitors come to light. Edith’s best friend and pianist, Gould, is gay and referred to as a “poufter” in a letter written by Edith’s husband. Edith’s husband (who is never seen in the show) is revealed to be having affairs in the city.
Alcohol/Drugs
Characters are frequently seen drinking alcohol.
Violence: None.
Rated PG-13
Jersey Boys contains strong language and sexual situations and is not suitable for audience members under 13. Parents should peruse the following guidelines carefully:
Adult Language
Very strong adult language is used throughout the show (sample: “I’ll tell you what the f--n’ problem is!”). The Four Seasons and their associates were working-class Italian Americans who hailed from Mob-dominated, crime-ridden, poverty-stricken neighborhoods. Prison records were common among these young men and the profane “Jersey Language” in the script was an authentic part of their culture. As Frankie Valli puts it, “We didn’t have playgrounds and after-school programs. What we had was hanging out on the corner and B and E’s” (Breaking and Entering).
Drugs/Alcohol
Characters are seen smoking and drinking. One character dies (offstage) from a drug overdose.
Sexual References
One character has his sexual initiation (offstage) with a girl in a Chicago hotel.
Rated PG
The Pirates of Penzance is one of the most popular of the comic operas created by Arthur Sullivan (music) and W. S. Gilbert (lyrics and script) since it premiered in New York City in 1879; it is a family show and is suitable for most theatregoers.
This tale of an honorable orphan apprenticed (by mistake) to a soft-hearted band of pirates contains no adult language, only comical violence (a “battle” between policemen and pirates) and no sexual references. It does contain a scene in which the band passes out “pirate sherry.”