Ranked (musical)

Ranked is a musical written by David Taylor Gomes (music and lyrics) and Kyle Holmes (book), known as "Holmes & Gomes". The musical focuses on a dystopian world where academic competition defines each student's worth, and students do whatever it takes to get to the top of the leaderboards, including paying for their grades. Holmes & Gomes started writing in the spring of 2018, and Ranked debuted on April 4, 2019 at Granite Bay High School just weeks after the 2019 College Admission Bribery Scandal broke, launching the show into a national spotlight.[1][2]

Ranked
The Musical
2019 Production Artwork
MusicDavid Taylor Gomes
LyricsDavid Taylor Gomes
BookKyle Holmes

Background

Holmes & Gomes started writing Ranked for their students at Granite Bay High School in the spring of 2018. Holmes has been the director of theatre arts at Granite Bay High School since 2012, and Gomes is a local composer and musician who serves as the high school theatre program's musical director each spring. They had previously collaborated on a serial musical called Boxed Up at the Sacramento Warehouse Artist Lofts.[3] Holmes & Gomes chose to focus their new musical on academic pressure because that's the story their students wanted to tell. They stated the intent behind the musical was to shine a light on "a system that puts an insurmountable amount of pressure on our teenagers to be successful, and when we say success what we really mean is – better than everyone else [...] and for a lot of our students, that's not the reality of what living a happy and successful life is."[4]

Holmes & Gomes looked at examples of people, especially adults, achieving academic success by any means necessary, such as the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal and the District of Columbia Public Schools graduation scandal. They also looked at unique ways of obtaining success in schools, like some Chinese schools using a "grade bank."

One of Holmes & Gomes's goals was to create a story that took student experiences seriously and didn't present them as caricatures dealing with meaningless problems.[5] Some of the musical's dialogue is taken directly from student experiences and writing.[6]

Ironically, Rick Singer, the mastermind behind the 2019 College Admission Bribery Scandal, worked with the Granite Bay High School community a decade prior to Ranked being written.[7][8] Holmes did not arrive at Granite Bay High School until 2011.

Productions

Granite Bay High School's production ran from April 4 until April 13, 2019. The performance was directed by book writer Kyle Holmes, and musically directed by composer David Taylor Gomes.[3]

The Granite Bay High School cast held an encore concert-style performance on June 8, 2019 at the historic Crest Theater in Downtown Sacramento. The performance was directed by Joelle Robertson.[9]

In August 2019, Ranked was further developed at the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance's third annual Ground and Field Theatre Festival.[10] The production was directed and choreographed by Broadway veteran Mindy Cooper, and starred Chloe Boyan from the original Granite Bay High School cast, and Shelby Wulfert, from Disney Channel's Liv and Maddie.[11]

The show is currently being licensed by high schools across the country, having already mounted productions at Davis Senior High School,[12] Narraganset High School.,[13] and Cupertino High School.

On February 21, 2020 it was announced that the presentation would be filmed as part of an HBO documentary.[14]

A 29-hour industry reading of Ranked was scheduled to be presented in New York City on March 20, 2020 in an attempt to secure a lead producer for the project.[15][16] The reading was to be managed by Daryl Roth Theatrical Management, and held at the Daryl Roth Theatre.[17] The presentation was cast by Stephanie Klapper Casting, and auditions were filmed as part of the HBO project.[18] The cast was announced on March 11, 2020.[19] On March 12, 2020 the Ranked's social media announced that the reading would be postponed, presumably as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak.[20]

Recordings

Ranked, A Musical Concept Album was released on February 28, 2020.[21] The album was mixed and mastered by Andrew Heringer. All proceeds from the album are being donated to the Sugarloaf Station Foundation 501(c)(3).

Cast
Character Granite Bay High School

2019

 UC Davis

Ground & Field Festival 2019

 Musical Concept Album

2020

Lily Natalie Collins Chloe Boyan
Alexis Chloe Boyan Shelby Wulfert
Sydney Emma Harlow Sophie Brubaker Miranda Lawson
Ryan Joe Reinero Kyle Nagasawa Chris Meissner
Jordan Anvita Gattani Katie Halls Sidney Raey-Gonzales
John Jack Dugoni Nate Challis
Francis Trace Landrum Sam Votrian Jonnie Reinhart
Jacquie Aleah Treiterer Tiffany Nwogu Sophie Brubaker
Carly Taylor Harris Raegan Price Emma Harlow

Response

The production received positive reviews. Courtney Symes of BroadwayWorld.com described Holmes' book as accurately capturing "the angst and drive and occasional hopelessness that these kids must be feeling on a daily basis" and Gomes' music as a "bright beacon that shines." Commenting on its relevance, Symes noted that "It could well be a new requirement-all high school theatre groups shall have Ranked in their catalog, like a modern-day Grease.[22]"

The UC Davis Ground and Field production received three 2019 BroadwayWorld Regional Awards for Sacramento: Mindy Cooper for Best Direction of a Musical (non-professional), Chloe Boyan for Best Actress in a Musical or Play (non-professional) and the entire production for Best Musical (non-professional).[23]

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References
  1. "A Dystopian High School Musical Foresaw The College Admissions Scandal". NPR. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
  2. "'That's our play!' | College admissions scandal eerily similar to a new musical by local writers". KXTV. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  3. "Testing the limits – Stage Pick of the Week – Arts&Culture – April 4, 2019". Sacramento News & Review. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  4. Creating Ranked, A New Musical, retrieved 2019-12-30
  5. "Granite Bay High School's Prophetic Musical Centers on Life as a Teen and College Admissions". FOX40. 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  6. Symes, Courtney. "BWW Interview: Kyle Holmes And David Taylor Gomes Speak About Their Original Musical, RANKED, And Its One-Night-Only Encore CONCERT AT THE CREST THEATRE". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  7. MORRAR, SAWSAN (2019-03-12). "Man accused in college admissions scam worked with hundreds of students in Sacramento area". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  8. Cova, Spencer. "Local families affected by college scandal". Granite Bay Today. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  9. "Ranked: A New Musical To Be Performed In Concert This Weekend At The Crest | Top Stories | PowerTalk 1460 AM & 101.1 FM". Top Stories. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  10. Janiak, -Lily. "Ranked, a new musical". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  11. Desk, BWW News. "Broadway And Television Veterans Create New Stage Works at UC Davis". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
  12. "DHS drama department to present nationally acclaimed 'Ranked'". Davis Enterprise. 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  13. Blessing, Ryan. "Narragansett students tackle academic pressure in 'Ranked'". The Independent. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  14. Meyer, Dan (2020-02-21). "College Admissions Scandal Musical Ranked Now Accepting Submissions". Playbill. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  15. Symes, Courtney. "BWW Feature: RANKED, A NEW MUSICAL Revs Up Its Push to New York With the UC Davis Ground And Field Theatre Festival". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
  16. Lin, May. "Ranked: The Musical continues to gain attention". Best of SNO. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  17. Desk, BWW News. "New Musical RANKED Gets Workshop At The Daryl Roth Theatre, 3/20". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  18. Meyer, Dan (2020-02-21). "College Admissions Scandal Musical Ranked Now Accepting Submissions". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  19. Gans, Andrew (2020-03-11). "Cast Set for Industry Presentations of New Musical Ranked". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  20. "Ranked, A New Musical". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  21. Staff, Playbill (2020-03-15). "Upcoming Cast Recordings". Playbill. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  22. Symes, Courtney. "BWW Review: RANKED, A NEW MUSICAL, Premieres at the Theatre At Granite Bay". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
  23. Desk, BWW News. "Winners Announced For 2019 BroadwayWorld Sacramento Awards". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
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