Contact High

See it if you want to see a stage full of talented young singers give their all for a confusing, underdeveloped, overlong new high school musical.

Don't see it if u hope to follow the convoluted plots & fickle motives, care about the reductive characters, or leave humming the overstuffed score.

Also There's potential here, all of it evident in the fairly enjoyable Act I. (Although quite a few people didn't enjoy it as much as I did & left at intermission.) But Act II goes so far off the rails it never finds its traction again. There are a few catchy, clever songs buried in a score with WAY too many musical numbers.... Read more Read less

See it if you’re a big fan of the teen-angst genre of musicals that follow in the tracks of “Spring Awakening.”

Don't see it if you like a musical to have coherent book.

Also This heartfelt teen-angst musical has lots of energy, a catchy score & occasionally even scores an emotional point. But the book is ultimately pretty silly. I enjoyed this best when I forgot it was a play & greeted it as a concert, a set of pretty decent songs. This might or might not be enough for you to want to sit through it for a couple of hours.... Read more Read less

See it if Great cast interaction. Topics need to be addressed. 5 musicians perfect. Seating at old Ars Nova site perfecto. Intimate viewing ALSO.

Don't see it if partner not as thrilled as I was (ergo the 80%) Only two weak links in the cast. If you expect fluff this is the wrong show.

Also Wonderful young voices
It tackles brains, drugs, phobias cliches and many more High School problems for teenagers.... Read more Read less

See it if Some very talent young actors. Musical of young people in high school.

Don't see it if A time the story get a little confusing.

Also I was fine with this show but think teenager audience will like it a lot better. The night I went the audience was older. Some left during intermission.... Read more Read less

See it if You like high end high school plays.it does have a cast that really tries to pull it off unfortunately there’s little for them to work with.

Don't see it if You’re looking for something substantial.

See it if you want to support some up and coming theatre artists; you want to see some new young talent

Don't see it if you want to see this talent in a well developed show. The composers have some okay ideas, but they should step away from performing

See it if over-amped teenagers sing way too loudly and out of tune about a drug deal that has gone wrong and other angsty issues

Don't see it if quirky teen musicals can be great fun, but not this loud, overworked​ over sung disaster.

See it if You are an emerging musical professional looking to network with other emerging artists -

Don't see it if You are looking for a musical with wit or serious talent

Also Unfortunately the leads do not have the best vocal abilities of the cast which weakens the delivery of their songs
The acting in-between is weak
The story is convoluted & tries way too hard to be contemporary & edgy - which it isn't... Read more Read less

See it if you’re happy to be an audience for up and coming professionals.

Don't see it if you’re not interested in supporting fledgling artists.

Also This show put me in mind of an after school special, which isn’t a bad thing. I would suggest finding a way to streamline the story a bit so it’s not so long. I think the songs, which were nice, were too many. Also, the mics need to be fixed yesterday. Some of the actors weren’t amped up enough for us to hear the lyrics over the music.... Read more Read less

See it if I enjoyed this rock Musical especially the second act. Although the storyline got a bit confusing at times.

Don't see it if A number of young talented actors. However I think this is geared for more of a younger crowd. Loud music some violence might upset some.

Also If the storyline was tweaked a bit this would be even better. I really enjoyed a few of the musical numbers including Benjamins defense, capacity, and onwards. I noticed a number of older patrons leaving after the intermission. I'm glad I stayed but again this is I think for a more younger audience... Read more Read less

See it if This is your first or second live musical show. I see every little effort that is trying to make this work...and that's why it's not working

Don't see it if You are a musical fan and have seen many shows. You will for sure be disappointed.

Also Something unusual was happening during seeing this show, I found myself analyzing every moment and debating with myself in my mind about the lyrics, the music, the casts, the performance, the lighting, the band, the stage, etc. Everything is telling me that it's trying too hard, and reminding me why I am only an audience, not a performer or a writer. I so wanted to like it so I can recommend it to the world. But when it is this hard to outweigh the negatives, it loses its purpose. I was not enjoying it anymore. And I wasn't even trying to compare it with some of the best musicals, if I did, the score would have been below 30. I hope this is not the only hat the writer is wearing.x... Read more Read less

See it if all musicals appeal to you.

Don't see it if you are looking for a finished product.

Also Some of the music was pretty good and all of the singing was excellent. Big questions are: who is the audience? and why present something that needs so much work? The story is not something easy to relate to. Not everyone wants to see a musical with so many troubled people.... Read more Read less

See it if you love the teen musical genre. The songs were fun and the cast did quite a lot with the small set and lack of wings. The story is thin.

Don't see it if you don't care about angsty teens needing to fit in while also being a mystery with a missing teen and touches of heroin addiction. A lot!

See it if you want a glimpse into the lives of teenagers today. Written, directed, and acted by talented young people. Interested in what's next.

Don't see it if you don't like teen musicals or expect a super polished/bigger budget musical. This is promising early work.

Also The pressures, desperation, and life or death outlooks for the teens rang true to me. There's a lot of competition, judging, and doubting. The duo who wrote and directed the show are also main characters, which is a bit tricky. There were a few standouts in the cast. Note: I sat in the front row and didn't notice sound/mix issues apart from a missing gunshot cue.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to see young actors who are fantastic singers and totally committed to giving the best performance ever, if you enjoy musicals.

Don't see it if you don't want to see High School Musical meets Rent, if you are expecting a big Broadway style show, if you were told this is the next Rent

See it if A load high-energy rock musical on a stage to small. Actors that try hard to entertain you w/ not the best storyline.

Don't see it if If you don’t want a loud musical. Don’t want a plate about drug problems. A feel good traditional musical

Also Sometimes hard to understand

See it if You would like to see some great sounding women singing contemporary musical theatre.

Don't see it if It was quite long and the plot didn’t make sense. There were too many different story lines to keep up with it.

See it if you enjoy to think about stories involving complicated relationships, mental illness, addiction and all things adolescence.

Don't see it if you don’t like musicals that make you think or rock scores.

See it if You want to see High School Musical meets Rent. It's basically that.

Don't see it if You are expecting "Rent" levels of writing skill. The cast is incredible the writing needs a lot of work.

Also I'm torn on this one. On one hand there are genuinely A LOT of things to like about this show. The set is albeit low budget but I thought it filled the space very well. The talent really is amazing. I would argue the weakest talent is unfortunately the person who also wrote it- and being surrounded by people who are obviously more talented doesn't help. It completely- COMPLETELY falls apart in act 2. The writing here on out makes little to no sense. There are whole subplots which could be cut. This work just needs some TLC from either a dramatist or an outside playwright. It's got potential. Incredibly impressed at the collected talent. Even the score- for being a relatively unknown writing group- catchy and interesting... it's literally just the plot that is the biggest glaring issue. I hope that it gets tweaked and the creative team tries again because I think there's a lot of opportunity to really have a stellar work.... Read more Read less

See it if You are devoted to musical development & interested in assessing talent or understanding what makes this not work as well as similar shows

Don't see it if You are expecting something polished or original

See it if You like big belt-y songs, original storylines, inclusive representation, suspending all shred of belief.

Don't see it if you chafe at weak lyrics (rhyming More with More), bloated and convoluted plot, or an absurd conclusion.

Also This show is trying to do too much, it's like 4 shows in one. Highschool clique musical meets familial drama mets murder mystery meets star crossed lovers. The plot twists will give you whiplash and the ending is unsatisfying.
The composer gave himself a plumb role but doesn't have a the voice to keep up with the rest of the cast.... Read more Read less

See it if You love new pop/rock musicals and intense subject matter. Also if you want to support new, talented musical theatre writers and performers!

Don't see it if You are triggered by heavy subject matter including addiction, gunshots, and murder. It is also very loud so bring earplugs!

See it if You are up for great, old-school musical

Don't see it if You get lost in track with storylines

Also The storyline is a little bit confusing; I still don’t know how the drug-dealing plays part on it or the missing guy but it is very entertaining... Read more Read less

See it if You want to be entertained and want to support a driven,passionate, hardworking, and talented group of actors,singers,writers, and musicians

Don't see it if You prefer a comedy.

Also It is obvious that everyone involved in Contact High has worked extremely hard and is dedicated and committed to giving their absolute all to their audience.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see a very earnest show, with hard working young actors, trying extremely hard to be deep, sensitive and moving.

Don't see it if You want to see a show that works. From a plot line that is far fetched to actors that are stretched beyond their acting and singing range.

Also I’m still dizzy from how many eye rolls this show gave me! I laughed a lot. Unfortunately it’s not a comedy. They could use some comedy however, they go from one tragedy(?) to another (oh no, they kicked me out of Science Club!...to...oh no...I’m a heroin addict with no clue how to actually shoot up...) Completely forgettable songs filled with such earnestness, just aching to be relevant...and they just weren’t. They were over amplified. I’m such a small theatre we should have been able to hear their own voices but the MANY times the mics missed their cues I was unable to hear a word coming out of their mouths even though they were less than 10 feet away.... Read more Read less