7 Musicals That Teach High Schoolers Empathy

Empathy is far more than just an emotion; it is a skill that will help you across every stage of your life.  And while feeling and showing empathy may seem like something you are born with, there are many ways to develop empathy and learn how to feel for others

Building empathy will help you build deeper bonds, improve teamwork, understand other people’s point of view, avoid stress, and even make you happier. 

Adolescence is a time of growth. The teenage years are among the most difficult and rewarding of our lives. There is no better moment to invest in the rest of your life, and developing empathy is a great start to a great future. Theatre, and particularly musicals, have the power to awaken deep emotions within people by putting them in someone else’s shoes and showcasing real conflicts with positive resolutions.

Musicals Are Powerful Tools for Teaching Empathy

Musicals are beautiful tools for storytelling. They can convey countless emotions not just with words, but with melody and rhythm. 

Musical theatre, in particular, is a powerful tool for discovering and celebrating culture, heritage, values, and integrity. They explore human connections without overrelying on words, and uses dance and symphony instead. This way, characters are not limited to dialogue to express emotion; they can use their bodies, spirits, and voices. 

It comes as no surprise that many choose musicals as a vehicle to tell stories about love, acceptance, respect, and tolerance. Many of the most popular musicals of all time are based on historical events or resemble real-life stories. Their main objective is to showcase the similarity between what is real and what is fiction, as the moral of every fable is just to be a good person.

Tales like these will stay with you for a long time, and combining elements such as spoken dialogue, lyrics, music, and choreography to enhance education and promote decency will only make them more memorable. 

Music Will Make Emotions More Memorable

Even though time moves linearly, the human brain does not store memories sequentially. Science has tried for many years to understand why memories work the way they do. But experience shows that music will turn even the most mundane moments into memorable experiences. 

Even just a song will open doors that can bring you back to your childhood, remind you of cherished moments, and even open some old wounds. 

The same goes for musical theatre. Music has a way of finding our hearts. It will make lessons like be kind or help each other into staples for our human experience. 

Musicals That Help High Schoolers Build Empathy

Most musicals carry a great deal of thoughtful lessons to them. They involve stories about friendship, overcoming, humanity, and growth. Here are some of the musicals that are sure to help high schoolers understand and build empathy. 

Grease

Grease tells the story of two teenagers who fall in love after a shared summer. Sandy Olsson, although initially shamed for her preppy appearance, overcomes all the judgment and stays true to herself. On the other hand, Danny Zuko, to keep on his friends’ good graces and out of his own prejudice, has a hard time embracing his feelings for Sandy. It is only after a lot of back and forth that he realises nothing can keep him apart from true love. This classic tale about friendship, growth, loyalty, and identity is sure to teach high schoolers a lot about life.

Bring this story to life by renting our Classroom scenic backdrop. It portrays a typical schoolroom. The teacher’s desk is located on one side of the room, and behind it are two open windows.

You can also rent our Football Field to reenact the iconic musical numbers. It features a typical American high school football field with yellow lines painted on the grass. In the far end of the field, you can see a yellow goal post and scoreboard.

To depict Sandy and Danny’s failed date, use our Movie Theater Drive-in backdrop, which displays the big screen before the movie begins. Behind the screen, you see the theater’s bold lettering. In the background, you see the dark blue and black clear sky with the moon hanging in the sky.

Lastly, conclude your presentation singing You’re the One That I Want using our Barnum Circus Tent to set up your stage. It depicts a red-and-white-striped tent with banners surrounding its entrance. 

Wicked

This beloved classic follows Elphaba and Glinda, two opposites, as they try to learn about themselves and each other. After being assigned roommates at Shiz University, initially they share the same disdain for one another. However, as they spend more time together, they begin to see beyond the surface and realise there is more to a person than what originally meets the eye. Ultimately, Wicked delivers a nuanced story about standing up for what is right, the power of friendship, and the layered reality behind good and bad. 

Create an unforgettable stage with our Oz the Great and Powerful. This beautiful backdrop is your ticket to the enchanting emerald-green home of the legendary wizard. Grand pillars flank a ghostly head surrounded by mesmerizing flames, majestic staircases, and glowing green fixtures.

Showcase Glinda and Elphaba’s amazing story using our Oz Emerald City backdrop. This backdrop captures the essence of the beloved classic play and movie, helped by its thick, lush trees and thriving, colorful flowers. The shimmering emerald structures of the city at the end of the road add depth and realism to the production.

You can also bring the mystery with our Mystical Forest backdrop. This backdrop is filled with dark trees and a mossy, green grass forest floor. Yellow orbs can be seen floating throughout the air that resemble fireflies.  If used with black light, these dots will glow and come to life along with the forest floor.

Lastly, set your production apart by renting our Shining Day Sky drop. This stunning theatrical design is a beautiful ombre blue sky with grey and white clouds with a brilliant white sun shining through the clouds. Use this backdrop to highlight Elphaba’s Defying Gravity performance.

Mean Girls

Mean Girls follows Cady and Regina as they navigate high school expectations, bullying, and unhealthy friendships. This modern classic has been frequently lauded for its depiction of school bullying, female empowerment, and strong messages. Cady may lose herself at first, but ultimately she decides to stay true to who she is and realizes that trying to destroy other people’s lives will only destroy her own. This timeless story delivers a powerful message that putting others up does not mean putting yourself down.

To bring this story to life, you may rent our High School Exterior backdrop, which depicts a school building with a brick exterior. Use this backdrop to showcase Cady’s school life

You can also recreate The Plastics’ iconic performance with our Starry Night Snow Landscape. This winter-themed stage backdrop depicts pine trees sitting on a majestic mountain buried in a white blanket of snow on top of a crisp night blue sky.

To showcase the characters’ mall adventures, you may use our Shopping Mall. This scenic backdrop features the interior of a mall with a large fountain in the center that is flanked by two palm trees. On the right-hand side, an escalator takes you to the second floor. On the first floor, there are windows that give you a look inside a variety of stores.

We also offer the Fantasy Interior backdrop, which features a grand staircase that curves around a retro chandelier, three mirrors that are hanging on the walls, and a French door to the ride side of the drop, all in beautiful shades of pink. This backdrop is perfect to depict Regina George’s iconic bedroom. 

Hairspray

This lovely comedy has been a trademark of stage musicals for ages, and for good reason. Not only is it filled with beautiful messages about acceptance and inclusion, but it is also a great time for the entire family.

Set in colorful Baltimore, Hairspray follows a teenage Tracy Turnblad as she looks to achieve her dreams of becoming a dancer on The Corny Collins Show, while also standing up against racial segregation and using her influence for good. 

To create your adaptation, start by renting our lovely Stylized Baltimore Street, which depicts several homes in a row, trees, and a skyline in the background. 

You can also use our Record Store, which depicts an old-time interior of a colorful record store.  In the front window, you can see the name of the store, Record Bin, along with a large record and posters. In the store, records are displayed, bins displaying signs of sale, and a new bin all under a purple roof with overhead lights.

Our Prison Interior backdrop will also come in handy, featuring the interior of a prison with two rows of jail cells, each with a different-colored wall. Each row of jail cells is on a different floor, separated by a narrow, metal catwalk. Each prison cell is stark and bare with no furnishing, and the lonely inside can be seen from behind the prison bars. 

And you cannot have a Hairspray production without the legendary Corny Collins Show backdrop, featuring the words “The Corny Collins Show” in a retro style with light blue, green, yellow, and pink squares on a dotted background.

Legally Blonde

Elle Woods is far beyond just being a fashion icon, but a symbol of kindness and self-improvement. The story of Legally Blonde goes above and beyond your typical comedy; it is a story about mending your own heart, creating a life you like despite the struggles, and always lifting other people. 

And to bring the bright tale to life, you may rent our University backdrop, which features a distinguished university building with a red-brick exterior. The building has a grand colonnade with six white pillars, ivy-covered walls flanking each side, and a large concrete staircase at the front.

Another great option is our Sorority House Exterior, depicting the building with a bricked façade and a colonnade with four pillars all painted in pink. On the pediment, the Greek symbols for “Delta” and “Nu” are inscribed, establishing that this building is the home of the Delta Nu Sorority made famous in the film. 

You will also need our Courtroom Interior. This theatrical backdrop depicts a standard courtroom with deep brown wooden walls. A single window on the left side of the panel and a closed door on the right add a hint of finality and loneliness to the image.

Last but not least, use our Colorful Salon backdrop to showcase some of the most memorable moments of the movie. This stage backdrop features blue, pink, and green walls with oval mirrors along a back wall. Across the top are yellow hanging lamps with green pipes lining the top of the ceiling. On each side of the salon are pictures of hairstyle models.

Hamilton

Hamilton follows the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton, as he goes from being an orphan to becoming one of the most important men in American history. Hamilton deals with universal themes such as love, loss, discrimination, and ambition. It is an uplifting story meant to teach history, as well as important lessons about hard work, purpose, and humility. 

Create a truly colorful stage with our New York Borough, featuring a run-down section of New York City. The backdrop depicts images of 2 row house-style apartments. The apartment on the left features a glass door and glass windows, while the one on the right has a wooden door and 2 glass windows. 

We also have available the Back Alley, which depicts the neglected side of a brownstone building. It showcases the less frequented section of the neighborhood with grimy streets, dumpsters, and fire escapes. The windows of the buildings are open but empty. To the left side of the street backdrop is a seemingly abandoned shop. Behind the brownstone buildings is a glimpse of the clear blue sky.

Additionally, you can also rent our Brick Wall Pop-Up drop, which depicts a simple image: a red brick wall. Some of the bricks in the wall have dark stains, while others have a bright shade, as if they were put there to replace old or missing pieces. 

South Pacific

This beloved romantic musical is known for its powerful portrayal of love during wartime. It tells the story of Nellie and Emile and Cable and Liat. Two couples who will have to face prejudice, racial discrimination, and the uncertainty that comes with war. Instead of betraying the love they have for each other, these two couples learn to reconcile their differences, overcome bias, and be more accepting. 

To stage this lovely story, start by renting our Tropical Jungle Beach, which displays the view of your audience looking from the jungle onto a beautiful sandy beach.  In the foreground are tall green palm trees surrounded by ferns, grass, and foliage. In the middle of the theatrical backdrop is a beautiful sandy beach with large rocks nestled in the sand. https://grosh.com/product/tropical-jungle-beach/

Another great option is our Tropical Beach Cove. This stage backdrop depicts a white sand beach lined with coconut trees. The beach, the coconut trees, and 2 mountains can be seen in the foreground, while the background is dominated by fluffy white clouds against a blue sky. 

You will also need our Military Barracks backdrop. The perfect drop for when you need to illustrate an army barracks in a tropical location. This unique backdrop features three different wooden military barracks with red doors and small windows. The sandy beach with small patches of grass can be seen in the foreground, and the tall, leafy palm trees can be seen high above. 

Lastly, you may also rent our Red Tropical Sunset, depicting a beautiful and vibrant scene that will have you longing for a day at the beach. This spirited and lively beach scene displays an island full of palm trees looking out onto a deep blue ocean. The sunset sky is lit up with gorgeous red streaks and bold, orange clouds. 

Art is Meant to Open Your Mind

Psychological research has stated that cultivating empathy can help you develop a more positive attitude and improve people’s behavior toward stigmatized groups. Not only is it a valuable quality to have, but it will also open doors for you both professionally and personally. Being able to see the positive aspects of people and situations, as well as sympathizing with them, is the first and most fundamental step into living a fulfilling life. 

Ultimately, every story exists to bring new things into our lives. In these musicals, every story is meant to represent the virtues of acceptance, love, and overcoming prejudice. There is no better ending than becoming a better version of yourself, and every single character in these tales is a testament to that.