I recently had the opportunity to watch the pilot episode for the new NBC series, Rise. If you haven't seen this episode and don't wish for me to ruin it for you, I'll preface this article with a SPOILER ALERT. You've been warned!

PROS:

Okay, so here are the positive things that the first episode absolutely nailed in terms of the world of music education:

First off, high school is a tough place for students to find themselves and understand who they are. Specifically, choir students can be the most cutthroat, competitive, and jealous kids out there.

My high school choral program was fortunate enough to combat egotism by having an amazing director that recognized talent within everyone, and not just a select few people. I was allowed to shine as a performer, and that prepared me to have confidence in my abilities while I grew as a musician.

Rise happens to focus on the main character as a theatre director and hasn't focused on the choir program just yet, but I have high hopes that it will go in that direction.

Second, it gave a glimpse into the student's lives and provided a lot of reality and diversity that's completely accurate to what I saw throughout high school. My friends had faced divorce, death, drugs, alcoholism, abuse, and had to grow up incredibly quickly.

The pilot episode showed these issues throughout several homes and shows how it takes a toll on the mind of someone who's still trying to grow up themselves.

The third thing is the set of problems that teachers face in terms of parents, coaches, and fellow educators. When one of the students from the football team is asked to audition for the spring play, his parents and coach butt heads with the director over his "status" and how this would affect him and his reputation as a representative of the school.

Let me say that, in both my high school and college choirs, we had football players, soccer players, debate team members, scholar's club members, and students who needed a place to call home. The choir was where they found their biggest amount of happiness and a home away from home.

CONS:

First, the way that the theater director is employed to his position involves a short conversation with the principal and the principal didn't actually fire the previous director. The new director swooped in as they were rehearsing Grease and said, "Hey, I'm the new theatre director."

In all reality, he would have had to talk to the principal, conduct an interview, and then be selected formally and properly. And the position would have had to be open.

The school wasn't in dire need, they just replaced her on the spot because they didn't like her. Some schools aren't partial and would have fired her if she wasn't doing her job, but it wouldn't have gone down how it did in the pilot.

Second, in order to select a musical or play for the choral/theatre program, it requires an extensive process of the principal reading the script, approving the script, getting the rights to perform the production, and then finally casting the production.

Budgets are discussed for multiple options, what the school can afford, the ability to create sets, and the ability to get costumes. It's not simple enough to suddenly switch sets from Grease to Spring Awakening.

Spring Awakening would never have seen the rehearsal stage in reality, but the pilot portrayed the process backward anyways. The whole script would have to be rewritten to be performable at all because of the content.

Third, the audition process for a show, especially a musical, usually involves the actual script and songs from the musical so that the auditions are fair and organized. It allows directors to have a better idea of the student's range, acting ability, and stage presence in the roles and not just base their audition on their favorite pop song.

Students would sing the same songs, as only two of the characters did, and would read the same excerpts to determine if the part was right for them. It's an extensive process that would have taken up the entire pilot, which is why the director casted it so quickly and informally.

Conclusion

Finally! I'm so excited to see a series shine a light on the difficulties of education and music. While Rise has its inaccuracies, the pros outweigh the cons on this one. I look forward to watching more!