Parents' Guide to

Guys 'N' Divas: Battle of the High School Musicals

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Teen theater documentary could dig a lot deeper.

TV Showtime Reality TV 2009
Guys 'N' Divas: Battle of the High School Musicals Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

See all
age 14+

Based on 1 parent review

Sadgrl0
Sadgrl0 Adult
September 21, 2009
age 14+

They filmed only the main characters

I hated this documentary. This was supposed to be about teamwork, a group of kids striving towards one common passion. Instead they made it about the drama, the relationships, and the personal lives. They completely ignored the chorus members who spent hours of exhausting work getting their dance steps right. The ones who stayed even after the main characters were gone, having rehearsals that lasted from 3 pm until midnight on every day, including weekends. After waiting three years for this documentary to air, I turn it on just to find I have maybe three scenes in which I am in the distant background. I was in the show Kaiulani, and I was exhausted, but excited, it was my first and last performance, and the best time of my life. This documentary did nothing but chronicle the personal lives of the main actors who could afford to bribe the teachers for the part.
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In GUYS 'N' DIVAS: BATTLE OF THE HIGH SCHOOL MUSICALS, filmmaker Barry Blaustein (Beyond the Mat) captures the inherent drama of the high school theater scene by shadowing three different student productions in southern Indiana: Floyd Central High School's Zombie Prom, New Albany High School's Kaiulani: The Last Princess, and Jeffersonville High School's Starmites. The plot centers of which of the schools, if any, will win admission to the prestigious International Thespian Festival, an annual showcase of the nation's best high school theater fare.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Blaustein kicks off his homage to high school theater by talking briefly about his own theatrical experiences as a teen (an animated opening sequence that includes an unfortunate "blackface" gag and a joke about Nazis). But then he basically disappears for the rest of the movie, dropping in only with occasional voice-overs. Still, maybe that's best. After all, it's the students' stories that really make this film worth watching.

But that's also where Blaustein misses the mark. The downside to focusing on three different schools is that he has to split the movie's time between them, a structural problem that ultimately leaves the viewer unsatisfied. Would it have been better (and more revealing) to limit the action to just one of these schools as the students launched a production from start to finish? Maybe. But since, as a director, Blaustein triple-casted his lead, we'll never know.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether what they see in this documentary bears any resemblance to their local high schools' musical theater programs. Do you think these schools take their programs too seriously? Is competition good for everyone involved -- or only for those who "win"?

  • Is there a relationship between the quality of a school's productions and how much money it spends to put them on? Did it surprise you to learn that a high school could spend up to $200,000 to bring one show to the stage?

  • Did you think the film did a good job of capturing the reality of high school theater? Why or why not?

TV Details

  • Premiere date: August 27, 2009
  • Network: Showtime
  • Genre: Reality TV
  • TV rating: TV-14
  • Last updated: September 19, 2019

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended tv lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate