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Original score, lyrics and libretto by Stephen Kingsbury.
It isn't always easy to find a suitable musical production for older primary
and secondary age children. However, with this wonderful, lively romp through Robert
Louis Stevenson's classic tale, talented young composer, Stephen Kingsbury has
used all his experience as a secondary school teacher to come up with a really
successful musical to be performed by young people.
The production opens with a really lively chorus number and this sets the
precedent for the whole play. It is full of bright, sparky songs for chorus as
well as more atmospheric, challenging pieces for more experienced singers.
The cast list also is very cleverly devised to give opportunities for the whole
range of ages and abilities: the chorus could easily be as large or as small as
your school's needs; a couple of smaller chorus groupings such as the ghost
pirates and Ben Gunn's bevy of beauties are nicely worked to enable your better
chorus members greater scope to shine; there are several really meaty cameo
roles for character actors to get their teeth into; and, of course, a couple of
decent sized lead roles. Very pleasing also for an in-school director is that
most, if not all roles could be played equally well by boys or girls. In the
production I saw, the role of Jim Hawkins was played extremely well by a girl,
and certainly girls make excellent pirates!
The libretto is amusing and carefully scripted to give nice speaking parts to
as many as want them.
Costuming a school production can be a costly and time consuming business but
for this musical it all seems beautifully straightforward; large numbers of
pirates in striped tops and headscarves, jaunty cut-off jeans and few peg-legs
thrown in for good measure. The scenery and set are a delight from this point
of view, too. The reviewer saw a couple of brightly painted backdrops and
minimal setting and props. but with sufficient resources you could just as well
go all out for replica ships and real sand!
I can't complete this review without making note of a couple of my favourite
songs. Kingsbury has managed to marry together an eclectic group of musical
styles rather reminiscent of Lloyd Webber and Rice's Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolour Dreamcoat. The pirate's fantastically greedy "We're Gonna be
Rich!" is an unashamedly toe-tapping number - the kind you could be
humming for days. Black Dog's "I Wanna Go Home" had the audience
giggling audibly and the quite wonderful "Cheese Song" sung by Ben
Gunn and his gorgeous female entourage is pure Noel Coward and was, for me, the
highlight of the show. The spookily haunting song of the ghost pirates changed
the tone very effectively and the production ends, as of course it should, with
a fabulous feel-good, roof- raising chorus number.
As the applause rang out in the packed hall the reviewer witnessed smiles all
round, both from cast and audience, the age range of the latter being between
18 months and eighty!
All in all, this is a thoroughly satisfying musical, which captures the
imagination from start to finish with a wonderful mix of song styles and witty
dialogue. As a drama teacher, the real beauty of this new work lies in its
flexibility and accessibility; it is capable of encompassing the whole spectrum
of talent in a school and is generous in its role allocation.
E Sherman
Drama Teacher,