A somewhat late revision to the blog, but what the hey ...
In March of this year (2005) I got myself into a production of a musical version of "Treasure Island" which was put on at the Brisbane Arts Theatre on Petrie terrace. I'd been on the lookout for something musical to do, having not got into anything of the kind in Brisbane. Earlier in the year I'd auditioned for a G&S production without success (well, they'd offered me a role in the chorus, but that wasn't what I was after). There is an excellent web site called "Brisbane Auditions" where arts groups can post details of upcoming shows and the sorts of people that they are after; I'd been keeping an eye on it and found "Treasure Island" via that site.
This was the first time that I have had a proper role in a musical. I've done plenty of singing and once got a role in the chorus of a musical back when I was living in Canberra (1985 I think), and when Sylvia & I were first married I got roped into some of the plays that Classoc did at Sydney Uni, but this was the first time I've had a role that involved singing and acting and was more than just an incidental role.
The Brisbane Arts Theatre is a small theatre (seats about 150) not far from the city. The musical dates from the 1970s, and is a play with musical numbers. The script is drawn almost precisely from Stevenson's book, while the songs are sea shanties, or written for the play. From the details included in the script, there had been a long running production of Treasure Island done as a play which got adapted into a musical.
I had the role of Doctor Livesey, and so had a few important scenes and a couple of songs to sing, though no real solo pieces. One song, with the Squire & Jim, was about searching for treasure, another was a song of defiance (direcected at Long John Silver) in the second act sung with the Squire and the Captain, when we were waiting for the pirates to attack. That one in particular was fun, and the final verse:
always got a big round of applause. The pirates on the other hand had some of the more entertaining songs - in particular one in the second act where they sing about all the things you can do so long as you never get caught (which the full cast reprised later as a curtain call). Several people in the audience remarked that this one, a big song-and-dance number dropped into the middle of a serious moment in the plot, had a Monty Python-esqe quality.
The cast was mostly male of course - Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, Squire Trelawny, Doctor Livesey, Captain Smollett, the castaway Ben Gunn and an assortment of pirates. There were four women in the cast - they went from being wives in the opening scene at the Admiral Benbow Inn, to wenches in Spyglass Inn where we meet all the pirates, to being Ben Gunn's goats (in another slightly surreal song-and-dance number concerning cheese). One of them then put on a pirate outfit in the second act. We had a small cast given the requirements of the play, so that there was a lot of doubling up. Blind Pew & Ben Gunn were played by the same person, and most of the pirates had multiple minor roles, such that many people who died appeared back on stage wearing a different hat. We also noticed a few things about the story. For example, anyone served rum by Jim Hawkins died, as did all of Doctor Livesey's patients.
The rehearsals took a long time, and there was a lot of ground to cover - the songs, the words, the stage movement, as well as the fighting. We had to practice how to use swords (at least on stage) - which was rather fun; I've never had to wave a sword about before, or point muskets or pistols at people. One amusing incident during the rehearsal schedule was a photo shoot in the local park. Picture about twenty people dressed as pirates or similar carrying swords and pistols, calmly walking down the street. Given the current anti-terrorism laws we're probably lucky we didn't run into any police.
The rehearsal schedule had its ups and downs, and we had pretty severe problems with people not coming to practices, such that I was getting pretty worried about how it would come together. To make matters worse, our Captain Smollet gave up on the show about four weeks before opening, so that we had to get new person in. This was done, and done very well - the new fellow picked up the role very quickly (though differently to his predecessor), and proved to be a better singer than the man he replaced. I think it wasn't until about two weeks or so before opening that we actually had everyone in the cast at the same rehearsal. Thankfully once we got to that stage everyone kept coming, and it did all come together very well, such that we were putting on a good show from the opening night.
The set was organised quite cleverly. The deck of the Hispaniola was built upstage right and remained in place during the show, concealed behind flats when not in use. The different inns and parts of island were done using fold out flats. Some bits of the scenery (such as the stockade and parts of the island set) were carried on and off. The basic set was built two weeks before we opened, but kept getting elaborated on, painted and added as opening night approached, so that during the two weeks of technical rehearsal things kept changing. Fascinating to watch.
Of course, the show had bloopers. The goat costumes caused some problems - during the opening performance one of the goats kicked her foot off, and during a later performance one of the goat heads fell off in the middle of the dance. Ben Gunn picked up the fallen head and danced with it, which got a laugh. Another thing was that Ben Gunn's costume become more and more ragged as the season went on. It was touch and go as to whether he would even have a costume left by the end, but it did last the distance. Just. I liked the costume I had for Doctor Livesey - a nice eighteenth century gentleman's outfit. One thing was that I didn't need to wear a wig to look the part - instead I tied a ribbon round my ponytail. Only problem was that I sometimes forgot to take it off - one night I got half way home on my bicycle before I realised I still had the ribbon in my hair.
The casting was good. The people playing Silver, and Benn Gunn, and both the Jim Hawkinses were excellent - Ben Gunn pretty well stole the show in his scenes. We had two lads playing Jim turn and turn about. Hamish and Henry were both good, though one was noticeably better at singing and one better at acting (and I can't remember no which was which). The Squire was good, as were both the Captains - though the two captains interpreted the role rather differently. And I'm told on good authority that the chap who played Livesey didn't do too bad a job either.
The director & musical direct were a husband & wife team. I was particularly impressed with the musical director (Shane Daly) - he really knew his stuff. Their son (aged about 8) came to most rehearsals, and got to know the script quite well. There was one rehearsal where he stood in for one of the pirates (Israel Hands), and went through the fight between Israel hands and the other pirate (where the the two drunken pirates fight each other and Israel kills the other one), then the fight between Israel & Jim Hawkins (which ends in Israel's death). He had all the movements down pat, and it looked really odd seeing this little boy fighting a six foot plus pirate, then fighting with a Jim Hawkins who was bigger than he was.
The performance season was fairly long - four weeks, with Friday, two Saturday and a Sunday performance each weekend (along with a couple of extra Thursday ones tucked in). The Saturday matinee performances were generally well attended, and we had autograph signing sessions afterward. A couple of birthday parties came to the show. My family came to one of the matinees, and sat up in the gallery. Isaac enjoyed the show more than I expected - I had wondered if it would be above his head. Sylvia tells me that in the second act Isaac got a laugh. In second act is the scene where Jim Hawkins fought with Israel Hands the pirate, who gets shot and falls overboard. When this happened Isaac cried "got him!" in a loud voice. The size of the audience varied quite a lot. We had a very strong opening night, and some full houses close to the end of the run, but also many quite small houses - some where the cast outnumbered the audience. Being a longish run we got to get into quite a routine on stage and off (much more than was the case with the Joseph musical)
Being a show about pirates, it isn't too surprising that a pirate video was made of the performance by the husband of one of the ladies. I have a copy, but must confess that haven't actually watched it through yet. I'll have to do that sometime these holidays. I don't know how masochistic you're feeling, but I'd be happy to make a copy if you're interested. (This is partly the reason this is so long delayed - I thought I'd wait until I can comment about the DVD, then never got round to watching it).
Anyway, there it is.
In March of this year (2005) I got myself into a production of a musical version of "Treasure Island" which was put on at the Brisbane Arts Theatre on Petrie terrace. I'd been on the lookout for something musical to do, having not got into anything of the kind in Brisbane. Earlier in the year I'd auditioned for a G&S production without success (well, they'd offered me a role in the chorus, but that wasn't what I was after). There is an excellent web site called "Brisbane Auditions" where arts groups can post details of upcoming shows and the sorts of people that they are after; I'd been keeping an eye on it and found "Treasure Island" via that site.
This was the first time that I have had a proper role in a musical. I've done plenty of singing and once got a role in the chorus of a musical back when I was living in Canberra (1985 I think), and when Sylvia & I were first married I got roped into some of the plays that Classoc did at Sydney Uni, but this was the first time I've had a role that involved singing and acting and was more than just an incidental role.
The Brisbane Arts Theatre is a small theatre (seats about 150) not far from the city. The musical dates from the 1970s, and is a play with musical numbers. The script is drawn almost precisely from Stevenson's book, while the songs are sea shanties, or written for the play. From the details included in the script, there had been a long running production of Treasure Island done as a play which got adapted into a musical.
I had the role of Doctor Livesey, and so had a few important scenes and a couple of songs to sing, though no real solo pieces. One song, with the Squire & Jim, was about searching for treasure, another was a song of defiance (direcected at Long John Silver) in the second act sung with the Squire and the Captain, when we were waiting for the pirates to attack. That one in particular was fun, and the final verse:
So we'll fight you, sir
for country and for honour,
we'll fight you sir,
you'll have yourself to blame.
We'll defend this ground,
and if it comes to dying
we'll be proud to die
for England's glorious name!
for country and for honour,
we'll fight you sir,
you'll have yourself to blame.
We'll defend this ground,
and if it comes to dying
we'll be proud to die
for England's glorious name!
always got a big round of applause. The pirates on the other hand had some of the more entertaining songs - in particular one in the second act where they sing about all the things you can do so long as you never get caught (which the full cast reprised later as a curtain call). Several people in the audience remarked that this one, a big song-and-dance number dropped into the middle of a serious moment in the plot, had a Monty Python-esqe quality.
The cast was mostly male of course - Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, Squire Trelawny, Doctor Livesey, Captain Smollett, the castaway Ben Gunn and an assortment of pirates. There were four women in the cast - they went from being wives in the opening scene at the Admiral Benbow Inn, to wenches in Spyglass Inn where we meet all the pirates, to being Ben Gunn's goats (in another slightly surreal song-and-dance number concerning cheese). One of them then put on a pirate outfit in the second act. We had a small cast given the requirements of the play, so that there was a lot of doubling up. Blind Pew & Ben Gunn were played by the same person, and most of the pirates had multiple minor roles, such that many people who died appeared back on stage wearing a different hat. We also noticed a few things about the story. For example, anyone served rum by Jim Hawkins died, as did all of Doctor Livesey's patients.
The rehearsals took a long time, and there was a lot of ground to cover - the songs, the words, the stage movement, as well as the fighting. We had to practice how to use swords (at least on stage) - which was rather fun; I've never had to wave a sword about before, or point muskets or pistols at people. One amusing incident during the rehearsal schedule was a photo shoot in the local park. Picture about twenty people dressed as pirates or similar carrying swords and pistols, calmly walking down the street. Given the current anti-terrorism laws we're probably lucky we didn't run into any police.
The rehearsal schedule had its ups and downs, and we had pretty severe problems with people not coming to practices, such that I was getting pretty worried about how it would come together. To make matters worse, our Captain Smollet gave up on the show about four weeks before opening, so that we had to get new person in. This was done, and done very well - the new fellow picked up the role very quickly (though differently to his predecessor), and proved to be a better singer than the man he replaced. I think it wasn't until about two weeks or so before opening that we actually had everyone in the cast at the same rehearsal. Thankfully once we got to that stage everyone kept coming, and it did all come together very well, such that we were putting on a good show from the opening night.
The set was organised quite cleverly. The deck of the Hispaniola was built upstage right and remained in place during the show, concealed behind flats when not in use. The different inns and parts of island were done using fold out flats. Some bits of the scenery (such as the stockade and parts of the island set) were carried on and off. The basic set was built two weeks before we opened, but kept getting elaborated on, painted and added as opening night approached, so that during the two weeks of technical rehearsal things kept changing. Fascinating to watch.
Of course, the show had bloopers. The goat costumes caused some problems - during the opening performance one of the goats kicked her foot off, and during a later performance one of the goat heads fell off in the middle of the dance. Ben Gunn picked up the fallen head and danced with it, which got a laugh. Another thing was that Ben Gunn's costume become more and more ragged as the season went on. It was touch and go as to whether he would even have a costume left by the end, but it did last the distance. Just. I liked the costume I had for Doctor Livesey - a nice eighteenth century gentleman's outfit. One thing was that I didn't need to wear a wig to look the part - instead I tied a ribbon round my ponytail. Only problem was that I sometimes forgot to take it off - one night I got half way home on my bicycle before I realised I still had the ribbon in my hair.
The casting was good. The people playing Silver, and Benn Gunn, and both the Jim Hawkinses were excellent - Ben Gunn pretty well stole the show in his scenes. We had two lads playing Jim turn and turn about. Hamish and Henry were both good, though one was noticeably better at singing and one better at acting (and I can't remember no which was which). The Squire was good, as were both the Captains - though the two captains interpreted the role rather differently. And I'm told on good authority that the chap who played Livesey didn't do too bad a job either.
The director & musical direct were a husband & wife team. I was particularly impressed with the musical director (Shane Daly) - he really knew his stuff. Their son (aged about 8) came to most rehearsals, and got to know the script quite well. There was one rehearsal where he stood in for one of the pirates (Israel Hands), and went through the fight between Israel hands and the other pirate (where the the two drunken pirates fight each other and Israel kills the other one), then the fight between Israel & Jim Hawkins (which ends in Israel's death). He had all the movements down pat, and it looked really odd seeing this little boy fighting a six foot plus pirate, then fighting with a Jim Hawkins who was bigger than he was.
The performance season was fairly long - four weeks, with Friday, two Saturday and a Sunday performance each weekend (along with a couple of extra Thursday ones tucked in). The Saturday matinee performances were generally well attended, and we had autograph signing sessions afterward. A couple of birthday parties came to the show. My family came to one of the matinees, and sat up in the gallery. Isaac enjoyed the show more than I expected - I had wondered if it would be above his head. Sylvia tells me that in the second act Isaac got a laugh. In second act is the scene where Jim Hawkins fought with Israel Hands the pirate, who gets shot and falls overboard. When this happened Isaac cried "got him!" in a loud voice. The size of the audience varied quite a lot. We had a very strong opening night, and some full houses close to the end of the run, but also many quite small houses - some where the cast outnumbered the audience. Being a longish run we got to get into quite a routine on stage and off (much more than was the case with the Joseph musical)
Being a show about pirates, it isn't too surprising that a pirate video was made of the performance by the husband of one of the ladies. I have a copy, but must confess that haven't actually watched it through yet. I'll have to do that sometime these holidays. I don't know how masochistic you're feeling, but I'd be happy to make a copy if you're interested. (This is partly the reason this is so long delayed - I thought I'd wait until I can comment about the DVD, then never got round to watching it).
Anyway, there it is.
posted by Barry Haworth at 11:18 PM
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