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| +++ View 'The Likes Of Us' cast list +++ |
The first musical that Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote together, over 40 years ago, is making theatre history as it is launched to the amateur market by the National Operatic and Dramatic Association in collaboration with The Really Useful Group prior to its professional release. Tread the Boards Youth Music Theatre has been given the honour of being the first theatre company in Scotland to present the show.
When The Likes of Us was performed for the first time at The Sydmonton Festival in 2005, it became immediately apparent that “the show truly is a lost gem”. So said David Robinson, head of licensing for the Really Useful Group (RUG) at the show’s launch on July 1st at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. He confirmed that RUG has agreed to release The Likes of Us to the UK amateur market exclusively for NODA members and that any professional production is unlikely to be introduced for some time to come.
The Likes of Us tells the story of the early life of Dr Thomas Barnardo, a man who has been described as classically Victorian, evangelical, entrepreneurial and philanthropic, and whose crusade to rescue children living in the streets of London’s East End became renowned throughout the world. The show provides enormous creative scope for amateur societies and groups, with memorable songs and a multitude of principal and chorus roles for both adults and children.
The format of The Likes of Us presents groups and societies with an opportunity to devise their own staging, costuming, choreography and set design. This will be both a creative challenge and an opportunity for societies to involve all of their members in bringing the show to the stage and portraying 19th century London. It will be both fascinating and surely rewarding to see the results.
It is the opportunity for creativity in the staging of this show that plays to one of the major strengths of the amateur sector. RUG hopes that amateur groups will embrace the opportunity to perform The Likes of Us in a variety of venues from theatres of all sizes to school halls and community performance spaces. RUG is also confident that The Likes of Us will give NODA members the chance to involve all age groups and particularly young people in the production. The Really Useful Group and NODA share the view that the involvement of young people in theatre projects is incredibly important in order to encourage both future performers and audience members.
Every attempt has been made to make The Likes of Us accessible to societies, albeit with an orchestration for 17 players. Performance rights are being licensed at 11 per cent of gross box office receipts and RUG will donate a portion of its own share of receipts to Barnardo’s until the end of 2010. There is also hope that NODA members who perform The Likes of Us may be inspired to work with their local branch of Barnardo’s to carry out further fund raising themselves. Barnardo’s regional offices are keen to work with NODA members to create awareness of productions.
Not only is this release innovative in terms of The Likes of Us coming to the amateur market before its professional release, but it also provides RUG and NODA with a number of new ways of working together, including centrally co-ordinated marketing, PR and merchandising.
The whole approach to the release of The Likes of Us is truly unique. The usual process, of course, is for a production to be released professionally and then eventually it reaches the amateur market. For the Really Useful Group to take this bold step gives credence to amateur theatre. It really is a case of professional and amateur theatre coming together and it is the sincere hope of NODA that this will establish a new way of working for years to come.
The Scottish premiere of The Likes of Us will be presented by Tread the Boards Youth Music Theatre at the Bonar Hall, Dundee, from June 2nd to 5th, 2009.
“In all honesty, I think the tunes stand up better than the words. Andrew’s tunes are pretty good. Some of the words were OK, but it was the first go I had ever had at it ~ the first time I had written for theatre. It stands up OK. I understand that the amateur circuit is always short of good stuff to do, so the more they have, the merrier. This one is interesting because there is an awful lot you can do with it. It will be an interesting task for schools and amateurs to see how they can make it work.” - Tim Rice
“I am absolutely thrilled that NODA is working with the Really Useful Group on The Likes of Us. It’s the first show that Tim Rice and I wrote together over 40 years ago. It never made the West End stage and received its world premiere just three years ago at the Sydmonton Festival where Tim himself played the Auctioneer. It contains a melody I wrote when I was 12 and a couple of tunes I have recycled in later shows, plus the first couplet Tim ever wrote to my music! ‘Here I have a lovely parrot sound in wind and limb, I can guarantee that there is nothing wrong with him’. This set him on a path where uniquely he now commands 75% of the author’s share of every project he undertakes.” - Andrew Lloyd Webber
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Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Likes of Us, the debut work from the world’s leading musical partnership, will receive its Scottish premiere next year, when it is presented by Tread the Boards Youth Music Theatre at the Bonar Hall, Dundee, from Tuesday, June 2nd, to Friday, June 5th, 2009.
MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP WEEKEND
Popular film, TV and stage actor Peter Polycarpou held a musical theatre workshop weekend with Tread the Boards Youth Music Theatre on Saturday, June 14th, and Sunday, June 15th, at Next Generation Club, Monifieth.
The London-based actor has appeared in many West End musicals, including Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the
Opera, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Oklahoma! and The Secret Garden. He recently appeared in the play Artefacts at the Brits Off-Broadway Festival, New York, having previously toured the UK with the production. He is about to begin rehearsals for a new musical, Imagine This, which opens in November at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane, recently vacated by the short-lived musical version of Gone With The Wind.
During the intensive two-day workshop, the Tread the Boards company explored the importance of preparing and researching a character, with an emphasis on the correct emotion and acting through song. Peter then introduced a presentation showcase, which was extremely well received by an enthusiastic audience of parents, relatives, friends and invited guests.
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