CLARA
- by
Brian Langtry and Steve Andrews
A
musical play for 6 men and 4 women ( some possible interchange available
in
dancing and chorus arrangements).
The running time is 2 hours.
Teenager Danny is a playstation afficionado. One evening he is drawn
through the screen of his PC to enter the virtual world of his heroine
Clara and her peaceful people "The Packs". The welcoming
celebrations turn to anguish as Clara is captured by the ferocious
Cybernets and imprisoned by Queen Virella the ruler of Cyber City.
Danny sets off to rescue her accompanied by a reluctant and nervous
group of "Packs". Ultimately the rescue is accomplished
and, after several perillous encounters, Clara, Danny and his accomplicies
return to their joyful home.
Will Danny stay in the digital world of his heroine or return to
his "real" world? Did all this happen or was it just a
dream?
Clara is a fast moving musical with elements of drama,
dance, comedy and pantomine, perhaps best described as "Wizard
Of Oz" meets "Grease". The music is modern and the
work offers enormous scope for characterisation, sets and a great
night for audiences from 5 to 95.
A
big production for companies thinking big and a clear alternative
to the seasonal pantomine
CLARA is now published by Jasper
Publications for all details go to
www.JasperPublishing.com
or
telephone 01604 497703
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Scenes
from recent |
productions
of Clara |
Mack's
Place by Brian Langtry
Mack`s
Place is a cafe now bypassed by a new road
and is slowly dying on its feet. The cafe landlord,
Mr.Grabber, has eyes on the property with a lucrative new out of
town shopping centre development in mind.
Mack`s
daughter, Suzie, her lover Jimmie and her friends come up with the
idea of attracting a new young clientele and hosting weekly music
sessions. To start the ball rolling they form their own band.
A stranger, Nomad, arrives. He is enigmatic, distant and appearas
to have dark and mysterious powers. He appears to be able to predict
and, more worryingly, amend the future. He sees a way to help the
Cafe survive and prosper but, inevitably, there is a price. The
payback is that Suzie must leave family and friends and journey
with Nomad to unknown places.
Who is Nomad and where has he come from? Where is he intent on taking
Suzie and will she go? What of her love for Jimmie?
Ultimately the regular performances are a triumph and Mack`s Place
is renamed 'Cafe Rock' as new faces flock to the latest 'hot spot'.
Mack's
Place is a musical play set in the 1950's for 5 people , 3 male
and 2 female with opportunities for extra cast in dance scenes.
The work lasts for 1 hour 45 minutes. There is great scope for innovative
staging and effects. Appropriate songs are suggested but they can
be substituted.
Mack's
Place can also be performed as a comedy
Romeo
and Juliet- The Musical by Brian Langtry
A
new musical version of the original love story using an edited version
of the original Shakespearean text.
16 new and original songs including segments where the original
dialogue is incorporated into the music. The work uses varied musical
styles across ballad, rock, blues and showtime culminating in a
gospel inspired finale. The music is supplied on professionally
produced CD backing tracks. There are 14 principal parts with unlimited
opportunities for choral, dance and crowd scenes. The running time
is a 2 hours; two one hour segments.
The show, where Romeo is a DJ and Juliet a ballet dancer, incorporates
all those timeless Shakespearean qualities and layers them across
a different modern and exciting setting losing none of the essence
or power of the original.
Romeo and Juliet is especially suited to youth and college settings
but equally at home within an operatic or musical drama environment.
A
Cupful of Sugar
by Brian Langtry
"A
Cupful of Sugar"
is
a new play written for performance by amateur and professional groups
alike. This is a love story, deceptively simple in some ways whilst
touching many of the feelings, thoughts and dilemmas, hopes and
fears of a 1950's Midlands environment.
Two families, neighbours and friends, share their upbringing and
are delighted when their respective children, Susan and David, announce
their love and intent to marry. This news however stirs in the two
mother's deep rooted anxieties from the past. In David's mothers
case it is the long overdue need to tell him that he was in fact
an adopted child whilst Susan's mother, Mary, relives the shame
and trauma of a teenage pregnancy and the removal at birth of her
baby, lost so she believed for all time.
Is
there a connection, is there a solution? The drama builds towards
what could be a potentially unthinkable outcome.
The play is set in an industrial town in the West Midlands during
the late 1950's. The primary story line is entwined with several
subplots which explore the emotions, characteristics, attitudes
and regrets of the players involved.
The music, accompanying the drama, is diverse and sympathetically
layered onto the story line in the styles and rhythms of the mid
1950's. It is immediately accessible and at the same time lyrically
mature providing a musical backcloth to the changing emotions experienced
by the players and audience.
8 principal characters are involved and all but 2 of those have
a least one singing part. There are 8 major characters ( 4 women
and 4 men ) and 3 supporting characters ( 1 woman and 2 men ).
Complete backing tracks are provided on the format of tape, mini-disc
or CD.
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"A
Cupful of Sugar" |
-
a recent performance |
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