Welcome to PLOS s production of Aladdin!

Transcription

1 Welcome to PLOS s production of Aladdin! The Creative Team: Writer and Director: Musical Director: Choreographers: Leoncio Hernandez Leoncio_Hernandez@gmail.com Adam Blosse adamblosse@me.com Emily Bowers & Kim Schenkelaars emilybowers1@hotmail.co.uk kimschenkelaars@hotmail.co.uk / Producer: Kimberley MacFarlane kim.macfs@gmail.com

2 Rehearsal Venues: Ackroydon Hall, Southfields, SW9 6QL Putney Methodist Church, SW15 6SN PLOS also has a wonderfully supportive committee who ll either be in the show or dropping in frequently to help out. Plot Summary Aren t you lucky! The all powerful and cosmically eternal Narrator has invited you to snoop in real time on the moment exactly two thousand years ago (every evening for a week and twice on Saturdays) when Aladdin first fell in love with Princess YasmineTM. But what is he supposed to do? He s not even allowed to look at her without the Sultan s personal prior permission to peruse. And he s poor. Just like his washerwoman mother and useless teenage brother. Frankly, he ll probably end up stuck in a cave dancing with mice, a millionaire because of a magical oil lamp, a Prince at the court of Islamibadibad, stuck at the North Pole before a rousing chorus number gives him the courage to storm the palace one last time to rescue his True Love. And fail. But hooray for The Narrator! There s no point being an all powerful cosmic entity if you can t step in and alter the fabric of the universe to let the path of True Love run smoothly five times in one week. So he does, defeating the evil magician Abanazar and leaving most of the cast (Genie Lamp, Genie Ring, Mischief Police, Twankee, Littlebottom, Wishee Washee, Sultan, Maids) to hook up with each other in time for a glorious wedding finale. The script was originally written for the University of Warwick Gilbert and Sullivan Society in 1996 and was reworked for the Pheonix Players, Dulwich in Here it has been lovingly reworked again for PLOS, taking on their traditions with added twists and turns. Rammed full of dance, singing, slapstick, including music from Miss Saigon, Les Miserable, The Lion King, Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, The King and I, Sweet Charity, Taylor Swift, Dizzee Rascal, Mark Ronson and more, Aladdin is face paced, hectic and, just now and then, amusing.

3 The Admin Bit Pre-audition meet up and auditions: These will all be at Ackroydon Hall (address above). Monday 28th Sep, 7.30pm: the Pre-audition meet up. We ll tell you more about show and teach the audition dances. Sunday 4th October 2-6pm: Main auditions. We ll see you dance if you re going for ensemble and see you act and hear you sing if you re going for any of the named parts. This is also when the dance audition for featured dancers will be held. Monday 5th October 7.30pm: Recall auditions. This is when we ll fine tune our choices for the lead parts and see them act in pairs. I f you re off book for the character auditions it ll help, although we understand it s a big ask for some of the monologues and having the text to hand is fine. Do be sure to have sense of the text before you walk in. We re interested in dancers of all disciplines - including tap - so please do shout if you have any specialist dance skills. I f because of prior commitments you can t make these audition dates, let us know and we ll do our best to find an alternative time for you. Make sure that you fill out your audition form with relevant absences during the rehearsal period so we can plan accordingly. Rehearsal and show dates: Every Monday and Thursday from Thursday 8th October through Thursday 10th December from 7.30pm-10pm Sundays from Sunday 15th November through Sunday 6th December (4) from 2-6pm Get in and Tech all day Sunday 13th December. This is a requirement for all cast Dress rehearsal Monday 14th December Show week Wednesday 16th December to Saturday 19th December (including Friday and Saturday matinee)

4 NOTE: you won t all be needed for every rehearsal. The weighting will change as time progresses with early rehearsals heavy in music and dance, and we will be sure to tell you in advance when you are needed. Publicity: We ask all of our cast to help as much as they can to sell the show. It is your show after all! We have a flyer drop that happens on a Sunday before rehearsal in the run up to the show, as well as various bits and pieces where we will ask you to help out. Membership and show fees: Membership: If you re not already a PLOS member, there s a 10 audition fee which will be be deducted from your membership fee if you end up joining the show. PLOS Membership is 30 ( 20 concession or standing order) covering a year from when you join. We ask that auditions fees are paid on the day of audition (bring a tenner!) and that membership is paid up by the first rehearsal. Show fees: Show fees go into the production pot to help produce a show with professional quality sound, lighting, set and costumes. Your show fee covers the rehearsal period and helps us to make the best show we can.the show fee is 95 (Concession 65). We ask that all show fees are paid by Thursday 20th November. Please chat with Kim (Producer) or someone on the committee if you need to discuss a personal payment plan - we can be flexible according to personal circumstances. PLOS Aladdin Character Matrix Lines Solo song Duet or quartet Sung solo lines Ensemble singing Ensemble acting Ensemble dancing The Narrator Medium Yes No Yes No No No Twankee Heavy No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Abanazar Heavy Yes No Yes No No No Aladdin Heavy Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes YasmineTM Medium No Yes Yes No No No Wishee Washee Medium Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Sultan Medium No Yes Yes No No No Genie Lamp Medium No Yes Yes No No No Genie Ring Medium No No Yes No No No

5 Cousin Littlebottom Some No No Yes No No No Mischief Police Medium No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Maids Some No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Ensemble Some No No No Yes Yes Yes Featured Dancers None No No No Yes Yes Yes A Colourful Cast of Characters The Narrator Widow Twankee Charismatic, with a rich speaking voice. Sings the opening number, is permanently on stage, nudges the plot along with interlude narratives and brings the plot to it s climax in the final fight scene. Kapow! The dame you would expect. Insecure, gobby, flighty, energetic. The heart of the core panto narrative, chats to the audience a lot, embarrasses her son and gets married at the end. Whoop! Leads the song sheet song and has solo lines in two other songs. Abanazar. A pure, dark, Disney villain. All growls and sarcasm. The lynchpin of the plot, he is a master of disguise, and accents. Perfect comic timing, he has a ferocious song at the beginning of Act 2. Strong stage presence and an air of eternal wisdom. Aladdin FE Charming, sincere, playful boy. Expressive with a strong singing voice. Makes friends with the audience. Grows stronger and stronger as the plot moves on and eventually dashes to rescue his true love, Princess YasmineTM. Princess YasmineTM FE An earnest, innocent, one dimensional princess who has just turned 18. Sugar and spice and all things nice. She s the subject of the first chunk of the plot and then has to be rescued at the end.

6 Wishee Washee Ah, poor Wishee Washee! The put upon teenager. He s rubbish at everything, usually gets ignored, gets hit for no reasons but has a heart of gold. Loveable, cute, with ambition to get out of the ghettos of Islambadibad through the medium of song and improvised dance. Has a solo song which may be mimed. The Sultan Half Stephen Fry half Hugh Laurie (the Hugh Laurie from Blackadder, not the one from House), The Sultan is a bumbling caricature of a possessive father and an incompetent leader who is trying to stay in control. Ends up shacking up with Twankee, A comic speaking part with a few solo sung lines. Genie Lamp Muscular (or so it would seem), dead pan, later on is the straight man to Littlebottom s over the top antics. Sings the quartet at the end of the first half. Genie Ring FE Lovable and a not particularly good at her job. Scatterbrained, not all that powerful, but eager to help and ends up as Aladdin s right hand woman. Mistress Little Bottom Chief ofthe Mischief Police or FE A screaming attention seeking queen. A cousin to Twankee who conveniently comes out of the woodwork once Twankee gets rich. More over the top than Twankee. Louder. Could be played either by a man in drag, or would work equally well played by a flamboyant woman; a counterpoint to the man in drag that is Twankee. A comedy cameo. Think of the useless policemen in The Pirates of Penzance, but on speed. Runs around generally getting in the way, the heart of the slapstick part of the show. Has a song in the second half.

7 Vice chiefof the Mischief Police Sidekick to her superior officer. Although probably a little cleverer than him. Again, the heart of the slapstick part of the show. Has a song in the second half. FE The Princess s Maids FE 4 6 females, ideally dancers who are YasmineTM s entourage. Will most likely double as featured dancers elsewhere in the show. Have a song with the Princess in the second half and some lines. Featured Dancers Featured dancers will probably double up either as Princess s Maids, or as ensemble. Used for dance breaks in some numbers, specialist dance numbers (The Opening to the Second Half Multidiscipline Ballet, for example) and more. The Ensemble The heartbeat of any decent panto, from villagers to fake women, to guards, policemen, pink mice, courtiers, magically appearing backing dancers probably penguins and one human footstool the ensemble hold the show together across multiple songs and in multiple scenes.