2009 - High School Musical Jr.
24 October 2009 – 7 November 2009
Director – Tracey Andrews
Musical Director – Kerry Priestley
Choreographer – Rosie Sims
Synopsis
It’s the first day after winter break at East High. The Jocks, Brainiacs, Thespians and Skater Dudes find their cliques, recount their vacations, and look forward to the new year. Basketball team captain and resident jock Troy discovers that the brainy Gabriella, a girl he met singing karaoke on his ski trip, has just enrolled at East High. They cause an upheaval when they decide to audition for the high school musical, led by Ms. Darbus. Although many students resent the threat posed to the “status quo”, Troy and Gabriella’s alliance might just open the door for others to shine as well.
2009 - Little Shop of Horrors
30 May 2009 – 13 June 2009
Director – Karl Buckley
Musical Director – Campbell Downie
Choreographer – Michael Sanders
Synopsis
A down-and out skid row floral assistant becomes an overnight sensation when he discovers an exotic plant with a mysterious craving for fresh blood. Soon ‘Audrey II’ grows into an ill-tempered, foul-mouthed, R&B-singing carnivore who offers him fame and fortune in exchange for feeding its growing appetite, finally revealing itself to be an alien creature poised for global domination!
One of the longest-running Off-Broadway shows of all time, this affectionate spoof of 1950s sci-fi movies has become a house-hold name, thanks to a highly successful film version and a score by the song-writing team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, who redefined the animated musical film with Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘Beauty And The Beast’ and ‘Aladdin’. Charming, tuneful and hilarious, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, ‘Little Shop Of Horrors’ never fails to entertain.
2008 - The Producers
31 May 2008 – 14 June 2008
Director – David Adkins
Musical Director – Kerry Priestley
Choreographer – Peter Farrelly
Synopsis
Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom, a scheming theatrical producer and his mousy Accountant, hit upon the perfect plan to embezzle a fortune: raise far more money than you need to produce a sure-fire Broadway flop and then (since no one will expect anything back), Max and Leo can pocket the difference! To do this, they need the ultimate bad show, which they find in the musical Springtime for Hitler, written by neo-Nazi playwright (and pigeon fancier) Franz Liebkind. Will they succeed? Another Mel Brooks Masterpiece of comedy, nonsense and music!
2008 - Nunsense
Nunsense is a hilarious spoof about the misadventures of five nuns trying to manage a fundraiser. Sadly, the rest of the sisterhood died from botulism after eating vichyssoise prepared by Sister Julia. Thus, the remaining nuns – ballet-loving Sister Leo, street-wise Sister Robert Anne, befuddled Sister Mary Amnesia, the Mother Superior Sister Regina, and mistress of the novices Sister Mary Hubert – stage a talent show in order to raise the money to bury their dearly departed.
2007 - The Red Chair
16 March 2007 – 31 March 2007
Director – Aaron Tindell
Musical Director – Terrence Penk
Choreographer – Amber McAlpine
Synopsis
Four characters – an older man, his cynical long-time lover, a younger guy sceptical about love and a younger woman with a troubled past – all share their stories candidly and emotively through song.
The songs feature everything from Edith Piaf to Boy George – form a musical montage of the many romantic and sometimes obsessive emotions one experiences when dealing with love. Every song transitions seamlessly to the next cultivating in a beautiful and colorful journey of music which tackle an array of things; unrequited love, lust, jealousy and even a nervous breakdown.
2007 - The Buddy Holly Story
3 November 2007 – 17 November 2007
Director – Karl Buckley
Musical Director – Catherine Carr
Choreographer – Bruce Abbott
Synopsis
This highly acclaimed and well known musical is a biography of Buddy Holly, from his struggling teenage days in Texas, where his brand of rock ‘n’ roll didn’t sit well with the country music lovers of the area, to his climb to national success, to his tragic death in a plane crash. The show ends with the last concert that he performed.
2007 - By Jeeves
8 June 2007 – 16 June 2007
Director – Adey Ramsel
Musical Director – Terrence Penk
Choreographer – Val Hemphill
Synopsis
By Jeeves adopts the village-hall show-within-a-show format. Bertie, having mislaid his banjo, rounds up the usual suspects and narrates an impromptu tale of thwarted love and mistaken identity under the direction of Jeeves.
In the show we have vintage Lloyd Webber in the delightful Stinker and his would-be fiancée Stiffy, vintage Ayckbourn with the ladder gag and a confusion of handshaking which is close to the essence of Wodehouse farce.
2006 - Disney's Beauty and the Beast
9 September 2006 – 23 September 2006
Director – Grant Meese
Musical Director – Adrian Hirst
Choreographer – Rhonda Daverne
Vocal Coach – Robyn Kennerley
Synopsis
Based on the smash hit 1991 Disney movie and dating back to a late 18th-century classic French fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast tells the story of Belle, a beautiful and intelligent young woman who feels out of place in her provincial French village. When her father is imprisoned in a mysterious castle, Belle’s attempt to rescue him leads to her capture by the Beast, a grisly and fearsome monster, who was long ago trapped in his gruesome form by an enchantress. The only way for the Beast to become human once again is if he learns to love and be loved in return. There is a time limit, too: once a magical rose loses all of its petals, all hope will be lost and he will stay a Beast forever. The Beast’s enchanted household–populated by such beloved characters as Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Chip–watch anxiously as Belle and the Beast grow to understand and befriend one another. Their feelings grow ever deeper as the clock ticks and petals continue to fall off the enchanted rose–will they confess their love for one another before it is too late?
2006 - Fame!
20 May 2006 – 3 June 2006
Director – Paula Thomas
Musical Director – Catherine Carr
Choreographer – Stephanie DeMay
Synopsis
Fame the Musical provides an open look at the New York City’s High School of Performing Arts, where sweat and hard work are the key factors to a successful life as a performer. The plot follows a group of students across the acting, dancing and music faculties from 1980-1984 as they learn to master their craft and grow up alongside each other, rising to the various challenges that face them.
2005 - Seussical The Musical
1 October 2005 – 15 October 2005
Director – Grant Meese
Musical Director – Andrew Christie
Choreographer – Val Hemphill
Synopsis
The Cat in the Hat tells the story of Horton, an elephant who discovers a speck of dust containing Whos, including Jojo, a Who child sent off to a butter battling military school for thinking too many “thinks.” Horton’s attention to the speck of dust and his “loitering” care of Mayzie LaBird’s egg has elicited taunting and accusations from the rest of the animal kingdom, except for Gertrude McFuzz, who longs for his attention, and JoJo, whose “thinks” save them all in the end.
2005 - Paris
The PumpHouse Takapuna
21 May 2005 – 4 June 2005
Director – John Antony
Musical Director – Kerry Priestley
Choreographer – Stephanie De May
Synopsis:
Act One – Paris is the youngest son of Priam, King of Troy. He goes on a voyage of discovery – Nothing’s Going to Stop me because I’m heading straight ahead – and is shipwrecked on the island of his enemy… Sparta a powerful Greek Province. He is washed up on the shore and there he meets and falls instantly in love with Helen of Troy. She is the wife of his enemy Menelaus, the king of Sparta (a powerful Greek province).
They escape and sail back to Troy. Menelaus is furious He has Just stabbed me right in the heart. Back in Troy the lovers get a luke warm reception Who the hell is she? Helen is permitted to stay but the Trojans are nervous. There’s bound to be a war.
Act Two – As feared a huge armada of Greeks are preparing to invade. No Turning Back. Is survival the only law? Paris and Helen reaffirm their love amid the looming bloodshed. I’ll love you for better or for worse. Ten years of war follows. The Greeks devise a plan. They’ll construct a giant horse and put soldiers inside. Two bumbling drunk soldiers are volunteered for this dangerous operation. We’re inside outside waiting to get inside-it’s a bloody big hack there’s room in the back so hop in for a ride.
The Trojans think move it inside. With this fatal mistake the war is lost. Menelaus can exact his revenge…
So many have died for the pride of a fool. Helen weeps for her slain lover. Sleep now my love, we’ll never part …Love has power.
2004 - My Fair Lady
28 October 2004 – 6 November 2004
Director – Grant Meese
Musical Director – Robyn Kennerley
Choreographer – Rosanne Howes
Synopsis
Acclaimed Professor and confirmed bachelor Henry Higgins makes a wager with his linguistic colleague Colonel Pickering that in six months he can pass off “gutter snipe” Eliza Doolittle as a duchess at an embassy ball. Through arduous training, day and night, Eliza learns how to speak English “properly,” and transforms into a lady respected and adored by all classes. Along the way she bewitches young Freddy Einsford-Hill into falling in love with her, and convinces a supposed linguistics expert that she is royalty. Through her transformation process, Eliza forges a deep connection with Colonel Pickering and most especially with Professor Higgins. However, she finds herself in a difficult position, now too refined to go back to her old life and not with any means or desire to live life as a lady of leisure – especially by herself. When Higgins completely fails to acknowledge Eliza’s role in her own transformation, she leaves his home. It is only then that Higgins realizes that he cares deeply for Eliza. The play ends with Eliza’s return to Higgins’ home, and the ending is left ambiguous, yet it is beloved for being both one of the cleverest and one of the most romantic plays of all time.
2004 - Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat
14 May 2004 – 28 May 2004
Director/Choreographer – Rhonda Daverne
Musical Director – Grant Meese
Synopsis
The biblical story of Joseph and his coat of many colors comes alive in the musical retelling. Joseph — the favorite son of Jacob — is blessed with vivid dreams that foretell the future. Sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, Joseph endures a series of adventures which challenge him to his core. Soon he finds himself belonging to Potiphar, whose wife makes advances toward Joseph and ultimately land him behind bars. However, news of Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams sparks the interest of the hilariously Elvis-like Pharaoh. Soon, Joseph is out of jail and well on his way to second-in-command. Eventually Joseph’s brothers find themselves unknowingly groveling at the feet of the brother they betrayed. As they fail to even recognise him, Joseph tests their integrity. He ultimately reveals himself and the brothers are reconciled. A truly timeless Old Testament tale.
2003 - Hot Mikado
A year before the action of this opera begins, Nanki-Poo, son of the Mikado of Japan, fled his father’s imperial court to escape marriage with Katisha, an elderly lady. Disguised as a traveling musician, he met and fell in love with Yum-Yum, the young ward of Ko-Ko, a cheap tailor in the town of Titipu. Yum-Yum, however, was already betrothed to her guardian, and Nanki-Poo left Titipu in despair.
2003 - Cinderella
Pumphouse, Takapuna
October 15th – November 8th, 2003
Director: Tracey Smith
Musical Director: Andrew Christie
Choreograher: Claire Overton
Synopsis
Originally presented as a television extravaganza, this famous fairy tale has been re-fashioned and set to music by two great masters of the musical. The characters are given greater depth plus a more human quality, and it is only through Cinderella’s innocent faith in a miracle that allows her wish to go to the ball to come
2002 - Blood Brothers
Pumphouse, Takapuna
May 11th – May 25th, 2002
Director: David Adkins
Musical Director: Simon Walter
Choreographer: David Adkins
Synopsis
Deserted by her husband, Mrs Johnstone already has five children and is expecting twins. She cleans house for childless Mrs Lyons who offers unofficially to adopt one of the babies. Mrs Johnstone reluctantly agrees; she knows that the child will be well brought up in a prosperous household. But, there is a prophesy that twins parted at birth will die when they discover the truth, and both mothers do their best to keep the twins, Mickey Johnstone and Edward Lyons, well separated.
The situation becomes harder for both women when Mickey and Edward meet while playing in the street and when an immediate bond is formed between the two. They become “blood brothers”. Distraught Mrs Lyons eventually moves to the country.
Soon after, Mrs Johnstone is rehoused nearby and the boys meet again when they meet and fall in love with the same girl, Linda.
But as Edward goes on to higher education, Mickey must take a boring job. After marrying Linda he loses his job. He turns to crime but gets caught and sent to jail. On his release he becomes dependent on tranquillisers. Linda turns to Edward, now a councillor, for help. Edward gets Mickey a job – and a house. Then Mrs Lyons tells Mickey that Edward is having an affair with Linda and Mickey goes after Edward armed with a gun. He finds him at a meeting but cannot shoot him – until Mrs Johnstone bursts in and tells them the truth.
2002 - Past and Present
North Shore Operatic Society’s Clubrooms
August 6th – August 10th, 2002
Director: Simon Williamson
Musical Director: Sherlie Dingwall
Choreographer: Samantha Glen
Synopsis:
Act One: Imagine standing on a railway station platform the early 1900’s in a small town. Imagine the sights the sounds and smell of steam and coal burning from locomotives of that era. Welcome to platform 1. You have just arrived in time to see what goes on in the lives of the station workers and a few regular customers during the ‘Quite Period’ when no one else is around.
Act Two: The small town in the 1900’s had now grown to a city and the station has grown as well. There’s more platforms and more going on than meets the eye. The people has become more distant due to the unemployment at the station. The happy-go-lucky feeling that was once there has n
ow gone, this has been replaced with a cold desperate under tone. Welcome to modern day life.
2002 - Aspects of Love
Pumphouse, Takapuna
October 26th – November 2nd, 2002
Director: Grant Meese
Musical Director: Kerry Priestly
Choreographer: Kathy O’Meara
Synopsis
Alex Dillingham, a young soldier, is smitten by Rose Vibart, a young actress whom he meets after her performance at a Montpelier theatre. Alex then invites Rose to spend some time with him at his wealthy uncle’s mansion in Pau. Uncle George is away but discovers Alex’s plans and decides to come to Pau to investigate things for himself. Upon his arrival at Pau, George is shocked to see that Rose is wearing a dress that used to belong to his late wife. Soon, George and Rose end up falling in love “ to the great dismay of Alex. Two years later, when Alex finds that Rose has moved in with George, he accidentally shoots Rose in the arm. Twelve years after this incident Alex, Rose and George reunite. However, once again trouble arises. This time, as a result of George and Rose’s young daughter Jenny falling in love with Alex. The two cousins end up in an ˜unnatural’ relationship which causes George to suffer a heart attack.
2001 - Shellshock
North Shore Operatic Society’s Clubrooms
June 12th – June 16th, 2001
New musical by Fleur Louise Ritchie
Director: Tracey Smith
Musical Director: Fleur Ritchie
Synopsis
What makes a hero? Is it he who fights the battle and returns? Is it he that lays his life on the line for his country, or his friend? Is it she that runs the household and endures five long years of watching the clock as she waits for news of his return? Is it those that worked in the infirmary saving the countless lives of the wounded? They are all heroes….
“Shellshock” tells the story of the highs and lows of World War II, portrayed through the eyes of 11 fictional characters who each experience the war in different ways. Shellshock takes the audience on a journey through joy, sorrow, elation and despair highlighting the personal triumphs and tragedies while reflecting on the ways that propaganda contributed to giving our soldiers false expectations of the adventure that they were to embark on. This musical is a tribute to both those who fought, and the unsung heroes that remained at home.
There has not been an event since this war that gripped the whole nation, and indeed the entire world in the way that WWII did, and in so many cases those that lived through it cannot bring themselves to speak about it. I hope that in some small way “Shellshock” can act as a voice for them.
Their souls shall ever heaven roam
Their names forever etched in stone
Their duty saw their bodies slain
Their Memory shall all time remain
…thank you for your bravery
2001 - Guys and Dolls
Pumphouse, Takapuna
November 3rd – November 17th, 2001
Director: Tina Howse
Musical Director: Robyn Kennerly
Choreographer: Tina Howse
Synopsis
Guys and Dolls is a musical romantic comedy involving the unlikeliest of Manhattan pairings: a high-rolling gambler and a puritanical missionary, a showgirl dreaming of the straight-and-narrow and a crap game manager who is anything but. Set in the Manhattan of Damon Runyon’s short stories, Guys and Dolls tells of con-man Nathan Detroit’s efforts to find new life for his illegal, but notorious, crap game. When their trusty venue is found out by the police, Nathan has to find a new home for his crap game quickly – but he doesn’t have the dough to secure the one location he finds. Enter Sky Masterson, a high-rolling gambler willing to take on any honest bet with a high enough reward attached. Nathan bets Sky that he can’t take the “doll” of Nathan’s choosing to Havana, Cuba with him on a date. When Sky agrees to the bet, Nathan chooses uptight Evangelist Sergeant Sarah Brown, head of Broadway’s Save-a-Soul Mission. Sky thinks he’s been duped, but he’s in for even more of a surprise when his efforts to woo Sarah are so successful that he falls in love with her himself! Guys and Dolls takes us from bustle of Times Square to the dance clubs of Havana to the sewers of New York City as it demonstrates the great lengths to which a guy will go when he truly falls in love with a “doll.” Guys and Dolls features some of Frank Loesser’s most memorable tunes, including the hilarious “Adelaide’s Lament,” the romantic “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” the exuberant “If I Were a Bell” and the classic “Luck be a Lady.”
2001 - Les Misérables
Bruce Mason Centre
April 25th – May 5th, 2001
Director: John Antony
Musical Director: Kerry Priestly
Choreographer: Kathy O’Meara
Synopsis
One of the world’s most iconic and longest-running musicals, Les Misérables tells the story of Jean Valjean, a former convict who spends a lifetime seeking redemption. Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France and the aftermath of the French Revolution, this timeless story of intertwined destinies reveals the power of compassion and the quiet evil of indifference to human suffering. As Valjean’s quest for a new life carries him into Paris and to the barricades of the Student Revolution, he is hunted by Inspector Javert and the ghosts of his past. Amidst a battle for the soul of Paris, he discovers the true meaning of love and salvation. Performed in over 40 countries and 22 languages, and with a lush, swelling score that features such famed songs as “I Dreamed a Dream,” “On My Own,” and “Bring Him Home,” Les Mis brings Victor Hugo’s revolutionary novel blazingly to life.
2000 - Return to the Forbidden Planet
Pumphouse, Takapuna
May 13th – May 27th, 2000
Director: David Adkins
Musical Director: Debbie Prince
Choreographer: Kathy O’Meara
Synopsis
On a stormy night way back in the winter of 2009, mad scientist Doctor Prospero worked late in his laboratory, aided only by his wife, Gloria, as he developed the elusive formula with which he would change the world. The apparently faithful Gloria, however, duped him and sent him off into hyper-space in an old spacecraft. Unknown to Gloria, her infant daughter, Miranda, slumbered peacefully in the craft and was now catapulted light years into the future in her father’s company. Fifteen years later, a routine survey flight under the command of the chisel-jawed Captain Tempest leaves earth’s orbit with a new Science Officer aboard – a hard and bitter woman. As a shower of meteorites hits the ship, the Science Officer flees, and the craft is pulled inexorably towards the plant D’Illyria – the Forbidden Plant. The adventure begins …….
2000 - Me and My Girl
Pumphouse, Takapuna
November 4th – November 18th, 2000
Director: Tina Howse
Musical Director: Beth Sharp
Choreographer: Tina Howse
Synopsis
Who turns out to be the long-lost heir to the Baronetcy of Hareford, its 17th Baron and 8th Viscount? Lambeth’s own Cockney sparrow, Bill Snibson, that’s who. He has his own girlfriend, Sally, but that won’t stop gold-digger Lady Jacqueline. She ditches her dumbfounded boyfriend, Gerald, when Mr Parchester, the family solicitor, presents Bill to the flabbergasted family as the new son and heir. But Bill has still to win the family’s approval to inherit the title – and the money. If he doesn’t, he’ll be given an annuity and sent away. The formidable Duchess is determined Bill should stay, insisting that all will be well and, with a little grooming, Bill will be suitable to inherit. There will be an official reception to introduce him to the county set. But Sally is not to be invited. Bill faces up to the Duchess – no Sally, no Bill. But Sally doesn’t want to come anyway – not to a posh party. The party goes ahead and Sally turns up in full Cockney get-up complete with a posse of pearly kings and queens who perform the ‘Lambeth Walk’ to prove Bill doesn’t belong. But they are all invited to the reception and go into dinner.
Next day there’s croquet on the lawn. In an effort to make him stay and take up his inheritance, the Duchess has persuaded Sally to tell Bill she no longer loves him. Sally does this, and slips out to an unknown destination. Bill, helped by Sir John and Parchester, is determined to find Sally (whom he still loves). He is urged on by a Ruddigore-like gallery of ghostly portraits of his ancestors.
Back at her landlady’s Sally decides to move on. She’s got a telegram from Bill and must escape. However, Sir John arrives and has a cunning plan for her. When Bill arrives, her landlady says she’s not there, but Bill waits. He expends all his energy on locating Sally and bringing her back. Sir John makes the Duchess soften her attitude towards Bill’s beloved. Bill finally rejects Lady Jacqueline and she returns to Gerald. Bill is making to leave when Sir John enters with a new Eliza Doolittle – it’s a posh Sally! The Duchess is delighted and Bill has his girl!