MOBY IDICK Book by Robert Longden Music amp Original Arrangements by Hereward Kaye and Robert Longden

Additional Lyrics by Hereward Kaye Musical Arrangements by Martin Koch

James George discus~ hi s production for HumDrum AmDram at the New Theatre Royal Portsmouth

BACKG~OUND HumDrum AmDram was formed

in 1992 with three main aims to

improve the performance skills of its memhers to portray well-known pieces in a new light and to bring und er-pcrJormed works into Port smouth City

MORY DICK was fir st pieced together in 1983 and was little more than the finale song Save the Whale Ovcr the next six years the show - in various fonns - was perforJl1ed several timcs until it was taken Oil hy Cameron Mack intosh Ltd in 1991 and performed at the Old Fire Station Oxford In 1992 it finally played the West End to wildly enthwiastic audiences and pure vitriol from the critics

The show follows Herman Melvilles hero Ishmael Illd his cannibal friend Queequeg as they join Captain Ahabs doomed fi[wl whaling voyage It could he argued that a musical version of one of Americas greatest novel would be in poor taste shyto set Moby Dick to music heavily influe nced by 80s pop is perhaps unforgivable - until the blame is placed squarely on the shouldc~ of an unruly and financially emharrassed all-girl s sc hool St Godleys Academy for Young Ladies

Thi s simple device provides flexibility in the staging The Pcquod necd not be a realistic whaler Ahah can take his leg off for a rest hi s estranged wife Esta can legitimately rop up for a song now and tbcn even though she is very dead I

So we have a Headmistress a

couple of teachers eighteen scboo lgirls and the janitor in THEIR interpretation of Melvilles class ic and if th ey choose to play angels and ghosts and fish and sai lors and the rcarshyend of a wbale - then so be it

Because this play within a play i stlged by schoolgirls all of the main characters arc righLly played hy women and as in pantomime the principal boy is female role The Headmi stress is played a la pantomi rn Dame - until she hecomes Captain Ahab ~ Approximately hall thc cast have to

comc to terms with play ing the opposite sex pJaying the opposite ex I

HumDrum docs not cast via audition Mcmbership has always bcen throu gh referral and casting tluou gh invitation New members arc generally encouraged to meet the existing cust and crew beforehand and are usually asked to work backstage during a production heforc being cast In this way they arc introduced to our resident di rectors and choreographer and can discuss their aspirations and previous ex perience

Before a show goes into rehearsal the art istic team will discuss their cas ting requirements and make pre liminary deci siuns Sometimes a si ngle three-hour workshop is used to cove r va rious aspects of stagecraft with the entire cast before the casting is finali sed and the rchearsal process com mences As a group we are de term ined to work as an ensemble shycast list s are presented alphabetically (and not in order ofimportancel) and everyone is expected to help in the clearing of the venue once the run is over

HumDrum ha s used the Ncw

Theatre Royal for fi ve musical

presentations Built on the site of

Portsmouths Theatre Royal in IX84

th e New Theatre Royal was

extens ively renovated in 1900 Finally

c losing in 1966 the building remained

empty and was destroyed by fire in

1972 - with only the auditorium saved

Purchased by the New Theatre Royal

Trust in 1980 the building IS

undergoing slow renovation What is offered to the hire r is a

temporary thrust built in front of the

proscenium arch in the stalls It has no

t1ies no li ghting bars no wings no pit

no traps and no rca r access All

entrances and exits must be via the old

public ex it s at the rront of the stalls

and the enst can almost touch the front row of the Ore s C ircle It is a

ni ghtmare - but a challenge I

MUSl~

A young theatre company cannot

afford a largc professional stage-band

HumDrum has taken a stand with

theatrical licenso rs over the use of preshy

arranged music presented through an

electronic mu sie workstat io n It should

be noted that any form of duplication

or storage of a theatrica l score (without

pennission) is a breach of copy ri ght

agreement although now abou t half or

the UKs licensors will cons ider thi s

style of presentation

When approached Camerol

Mackintosh Ltd requested a demo tape

of two numbers from the sho w These

were prepared and permission then

granted The sequences - stored on

floppy disk - are performed o n a Korg

oIWfd workstation used with 3

Roland MS-l for sampled soun d

effects

SEPTEMBER16

A common audience observation It s ~ ucb a shamc that you didn t ave real music There were 79

minutes and II seconds of musical gtltquences in MORY DICK Every lIote was played by a talented pianist llld the entire scoring took over fi t

months The music is real - just different

We believe that w e have found the opti mulll so lution Im our Illusic al needs Ve arc ablc to rehearse and pe rform with thc same music w hi ch is of great bcnefit The cast aTe able to request alterations tn the scorc and hnow that Lhey can re ly on the music I (Jock

How is a fast-moving musical with 22 peop le and 98 costumes achicved in an oddly -haped 3(J x I T space

We built a ra i ~ed wal kway from one of the stagc- leC boxes which ran the full width of the stage giving two performance leve ls A cent ra l staircase gave ~ tagc access from the walk way and comhined with the two reg ul ar entrances stagc left and ri g ht we employed two sets of stcps at the front of the thrust to pro vide five entrances in all

Gi ven the r~ s tricti()n s of the theat re the di rec tors chose to concentrate on tbe staging of the piece ami not the stage itse lf The acti on now frce ly from St Godley to Nantucket to Ahabs house and back and finall y aboard Thc Pequod

shyREHEARSALS

MO BY DICK is scored for three vocal groups (each split into two for several songs) which accompany the so lnists The show was broken down hy musical number and the voca ls and choreograph y eomhined over adjacent re hea rsa ls

Once the company was able tn run each number independentl y the director readied all the linking d ia logue Ap proxim ate ly half-way Ihrough the rehearsal period the company was be ing put through at lea t one full run per week and appropr iate re-wo rking and llod ification as required

Sudde nl y with little over a month [I) go the eaSL started to rea li se that hey each had at least three cos tumc

IWII e$ in under 30 scconus that they ere hardl y ever ofl stage and if they ere they ~ till had to pro vidc hacking ca ls from the li mit ed o rf- stage areas

Th o nl y rea l pro hlem was

1I1vllcing the cast thaI they would not JJ horribl y if the stepped out o f a

t atre box o nto a two -foo t wide tform buill two days befo re we

ned with onl y one handrail and a -(on t drop on the other sicle in a

cko ul

SEPTEMBER

hei ng devoured b Mo by Dick - piece of theatre lhat any member of in vo lve c ighte n white umbre ll as a HumDrum has ever been in volved in COSllJME couple of torches a huge white tai l and This was the e ighth perfo rmance a some vcry cosmetic lighting of the work in the UK si ncc the

HumDrum uses a loca l cos tumier Piccad illy production [t was fas t andto des ign and make a ll its cos tumes funn y and hard work and rewarding They reta in the costu mes after the and difficult an d very very sad when it performance - we are charged onl y fo r SOUND was all overthe materi als - and the cost compares

Licence enquiri es are handled by favourably with standard costume hire The New Theatre Royal was as Jennifer Till at Cameron Mack intosh The results are a lway~ within hudget ncar to acousti call y perfec t as one Ltd arti stically negoti ated to fil with set could wish - until the stage was burned

and lighting and made-tn- measure down HumDmrn ArnDram can be

With few excepti ons each cas tshy The performance space is situated contac tcd at

member had a gymslip a Nanlucket in what was the stall s an area which httph yperchat co ukulh u m dm m

costume and a sailor out fit Spec ial was des igned to dampen any noise additions for those who nccdcu them from the publ ic Conseque ntl y if a included ta il coa ts ca middotoe ks loinshy performer whi spers at the back of the Ll oths angel robes and fish ponchos() prese nt stage (the front of the original

It was imperati ve th at the stage) he can he heard clcarl y in the ward robe direc tor was we ll acqua inLed Gods Shout at the fro nt of the stage shywith the continuity of each perfo rmcr nO-O J1 C Can hear you

clothe and that the eight dresse rs werc It is simply that the performer well briefed and dril led So me o f the must battlc the architecture of the changes tQok place on stage in build ing - and in a few areas blackout res ul ti ng in heaps of (partic ul arl y thc front o f the Dress discardcd clot hes sitti ng on stage in a C irc le ) the uuuicnce did indeed have ve ry Bnx hti an manner at the end of di ffic ult y heari ng so lo voenls each ~ct HumDrum is in the process of

pu rc hasi ng ncw am plifica ti on equipme nt to attemp t to combat th is problcmUGHTlNG

The li ghting team were given a script a plan o f the stage forced to SUMMAR~ v tch a rcheu[al and then told to haw a~ much fun as possi bk They told us 1-lull1[)rulll exce llentl y staged the li ghting would be w ry bolu prociue ti on is lovely and grcat fun

G i ve n the res triction s of the (T he News) theatre the show was lit from the plent y o r en rg y from a ll Upper Circle the top o f the invo lvcu (S plash Magaz ine) prosce nium arch (ie frol11 above at the And the aucii enee loved it - which back) and from the sides Smoke is probably the mOs t important factor break-up gobos and rotators were used It ~ houlu be noted tbat the li censors to add deplh and contrast The fro nt of attcnucu the second performance and the raised stag ing including the central despitc thc puhl ics reaction were a steps was gauzed and backlit for parts littlc cold of the show As ror the cast and crew MOBY

The cl imax of the show - Abab [)JC K~ was by far the most exhausting

17

A common audience observation It s ~ ucb a shamc that you didn t ave real music There were 79

minutes and II seconds of musical gtltquences in MORY DICK Every lIote was played by a talented pianist llld the entire scoring took over fi t

months The music is real - just different

We believe that w e have found the opti mulll so lution Im our Illusic al needs Ve arc ablc to rehearse and pe rform with thc same music w hi ch is of great bcnefit The cast aTe able to request alterations tn the scorc and hnow that Lhey can re ly on the music I (Jock

How is a fast-moving musical with 22 peop le and 98 costumes achicved in an oddly -haped 3(J x I T space

We built a ra i ~ed wal kway from one of the stagc- leC boxes which ran the full width of the stage giving two performance leve ls A cent ra l staircase gave ~ tagc access from the walk way and comhined with the two reg ul ar entrances stagc left and ri g ht we employed two sets of stcps at the front of the thrust to pro vide five entrances in all

Gi ven the r~ s tricti()n s of the theat re the di rec tors chose to concentrate on tbe staging of the piece ami not the stage itse lf The acti on now frce ly from St Godley to Nantucket to Ahabs house and back and finall y aboard Thc Pequod

shyREHEARSALS

MO BY DICK is scored for three vocal groups (each split into two for several songs) which accompany the so lnists The show was broken down hy musical number and the voca ls and choreograph y eomhined over adjacent re hea rsa ls

Once the company was able tn run each number independentl y the director readied all the linking d ia logue Ap proxim ate ly half-way Ihrough the rehearsal period the company was be ing put through at lea t one full run per week and appropr iate re-wo rking and llod ification as required

Sudde nl y with little over a month [I) go the eaSL started to rea li se that hey each had at least three cos tumc

IWII e$ in under 30 scconus that they ere hardl y ever ofl stage and if they ere they ~ till had to pro vidc hacking ca ls from the li mit ed o rf- stage areas

Th o nl y rea l pro hlem was

1I1vllcing the cast thaI they would not JJ horribl y if the stepped out o f a

t atre box o nto a two -foo t wide tform buill two days befo re we

ned with onl y one handrail and a -(on t drop on the other sicle in a

cko ul

SEPTEMBER

hei ng devoured b Mo by Dick - piece of theatre lhat any member of in vo lve c ighte n white umbre ll as a HumDrum has ever been in volved in COSllJME couple of torches a huge white tai l and This was the e ighth perfo rmance a some vcry cosmetic lighting of the work in the UK si ncc the

HumDrum uses a loca l cos tumier Piccad illy production [t was fas t andto des ign and make a ll its cos tumes funn y and hard work and rewarding They reta in the costu mes after the and difficult an d very very sad when it performance - we are charged onl y fo r SOUND was all overthe materi als - and the cost compares

Licence enquiri es are handled by favourably with standard costume hire The New Theatre Royal was as Jennifer Till at Cameron Mack intosh The results are a lway~ within hudget ncar to acousti call y perfec t as one Ltd arti stically negoti ated to fil with set could wish - until the stage was burned

and lighting and made-tn- measure down HumDmrn ArnDram can be

With few excepti ons each cas tshy The performance space is situated contac tcd at

member had a gymslip a Nanlucket in what was the stall s an area which httph yperchat co ukulh u m dm m

costume and a sailor out fit Spec ial was des igned to dampen any noise additions for those who nccdcu them from the publ ic Conseque ntl y if a included ta il coa ts ca middotoe ks loinshy performer whi spers at the back of the Ll oths angel robes and fish ponchos() prese nt stage (the front of the original

It was imperati ve th at the stage) he can he heard clcarl y in the ward robe direc tor was we ll acqua inLed Gods Shout at the fro nt of the stage shywith the continuity of each perfo rmcr nO-O J1 C Can hear you

clothe and that the eight dresse rs werc It is simply that the performer well briefed and dril led So me o f the must battlc the architecture of the changes tQok place on stage in build ing - and in a few areas blackout res ul ti ng in heaps of (partic ul arl y thc front o f the Dress discardcd clot hes sitti ng on stage in a C irc le ) the uuuicnce did indeed have ve ry Bnx hti an manner at the end of di ffic ult y heari ng so lo voenls each ~ct HumDrum is in the process of

pu rc hasi ng ncw am plifica ti on equipme nt to attemp t to combat th is problcmUGHTlNG

The li ghting team were given a script a plan o f the stage forced to SUMMAR~ v tch a rcheu[al and then told to haw a~ much fun as possi bk They told us 1-lull1[)rulll exce llentl y staged the li ghting would be w ry bolu prociue ti on is lovely and grcat fun

G i ve n the res triction s of the (T he News) theatre the show was lit from the plent y o r en rg y from a ll Upper Circle the top o f the invo lvcu (S plash Magaz ine) prosce nium arch (ie frol11 above at the And the aucii enee loved it - which back) and from the sides Smoke is probably the mOs t important factor break-up gobos and rotators were used It ~ houlu be noted tbat the li censors to add deplh and contrast The fro nt of attcnucu the second performance and the raised stag ing including the central despitc thc puhl ics reaction were a steps was gauzed and backlit for parts littlc cold of the show As ror the cast and crew MOBY

The cl imax of the show - Abab [)JC K~ was by far the most exhausting

17