Zeph
from up here the sky is my thoughts
- Pronoun
- he
We performed the school musical on Thursday, Friday and yesterday. It was relatively awesome! We've received a copious amount of compliments and stuff, and the performances definitely got progressively better.
It was a very loose adaptation of the Grimm story "The Musicians of Bremen". The script was entirely written by the head of the Drama department (Who, incidentally, was the director) and the musical score (which was truly fantastic) was written and conducted by a Year 13 student at the school (Who, if I recall correctly, has a place secured at Oxford studying music).
I guess I will give an overview of the plot... Or, at least try to.
Bremen, as we all know, is a city in Germany which is very proud of its musical heritage. Its town band are, apparently, "second-to-none" - But then an edict is issued from the capital which declares that all music must henceforth consist of just three notes: G, O and D (Is there subtext here?!) So the utterly insulted band, to the Mayor's dismay, leaves to seek somewhere else to apply their talents.
Simultaneously, a group of recently redundant workers (The "Animals") decide that they will try something different to their office work - they'll (Coincidentally) go to the musically famous Bremen to try their own hands at music. However, between Bremen and them is a considerably large and dangerous forest, and one of them (referred to in the script as "The Boy") gets separated from the others on the way...
Meanwhile, a young girl, MariaMaria (Her mother wanted to name her after a musical heroine, but she couldn't decide between Westside Story and The Sound of Music) who lives deep in said forest with her hugely absent-minded father, a self-proclaimed philosopher (Yours truly...) learns that her mother and two older sisters, whom she previously thoguht dead, are actually probably still alive and well in Bremen - she just misunderstood her father when he told her that he "lost" them. She leaves and comes across the Boy, and they, by eavesdropping on the passing Town Musicians, learn about the three-note policy. MariaMaria, who wants to learn as a singer, is infuriated, so the two head towards Bremen to try and stop the law.
Her father eventually notices she is gone, and so wanders off into the forest to look for her, on the way meeting the Musicians. They are informed by a messenger from a town in a similar predicament that the various ridiculous musical policies applied to the municipalities in the realm are a trick! Enraged, the Musicians, followed by the utterly confused Philosopher, head back to Bremen.
The Animals arrive at Bremen and please the mayor by basically causing a racket with various musical instruments. "Between the three of us, I'm sure we've got all three notes covered!" they say. It will have to do, because the Grand Musicologist arrives just then to inspect the town's music...
MariaMaria (Disguised in a ridiculous hat and cloak to seem, well, male) and the Boy also reach the town and find what appears to be a singing academy run by a single woman, Rosina, and her two daughters (Doesn't that sound rather familiar? Single woman, two daughters?) and attend singing lessons which seem to be more focused on the two daughters trying to flirt with their respective 'students' than anything... Rosina explains that she foolishly left her husband for a tempting single who in turn abandoned her when he found out she had children.
During her lesson, inspired by a tangential conversation about the Phantom of the Opera, MariaMaria has a cunning plan to scare the mayor into eradicating the policy.
As the Grand Musicologist is about to announce his judgement on the Animals' music, the old Musicians and the Philosopher burst in and start trying to tell the stubbornly denying Mayor that the edict is a trick. The Musicologist seems to be on the verge of explaining something, when they are interrupted again by ghostly voices from the ceiling - MariaMaria and the Boy, who also try to convince the Mayor to withdraw the policy...
The Musicologist tries to talk again, when yet again someone decides to burst in - Rosina and her daughters. Rosina reveals that the man she romanced with was none other than the Mayor himself - but, unfortunately for her, the man who I'm sure we all now know is her husband is in the room - the Philosopher. Once more, the Grand Musicologist is ignored as the Philosopher steps forwards and is reuinted with his wife and daughters, including MariaMaria, who excitedly arrives after realising just who Rosina actually is.
The Mayor is on the verge of exploding now. "This is not a pantomime! I am not a comic character on a stage! I am the Mayor of Bremen!" he screams - but finally allowed to talk, the Grand Musicologist reveals that the policy was indeed a trick: "It was a test to see who would put music first where it belongs. What they say about Bremen is true!" He then spawns an electric guitar from somewhere, and the play ends with a suitable rock-and-roll number. Fin.
I'll miss it, it was truly brilliant! I'll have fond memories forever. I used my phone to record the audio of the whole play, I'll see if I can upload it some time.
Anyway, longpost is over. Adieu.
(tl;dr: Big musical orgy. So to speak)
It was a very loose adaptation of the Grimm story "The Musicians of Bremen". The script was entirely written by the head of the Drama department (Who, incidentally, was the director) and the musical score (which was truly fantastic) was written and conducted by a Year 13 student at the school (Who, if I recall correctly, has a place secured at Oxford studying music).
I guess I will give an overview of the plot... Or, at least try to.
Bremen, as we all know, is a city in Germany which is very proud of its musical heritage. Its town band are, apparently, "second-to-none" - But then an edict is issued from the capital which declares that all music must henceforth consist of just three notes: G, O and D (Is there subtext here?!) So the utterly insulted band, to the Mayor's dismay, leaves to seek somewhere else to apply their talents.
Simultaneously, a group of recently redundant workers (The "Animals") decide that they will try something different to their office work - they'll (Coincidentally) go to the musically famous Bremen to try their own hands at music. However, between Bremen and them is a considerably large and dangerous forest, and one of them (referred to in the script as "The Boy") gets separated from the others on the way...
Meanwhile, a young girl, MariaMaria (Her mother wanted to name her after a musical heroine, but she couldn't decide between Westside Story and The Sound of Music) who lives deep in said forest with her hugely absent-minded father, a self-proclaimed philosopher (Yours truly...) learns that her mother and two older sisters, whom she previously thoguht dead, are actually probably still alive and well in Bremen - she just misunderstood her father when he told her that he "lost" them. She leaves and comes across the Boy, and they, by eavesdropping on the passing Town Musicians, learn about the three-note policy. MariaMaria, who wants to learn as a singer, is infuriated, so the two head towards Bremen to try and stop the law.
Her father eventually notices she is gone, and so wanders off into the forest to look for her, on the way meeting the Musicians. They are informed by a messenger from a town in a similar predicament that the various ridiculous musical policies applied to the municipalities in the realm are a trick! Enraged, the Musicians, followed by the utterly confused Philosopher, head back to Bremen.
The Animals arrive at Bremen and please the mayor by basically causing a racket with various musical instruments. "Between the three of us, I'm sure we've got all three notes covered!" they say. It will have to do, because the Grand Musicologist arrives just then to inspect the town's music...
MariaMaria (Disguised in a ridiculous hat and cloak to seem, well, male) and the Boy also reach the town and find what appears to be a singing academy run by a single woman, Rosina, and her two daughters (Doesn't that sound rather familiar? Single woman, two daughters?) and attend singing lessons which seem to be more focused on the two daughters trying to flirt with their respective 'students' than anything... Rosina explains that she foolishly left her husband for a tempting single who in turn abandoned her when he found out she had children.
During her lesson, inspired by a tangential conversation about the Phantom of the Opera, MariaMaria has a cunning plan to scare the mayor into eradicating the policy.
As the Grand Musicologist is about to announce his judgement on the Animals' music, the old Musicians and the Philosopher burst in and start trying to tell the stubbornly denying Mayor that the edict is a trick. The Musicologist seems to be on the verge of explaining something, when they are interrupted again by ghostly voices from the ceiling - MariaMaria and the Boy, who also try to convince the Mayor to withdraw the policy...
The Musicologist tries to talk again, when yet again someone decides to burst in - Rosina and her daughters. Rosina reveals that the man she romanced with was none other than the Mayor himself - but, unfortunately for her, the man who I'm sure we all now know is her husband is in the room - the Philosopher. Once more, the Grand Musicologist is ignored as the Philosopher steps forwards and is reuinted with his wife and daughters, including MariaMaria, who excitedly arrives after realising just who Rosina actually is.
The Mayor is on the verge of exploding now. "This is not a pantomime! I am not a comic character on a stage! I am the Mayor of Bremen!" he screams - but finally allowed to talk, the Grand Musicologist reveals that the policy was indeed a trick: "It was a test to see who would put music first where it belongs. What they say about Bremen is true!" He then spawns an electric guitar from somewhere, and the play ends with a suitable rock-and-roll number. Fin.
I'll miss it, it was truly brilliant! I'll have fond memories forever. I used my phone to record the audio of the whole play, I'll see if I can upload it some time.
Anyway, longpost is over. Adieu.
(tl;dr: Big musical orgy. So to speak)
