Le monde des musicals

The girls of St. Godley's School are in trouble! Money for the school has run out and the place will have to close. Leave it to these resourceful girls, and their unflappable headmistress (played by a man in drag), to come up with a plan to keep the school afloat. Using whatever they can find at hand, the girls mount an original production: a musical version of Moby Dick, featuring their headmistress in the coveted role of Captain Ahab.

ACT ONE
A scene of general chaos. Ishmael sits at the piano; Pip, the school's security guard, has been gagged & tied to a chair; students play basketball and throw paper airplanes. The Janitor enters and asks Ishmael to start choir practice. Ishmael plays as the school's Headmistress enters, greeted by the girls singing an obligatory anthem to St. Godley’s (“School Hymn”). The Headmistress informs her students that due to bankruptcy, the school will close at the end of the term. The girls, determined not to return to their horrible, boring lives outside St. Godley's, vow to save it. They decide to put on Ishmaels’ recently penned musical version of Moby Dick as a fundraiser. The Headmistress passes out parts, making herself Captain Ahab (“Moby Dick”).

Substantial time has passed. It is now opening night of the show. A nervous Ishmael takes the stage and sings of her passion for the sea, the magic of the water, and her love of adventure ("I Live And Breathe"). She lands on the docks of Nantucket where we meet the crew of the Pequod, a whaling ship recently returned from a hunting trip gone bad: Captain Ahab lost his leg to a savage whale ("In Old Nantucket"). Ishmael, who has been looking for affordable lodgings for the evening, finds an available bed at the Spouter Inn.

Meanwhile, Esta, Ahab's wife, waits fretfully for her husband's safe return (“A Man Happens"). He arrives, accompanied by Pip and a chest overflowing with gold ("Ahab's Homecoming"). He then proceeds to break bad news to her - not only has he lost his leg to the rogue whale Moby Dick, but his manhood as well. He will not be able to father her children. Esta inappropriately giggles when he reveals his ivory stump and the other guests at Ahab's homecoming follow suit. Humiliated, Ahab denounces Esta, who immediately jumps out a window to her watery death and he returns to the safety of his cabin aboard the Pequod. Later that evening, Pip attends to a very drunk Ahab. While he pledges his devotion to the Captain, Ahab pines for his lost Esta ("Love Will Always").

At the Spouter Inn, Peter Coffin, the innkeeper, introduces Ishmael to the crew of the Pequod. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Ishmael learns he is to lodge the night with Queequeg, their cannibalistic crewmate who's off selling shrunken heads. But Queequeg proves him wrong and they become fast friends ("Primitive").

Over at the Pequod, Ahab has passed out from far too much rum. Pip prays for peace in his soul, but Ahab only dreams of Esta. In his dream, she tells him he belongs to the sea and Ahab awakens with a start, determined to kill the rogue Moby Dick ("A Sinking Man"). The next morning, Ishmael and Queequeg go to hear Father Mapple deliver his Sunday sermon and to seek blessings before their voyage ("Jonah Fell"). They set off in search of a ship that will engage them as crew. Ishmael picks the Pequod ("Pequod"). As they are about to sign up, Elijah, the crazy one-armed lackey, tells them Ahab and his ship are cursed (“At Sea One Day”). Undeterred by these foreboding warnings, Ishmael and Queequeg find Starbuck and sign up anyway. Finally, on Christmas Day, they set sail ("Building America").

ACT TWO
We are brought up to speed with Ishmael on the Pequod. It has successfully weathered a winter of storms; Pip and the crew are relaxed and lively as the boat approaches the equator ("Deck Dance"). After a year, a crazed Ahab appears from his cabin. He proffers a gold dubloon claiming it belongs to the crewman who spots the great white whale he seeks. Ishmael climbs into the crow's nest and spies instead a herd of black whales. Ahab decides that they will hunt, while waiting to find the great Moby Dick (“Heave Away”).

Ahab appears on the deck to examine the day's kill. Growing weary of Ahab's increasing delusions, Starbuck confronts Ahab about his personal obsession. Ahab agrees and acknowledges his obsession, but feels that he cannot resist it ("Can’t Keep Out The Night"). Back in the crew's quarters, Starbuck tries to rally the men to mutiny against their insane Captain and vows to kill him (“Whale Of A Tale”). However, at the last minute, Starbuck cannot bring himself to do it.

Later that night, haunted by the voices of Moby Dick and his deceased, slightly decomposed wife Esta, Ahab sleepwalks around his cabin. He is convinced they are nearing the great whale ("Love Will Always [Reprise]"). Starbuck appears from the shadows and tries to convince Ahab to turn his ship around and go home. At that moment, Ishmael spots an English whaling ship. Captain Gardiner boards the Pequod proclaiming that he, too, has been hot on the trail of a great white whale but has lost his crew and family in the process ("The Rachel"). Gardiner retreats to his ship as the crew braces for a storm. Pip is tragically killed when he is blown overboard, yet Ahab madly presses on (“Shadows Of The Deep”).

The next morning, despite the calm seas, the crew is convinced the ship is cursed. Queequeg casts bones on the deck and prophesies his own death ("Bones"). When he goes into one of his usual trances, Flask tries to steal all his money. Ishmael comes to Queequeg’s defense and a fight ensues. Ahab emerges on deck to break things up but smells a strange odor: it is Moby Dick. The crew madly harpoons the whale, but Moby Dick eludes them (“Heave Two”). At last, the whale rams the ship and as the crew swims for their lives, Ahab submits to Moby Dick. Only Ishmael, floating on Queequeg's coffin, survives. The next day, he is rescued by The Rachel.

With both the voyage and story over, the cast jumps off the set joyfully congratulating each other on a job well done. The Headmistress enters in an outrageous gown with two suitcases bursting with cash. She hands off one suitcase to each security guard, proclaims the school has been saved, and everyone celebrates (“Moby Dick Finale").

1 Moby Dick peut-être considéré comme un Flop musical

Having become involved with the restoration of Oxford’s Old Fire Station Theatre, producer Cameron Mackintosh sought a new musical to inaugurate its re-opening. Impressed by an audio tape sent him by Lonqden. Mackintosh offered to stage what was then called MOBY DICK: A WHALE OF A TALE!
Originally an intimate piece with a cast of twelve performing with an upright piano, it became a greatly expanded version featuring a troupe of thirty and a six-piece band. The end result was a madcap romp, with veteran cabaret star Tony Monopoly playing the headmistress/Captain Ahab in drag, that immediately developed a cult following among the university students. One of its first venues was aboard Ki Longfellow's Old Profanity Showboat where after a slow start, it quickly became sold out. Against the advice of his staff, Mackintosh decided the show was suited for a full-fledged West End production, and in March 1992 he opened MOBY DICK! THE MUSICAL at the Piccadilly Theatre.
Despite scathing reviews, audiences were increasingly appreciative and nightly gave ovations. The economics of the large venue forced it to close after 4 months. Such was its public appeal, Cameron later recalled, that the announcement of closure sent audience reaction into orbit and it barnstormed out of the West End as if MOBY DICK! THE MUSICAL were one of the greatest hits of all time.
Music Theatre International's own Russell Ochocki "Americanized" the show in a 2003 New York workshop. By removing all the unfamiliar British references and playing down many of the burlesque aspects, the reworked show is now the licensed version. Filled with double and triple entendre, and more goofy humor than you can imagine, MOBY DICK! THE MUSICAL is guaranteed to make your audiences laugh in spite of themselves.

Act I
Hymn
Parent's Day
Forbidden Seas
In Old Nantucket
A Man Happens
Ahab's Curse
Gypsy Dancer
Love Will Always
Primitive
Punish Us
People Build Walls
Pequod
At Sea One Day
Building America

Act II
Living Shadows
Mr. Starbuck
Heave Away
Deck Dance
Can't Keep Out The Night
Ahab's Insomnia
A Whale Of Tale
Daily Massacre
Ship Ahoy
Shadows Of The Deep
Storm
Heave Away (Reprise)
The Whale's Revenge
Save The Whale

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Moby Dick

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Moby Dick