Songs from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat will be part of Musical Theatre Gold. Photo / Stephen Jones
Songs from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat will be part of Musical Theatre Gold. Photo / Stephen Jones
People will get to enjoy some of their favourite theatre songs when Musical Theatre Gisborne celebrates its 47-year history with a cabaret showcase in May and June.
Musical Theatre Gold is to be staged at MTG’s clubrooms in Innes St from May 30 to June 7.
From such shows as Hair to Mamma Mia and Chicago, director Peter Derby has carefully selected songs ranging from solos right up to big company numbers.
“We wanted to present songs from our early shows like West Side Story (1984) and Chess (1994) and showcase what we have done over our 47-year history, as well as teasing songs from our upcoming production of Les Miserables,” Derby said.
He put the idea out there of doing such a show about a year ago and it quickly gained momentum.
People like Gavin Maclean and Catherine MacDonald, who were part of the origins of Musical Theatre Gisborne, will be taking the stage.
They will be joined by Gisborne Choral Society chorister Serena Foster to sing Mozart’s Soave Sia Il Vento from the opera Cossi Fan Tutti staged by MTG in 1981.
Well-known local singers Bruce Reid, Alex Raines, Charlotta Passe and Quannah Nickerson, from shows like We Will Rock You, Chicago and Mamma Mia, are also part of the line-up.
“We wanted singers who were experienced and who were confident to sing solo,” Derby said.
Other highlights will include a quartet from Chess and items from Hair such as Aquarius and Let The Sunshine In.
A variety of songs will be performed - from a moving solo from Oliver to lighter comedic songs such as Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat from Guys and Dolls.
With Sean Scanlen accompanying singers on piano and Elizabeth Raines as vocal coach, a quality production can be expected.
The clubhouse will be set up like a cabaret, with the audience seated at tables while singers move freely among the crowd.
“It will be a slick, fast-paced revue in two acts presented in intimate cabaret style,” Derby said.
Gavin Maclean directed Fiddler on the Roof for MTG in 2013 and will perform songs from the musical in the upcoming cabaret showcase Musical Theatre Gold. Photo / Stephen Jones
“Musical Theatre Gold is a celebration of songs from some of the most popular musicals that GTA (Gisborne Theatre Arts) and MTG has staged in the last 47 years,” production manager Heather Derby said.
“We have 16 singers from 20 musicals that we have produced over the last four decades, including Gavin Maclean, who has directed five of the musicals that are included.”
Peter Derby’s personal favourites are If I Were A Rich Man from Fiddler On The Roof and On My Own from Les Miserables.
“The revue is a time slice of where the society has come from and, with Les Miserables, where we are headed,” he said.
“Les Mis will be the biggest challenge for our society and is recognised as the most watched musical in the history of theatre worldwide.”
MTG was formed in 2008 from an amalgamation between Gisborne Theatre Arts (established as Musical Theatre Restaurant in 1977) and Gisborne Musical Theatre (formerly Gisborne Operatic Society).
Since 1977, it has produced and staged 68 musicals at the Lawson Field and War Memorial theatres.
