London Musicals 2010.pub - Over The Footlights

BRITAIN’S GOT BHANGRA
London run: Theatre Royal, Stratford East, April 28 th – May 16 th
Music: Sumeet Chopra
Lyrics: Douglas Irvine
Book: Pravesh Kumar
Director: Pravesh Kumar
Choreographer: Andy Kumar
Musical Director: Mark Collins
Cast: Surrinder Singh Parwana “Shin” (Twinkle), Natasha Lewis (Jussi),
Sunil Pramanik (Rocky), Sophiya Haque (Mrs Shindie), Rakesh Boury (DJ),
Arun Blair-Mangat, Davina Perera, Ankur Bahl, Keeza Farhan, Harveen
Mann
2010
Story: Twinkle, and his bride Jussi, leave their Punjabi village for London
where they dream the streets are paved with gold. However, the reality is very
different, and they struggle to get along on Twinkle’s earnings as a bus driver
in Southall. But Twinkle soon turns into a local celebrity, singing his
bhangra songs at local weddings , and he and his musical partner Rocky are snapped up by the unscrupulous
producer, Mrs Shindie, who realises that bhangra means big bucks. However, Twinkle’s fortunes fade: he is
ripped off by Mrs Shindie and a loutish DJ; Rocky dies; and illegal sampling and downloads kill his record
sales. Finally Twinkle hits the bottle and alienates his long suffering wife - but a last minute change of
fortunes gives the show a happy ending.
Notes: With excellent notices and sell-out houses, this show subsequently toured several venues in the summer
of 2010 and was revived and re-written for an extensive provincial tour in 2011.
10
CAMP HORROR
London run: Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch , May 24 th – June 12 th
Music & Lyrics: The Heather Brothers
Director: Bob Carlton
Choreographer: Emily Parker
Musical Director: Julian Littman
Cast: Julian Littman (Mr Reynolds), Francesca Loren (Chrissie), Oliver Seymour-Marsh (Josh),
Pam Jolley (Leanne), Kate Robson-Stuart (Mel), Sarah Scowen (Jasmine),Alex Marshall (Eddie),
Joe West (Stu), Elliot Harper (Matt), Matthew Quinn (PJ)
Songs: I die a Little, Twist, Fear is an Aphrodisiac, Abstinence will ensure You Survive the Bloodbath,
Teenage Hanky-Panky Makes Psychos Real Cranky
Story: In a dilapidated theatre on a remote and stormy island,
a group of high-school teenagers are rehearsing their end-ofterm
show, a horror-musical called “Teen Scream”, under the
direction of the drama head, Mr Reynolds. With opening night
just hours away, the sets and props have yet to arrive, and the
bridge to the mainland has been washed away. Even worse,
nobody’s mobile phone works. The students include plucky
heroine Chrissie, her boyfriend Josh, Leanne, the wimp with
psychic powers, and Mel and Jasmine, a pair of flighty
blondes. Eddie is the reluctant technician for the show, whilst
Stu and Matt are only doing the show for a chance to make out
with the girls. One by one the youngsters are picked off by a
blood-crazed killer in their midst – and killed in exactly the
same way that the fictional Stutter Cutter, the hooded doggiemask
wearing psycho killer of “Teen Scream” deals with his
victims.
Notes: With witty and sly references to the world of cheesy
slasher-movies and the occasional nod to Hitchcock with his
famous shower-scene, this worked both as a macabre and
tongue-in-cheek bit of fun, with a tuneful rock 'n' roll score.