Australian Junior Musicals

To continue our celebration of all works Australian during the month of March,                      we are pleased to highlight our exciting collection of Australian Junior Musicals. We hope this selection will not only excite and entertain your talented young performers, but also instill a strong sense of pride as they perform  works created right here on our home shores. From celebrated Australian author and artist Graeme Base, the creator of Animalia, The Eleventh Hour and Uno’s Garden comes this exciting tale of greed and high adventure in one musical act. This adventurous show based on the successful children’s picture book was originally performed as a concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (in conjunction with Playbox).  Story: When villainous Gropmund G. Groper and his brainless henchfish accidentally unleash a toxic tide on idyllic Reeftown, pretty pink Pearl Trout, her soldiercrab beau Bert Hardshell, and Pearl’s headstrong brother Finny, all have different ideas of how to deal with the disaster. Pragmatic Bert uses his head, organising a military mission to locate the source of the poison. Finny and his Catfish mates rely on muscle, looking for trouble down at Groper’s Bar (and finding it). And Pearl trusts her heart, heading out into the vastness of the open ocean in search of the fabled New Reef of legend. In the end all three combine to bring the Groper to trial and lead the Reef-folk to a wonderful new home. This second exciting musical from famed author and illustrator, Graeme Base in also a book-to-musical conversion of his successful and well-loved story: Jungle Drums – where this time, the animals of Africa are the focus. Story: Ngiri is the smallest warthog in Africa.  Tired of being teased, he wishes things could be different.  When old Nyumbu the Wildebeest gives him a set of magic drums, he is sure his wish is about to come true.  But the animals in the Jungle are in for a big surprise when Ngiri’s wish is granted in a most unexpected way. Mr. Base says "Children will be drawn by the silly switcheroos and comical expressions of dismay among the animal cast". Mathew Frank and Dean Bryant met while studying Musical Theatre at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Their musicals have won many awards including a Green Room Award for Best Original Score (Prodigal) and they are the creators of  the first Australian musical produced off-Broadway, at the York Theatre in 2002 (also Prodigal). Their adaptation of Sonya Hartnett’s young-adult fiction book, The Silver Donkey, has toured US high schools twice and been read at Melbourne Theatre Company. Story: The piece opens with a man telling his brother a story; “Once, in a village by the sea, there was a blind soldier, three brave children who found him in the woods, and a silver donkey that brought him luck”. The village comes alive, there is a war being fought just down the road, but village life continues on as normal. Marcelle, ten, and her little sister Coco find a blind soldier in the forest. He is trying to get home to his sick brother across the sea. He has a charm in the shape of a silver donkey, and tells them a story. Stories and songs include ‘Road to Bethlehem’, ‘Waiting for the Rain’ and ‘Cliffs of a Foreign Land’. Complete and return the Perusal Request Form now!* FUTURE RELEASES: So these couple of shows are not Australian, but we are very excited to announce the following junior shows will be Coming Soon. Stay tuned for more details on the release of these new junior titles. * Coming Soon Not currently available for licensing * Coming Soon Not currently available for licensing For more information please visit our website or call us today and bring the magic of one of these Australian junior musicals to your school or community theatre. We look forward to working with you on your next production!