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Return
to the
Forbidden Planet
The Story:
 On a stormy night way back in the winter of 2009, mad
scientist Doctor Prospero worked late in his laboratory, aided only by his wife,
Gloria, as he developed the elusive formula with which he would change the
world.
The
apparently faithful Gloria, however, duped him and sent him off into hyper-space
in an old spacecraft. Unknown to Gloria, her infant daughter, Miranda, slumbered
peacefully in the craft and was now catapulted light years into the future in
her father's company.
Many years later, a routine survey flight,
 Intergalactic Starship Albatross, takes off under the watchful command of Captain Tempest.
Aboard this flight is the new Science Officer, a strong willed woman if you ever
did meet! Also on board are the Damage Control Crew, Bosun Arras, the all round
good guy, the Navigation Officer, who knows where they are
going and
 Cookie, the
ships cook, a hopeless romantic.
As the spaceship blasts its way through space, it
encounters a storm of asteroids, the Science Officer flees taking the only
emergency shuttle craft. Meanwhile the Albatross is being pulled inexorably
towards the Planet D'Illyria, which is not marked on their charts.
Return
to the
Forbidden Planet
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This
classic ‘Cult’ musical is loosely based on
MGM's 1956 film Forbidden Planet, which itself is
loosely based on Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST. The plot involves the crew of a
routine survey flight, commanded by the stalwart Captain Tempest, which is
drawn inexplicably to the planet D'Illyria where mad scientist Doctor
Prospero, his lovely daughter Miranda and their faithful robot Ariel are
marooned. Secrets and betrayals are revealed amid a veritable smorgasbord of
1950s and 60s rock and roll classics performed on stage by the cast. The
dialogue is largely comprised of THE TEMPEST, but interspersed throughout
are some of Shakespeare's best known quotes, including lines from ROMEO &
JULIET, HAMLET, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, MERCHANT OF VENICE, TAMING OF THE
SHREW and THE WINTER'S TALE. It's basically Shakespeare's (and rock and
roll's) greatest hits. Directed by the award winning team of Neil Hopson,
Musical Director Andrew Sutton and Choreography Beverly Locke come together
yet again to produce what will be a rip roaring tongue-in-cheek homage to
the bard's forgotten rock n roll musical..
This winner of the 1990
Olivier Award for Best Musical bursts with red hot rock and roll hits, including
a sultry duet of "It's A Man's World" between Captain Tempest
and the ship's
Science Officer, Prospero's haunting treatment of "Misunderstood," "The Shoop
Shoop Song," featuring the ship's kitchen mate, Cookie and Bosun , Cookie's
rousing electric guitar rendition of "She's Not There," and the Science
Officer's impassioned styling of "Go Now." Under the vocal direction of Andrew
Sutton, the ensemble will all provide solid back up to the proceedings, blending
well on the numbers "Great Balls Of Fire," "Good Vibrations," "Hey Mister Space
Man," "Gloria" and "Wipe out." "Shake rattle and Roll," "We've got to get out of
this Space," and many, many more.
So fasten your seat belts, set your ray guns to stun and get ready for a cosmic
adventure of meteoric proportions! Bob Carlton's smash hit West End musical
takes the 1956 film, with plot taken from Shakespeare's The Tempest, raids the
Bard's other plays at will (and not always absolutely verbatim) and sets it to a
score of great pop hits from the 1960s and 70s.
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