ROBYN HOOD: OUTLAW PRINCESS: Co-writer John Reynolds

Full Information, review and photos at: Robyn Hood: Outlaw Princess


Video at: https://youtu.be/MUJj5zX5004

THE CATS OF PONSONBY: Co-writer Ray Prowse

This popular musical takes place in the courtyard at the back entrance to a restaurant. A gang of hungry Alley Cats waits outside the back door hoping form some scraps of food. Frustrated that the three Burmese House cats are pampered, Kitten is kidnapped for a ransom of food. This sets off a chain of events that involves the rival cat gangs of Big Tom’s Thugs and the Media Mob. Complications, skirmishes and a romance arise. All’s well that ends well. Fifteen songs with optional solos, suitable for large or small cast. Arranged for piano accompaniment with lead line and guitar chords. Commercially recorded backing tracks available. Suitable for 7-16 year olds. Duration 60 mins. Approx. Cats of Ponsonby - Script HIRE ONLY

Photos, Review and Video Clips from the 2015 Glen Eden Playhouse Theatre production. Cats of Ponsonby - Reviewed by Joan Reekie If there is one thing that is almost certain to make people happy it is watching young people having fun on stage. Gary Daverne’s Cats of Ponsonby recently at the Playhouse Theatre in Glen Eden was such an occasion. Mr Daverne composed the music for Cats of Ponsonby to words and story by Ray Prowse a number of years ago as a vehicle for school choirs, and has now revamped the show for a new generation. Together with Gary’s cousin Christine Daverne who directed, and choreographers James Grant and Jordan Wichman, they have produced a fun musical ably supported by an enthusiastic cast aged from 7 to 16 years, who embraced their feline roles with gusto. At the beginning of Act One the curtain rose to reveal the various gangs of stray cats (the Alley Cats, Media Mob, Thugs, House Cats and Spice Cats) hungrily waiting outside a restaurant in the faint hope of receiving a meal. Alas, only the well-fed Burmese house cats are invited inside, leaving the Alley Cats to take the risky step of kidnapping a Burmese kitten in order to coerce her sisters into stealing food for them. The Media Mob sniff out a news story and the whole thing escalates into a major cat fight. All is resolved in the end however except that the cats are still hungry. I must say I was very impressed with the set designed by Stan Henshaw - an alley situated outside the back door of a Ponsonby restaurant, with a large crescent moon lighting the early evening sky and the Sky Tower’s familiar silhouette dominating a distant skyline. Very well done indeed. The soloists all gave confident performances, the chorus numbers were strong, and the tap dancing segments were particularly enjoyable. The costuming was also very good, turning the stage into a kaleidoscope of colour. During the interval the Media Mob cats came into the auditorium to ask questions of the audience regarding the supposed kidnapping, a unique experience for those who were not expecting it. I am so pleased that all these talented young cast members were given the opportunity to perform in such a delightful show and certainly look forward to Gary and Christine Daverne’s next presentation at the Playhouse Theatre. - Joan Reekie

Tiger and Katt.


House cats with the Media Mob.


Big Tom and his Thugs.

Cats of Ponsonby Complete Show Video

Cats of Ponsonby Sample Sound Files
00 Overture
01 May The Best Cats Win
02 Alley Cats
03 We're Hungry
04 They're Tough
05 House Cats Dance
06 House Cat's Song
07 Hey Pretty Kitten
08 A Kidnap
09 It Was A Cinch
10 The Media Mob
11 Kitten and Tiger
12 Such Drama
13 Hot News
14 Big Tom's Song
15 Time To Disappear
16 Goodbye
17 Reprise
18 Catfight
19 RAP

GYPSY GIRL: Co-writer Ruth Hamilton

Richi is a ‘half-gypsy’ orphan girl. When her Aunt dies, she is left destitute. At school the children dislike her. She is too different from them. Their dislike leads to hatred and violence. The children mob Richi and think that they have killed her. Later full of remorse they try to make amends only to find Richi too stubborn, too proud, perhaps too deeply hurt.

Gypsy Girl can be presented entirely as a choral work with a narrator or alternatively may be staged as a full production with either small or large groups.

The story is narrated with ample opportunity for extensive dancing and acting.

Nine songs with optional solos, arranged for piano accompaniment only, or with guitar, tuned and untuned percussion, two flutes, bass and drums.

Suitable for 8-12 year olds. Duration 35 mins. Approx. HIRE ONLY

Recorded on CD with Billy T. James as the narrator

Gypsy Girl - Script

JOHN HOBBS A MAN WITH A MISSION

(A musical story of adventure and love)
Music: Gary Daverne ONZM    Words: Dorothy Tomlinson

The story is set in the Hokianga and Bay of Islands regions in the North Island of New Zealand from 1821, leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. John Hobbs, is a young Englishman from Thanet, who is compelled to join the Wesleyan Mission in the Hokianga, after hearing the story of the 1809 incident known as “The Burning of the Boyd”, where a young Maori Chief was beaten and flogged by the crew of an English sailing ship. His Maori warriors waited until nightfall, then taking their revenge.

An elder John Hobbs narrates the story. He tells of the establishing of the Mission in the region, portraying the relationships, frustrations, conflicts and troubled times with the early settlers, the native Maori people and their Chiefs, especially, Patuone and Tamati Waka Nene. Also the very colourful life of the Rev. William White.

Hobbs has a special love for his devoted wife, Jane, their learning, teaching and preaching, their unjustified exile to Tonga, then his reinstatement two years later to the Wesleyan Mission in the Hokianga, culminating in the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi at Horeke, in the Hokianga, where Hobbs and Patuone resolve to “Go forward together as brothers” Actual quotations from the diaries of John Hobbs are used in the script.

There is limited dialogue, all recitative (music underscored),.

The cast: Five main male leads: John Hobbs (the older John Hobbs as the narrator) Rev. John Hobbs Rev. William White Rev. Nathaniel Turner Chief Patuone (Maori Chief)

Three main female leads: Jane (John Hobbs’ wife) Ann Turner (Nathaniel’s wife) Slinky Sadie (Prostitute)

Mixed Chorus (towns people, warriors, dancers, with a few minor lead roles)

The musical is in two acts with several scene changes. 19 musical numbers (solos, duets and chorus production numbers), Pre-recorded backing tracks are available.

The popular, New Zealand Song, comes from this show.

Duration is around 100 mins.

Copyright 2017: Viscount Productions