4:16pm Thursday 25th June 2009
By Melanie Dakin
Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Callum Francis may not have got any further in the competition after singing Bare Necessities from the Disney musical and hit film The Jungle Book, but his performance did cause notoriously scathing critic Simon Cowell to gush “it’s one of my favourite films of all time”, and he’s not alone there. So it’s very exciting to learn The Pump House Children and Youth Theatre will be performing the show Disney’s The Jungle Book in a double bill with Steven Sondheim’s Into the Woods next week.
Director Lee Farman explains the show is based on the film but is a shortened version of highlights and lots of songs.
Lee says: “It’s a fluid but demanding performance condensed into an action-packed half hour.”
As you’d expect with a Disney product, The Jungle Book comes ready made with script and soundtrack, so I ask Lee if that leaves much scope for the company to make the show their own.
“The advantage is that it’s a very cost effective way of getting these shows out to schools and it allows young people to work with something familiar and yet be creative in how we present it.
“We’ve gone for stylised costumes featuring T-shirts in recognisable colours. For Kaa the snake for instance we have six people in green T-shirts weaving their way around Mowgli and all their heads contribute to his hypnotism. Then, at the point when Mowgli meets the vultures we’ve decided to include the whole jungle cast in on that one to show he has many friends in the jungle.”
Artist Lucy Houbart, who works in the art department at Watford Grammar School for Girls, is creating the set for the show. The scenery is colourful and lively for the jungle scenes but ingeniously transforms into a spooky forest for Into The Woods, which is based on stories by The Brothers Grimm. Also a half hour performance, Into The Woods allows the wardrobe department to go wild fashioning witches outfits, a cloak for Red Riding Hood and even a cow costume to bring to life stories such as Jack and The Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel and Cinderella.
“They’re gruesome versions of the tales,” adds Lee. “Including the scene where people are chopping their heels off in order to fit into Cinderella’s shoes; but it’s suitable for all ages.”
The Disney double bill runs from Thursday, July 2, to Saturday, July 11, at 7.30pm (Saturday matinee 2.30pm). Tickets: 07903 411150, www.pumphouse.info (£8)
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