The Big Ending
Tabard and Tristan Bates Theatres, London 2008
Music and lyrics by Shrubshall and Free
(photos taken during rehearsals)
'An astonishingly successful short musical'
Jeremy Kingston, The Times, playwright and author
Winner 'Best Direction'
LOST Theatre Festival 2008
Adjudicated by Jeremy Kingston
Awarded by Steven Berkoff
The Show…
Mel Starke hates musicals. Trouble is, he makes a lot of money producing them! As his latest blockbuster is about to hit the stage, he is stricken by debilitating headaches and is forced to see a doctor. It's bad enough that she diagnoses a cancerous tumour on the brain - but the fact she sings his diagnosis makes it so much worse.
Mel is plunged into a nightmare of show tunes and dance numbers as the tumour makes him hallucinate that his life is becoming a musical. Is his only redemption to kiss the girl, learn to love and sing the song? Or is he just facing that musical inevitability…The Big Ending?
The History…
Peter Shrubshall and Richard Free sent us this quirky, fascinating musical in early 2008 ahead of the LOST one-act theatre festival. We instantly fell in love with it. However with a running time double the length of the competition limits, we made the long-shot plea to the duo to create an abridged version of the piece…
To our delight they worked some magic and created not only a shorter version of their original show, but a version that had a new structure, movement and philosophy to it, forming, in effect, a fresh piece.
One excellent cast and team later we found ourselves winning the award for 'Best Direction' and having the opportunity to perform the work again to an invited audience. Steven Berkoff had nothing but praise for the piece as he presented the award.
We would love to revisit the show one day and present another full run.
The Big Ending Team…
Music and lyrics by Shrubshall and Free
Directed by Tammy Mendelson
Musical Direction by Nick Pegden
Choreography by Pippa Aston
Produced by Tammy Mendelson and Kirsty Hoyle
Cast: Oliver Hume, Ruth James, Siri Steinmo, Steve Watts
Take a peek...
(please check back soon...video clips on their way...)
Have a listen…
Enjoy this selection from the original demo of the full version of the show..
Currently playing: 'The Only Reason I'm Here'
The Only Reason I'm Here (Claire Morrissey)
Embrace It (Amanda J Thirkell)
