INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

A whale of an opener

Theatre on the Square will open their 2003-2004 season with a double-doozy: a world premiere and a work from the highly acclaimed producer Cameron Mackintosh, famous for such musicals as Les Mis and Miss Saigon. The work, Moby Dick!: The Musical (music by Hereward Kaye and Robert Longden and lyrics and book by Longden) was a flop when Mackintosh’s first production of the show opened on London’s West End at the Piccadilly Theatre in 1992. But this was not the last, or even the first, version of the show. There are approximately 18 versions, including some pre-Mackintosh, and the one opening at TOTS is a proving ground for its latest incarnation. Mackintosh was looking for a small American theater that would premiere and test-market the work. David Stine, longtime supporter of TOTS, orchestrated bringing the show to TOTS. If the show is a success, Stine expects that Mackintosh will then take it to New York in the ’04/’05 season. The musical is a show within a show. St. Godley’s girls school is a long-standing institution that is having dire financial issues. One of the students has written a musical version of Moby Dick, and the school decides to perform it as a fund-raiser. Among other obstacles is to cast predominantly male characters with students from an all-girls school. The work is meant to be a tongue-in-cheek, campy musical, which is where most of its humor is rooted. Some tweaking has been done to make the U.K. show more palatable to American audiences. Moby Dick!: The Musical will be performed Aug. 15, 2003, through Sept. 13, 2003. For more information, contact the theater at 637-8085.