THE RAILWAY CHILDREN
From the novel by E Nesbit
AND YOU WAIT, SHORT OF BREATH, AS A JOURNEY BEGINS…
BACKGROUND
In
1905, one hundred years prior to the premiere of this musical, Edith
Nesbit first published The Railway Children in serial form in The
London Magazine. In 1906, the episodes were gathered together and it was
published as a novel. Whilst set in Nesbit’s present it strongly
recalled the period in her childhood when she had lived at Penshurst in
Kent, deep in the English countryside. She later wrote that those years
were the happiest in her childhood.
Over Christmas 2004 we
scored a major success at Sevenoaks Playhouse with our musical version
of Wind in the Willows. In 2005, when it was the centenary of The
Railway Children and, as the Playhouse was the nearest theatre to the
real setting of Nesbit’s tale, we found an enthusiastic welcome to our
idea of a new musical based on the classic tale.
The show played a hugely successful season at the Playhouse over Christmas 2005, where the press praised it:
'Would not look out of place in the West End' Sevenoaks Chronicle '
The unique ballads, chorus numbers and up-tempo pieces certainly boost the production.'
The Stage
MATERIALS AND LICENSING
It is available for professional and amateur companies to perform through Samuel French Ltd.
The libretto, vocal score and a songbook are available from Samuel French Ltd.
The CD is available on the JAY Label.
ENHANCE YOUR PRODUCTION...
Professional and amateur companies are now mounting successful productions of The Railway Children.If your group is presenting the show you can enhance your production and make extra money for your society by doing the following:
1. Sell the Original Cast CD to your members and audience. Contact JAY Records to enquire about bulk sales and sale or return. The minimum order is small and you sell these at a profit.
2. Sell the Songbook to your members and audience. The book features 10 of the songs from the show, with special piano arrangements by composer Richard John. The book also features a special arrangement of One Voice for choirs and additional material for Nearly Autumn. Contact Samuel French to enquire about sales.
3. Organise a Workshop for your cast. Richard and Julian run a Railway Children workshop which can be tailored to your groups needs. The Workshop normally takes place sometime during the rehearsals and gives exciting insight into the musical, the background and allows you to rehearse the show with it's creators. Enquire here for more details. Please include a contact name, phone number and the location and dates of your production.
4. Get your cast to join the Facebook Group where they can have discussion, post pictures and videos and ask questions about the show. The group name is The Railway Children (Musical) and you can get to it from here.
FORTHCOMING PRODUCTIONS
The next productions are:
29 July - 30 August 2008, Padstow Kernow Players
Venue: The Little Theatre, PADSTOW, Cornwall
25 - 27 September 2008, Colstars Youth Theatre
Venue: Coliseum Theatre, ABERDARE
Venue: The Playhouse, CHELTENHAM
ROLL OF HONOUR
These organisations have produced The Railway Children (Most recent first)Oakwood School Chichester
Spotlites Youth Theatre
Sevenoaks Playhouse
SEVENOAKS PLAYHOUSE CAST
Emily Bull (Roberta)Paul Henry (Perks)
Charles Shirvell (Father/Lord Fleet/Szczepansky)
Susannah Fellows (Mother)
Chris Crompton (Peter)
Karen Clegg (Cook/Mrs Perks)
Claire Taylor (Ruth/Mrs Ransome)
Lucy Brushett (Phyllis)
Rachel Bartholomeusz (Phyllis)
Brendan Cull (Mr Barrie/Jim)
Neil Ditt (Dr Forrest/Engine Driver)
Maria Holley (Gert)
Nicholas Smith (Old Gentleman)
and a Chorus of Local Children
Director: Julian Woolford
Musical Supervisor: Richard John
Choreographer: Chris Hocking
Set Designer: Charles Camm
Lighting Designer: Emma Chapman
Sound Designer: Dominic Bilkey
Costume Supervisor: Rodney Worth