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See a play, contribute to worthy causes and have fun in England's West Country
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Ross Ayling and Morag Stolton
A couple of years ago, I saw a production of Anything Goes, a Cole Porter musical, presented by the Tavistock Musical Theatre at the Wharf Theatre in Tavistock, Devon, England. It was great fun. The show, directed by Julian Bennett, featured a lovely young woman, Pauline Rowland, playing not the main role of Reno Sweeney, but the gun moll. Her Brooklyn accent was just about perfect. Several months later, in her own accent, she did a video for us of nearby Cornwall.
Another performer in that show was Ross Ayling. Ayling, currently a student, has set up a truly seasonal theatre troupe in Tavistock, the In the Wings Theatre Company.
Ayling and his business partner, Morag Stolton, will present their first musical this coming summer to raise money for two worthy causes, CHICKS of Tavistock and St. Luke’s Hospice of Plymouth. Most people know about the fantastic work of Hospice worldwide, taking care of people in their final days. CHICKS helps people at the other end of their lifespan; it is an organization specifically concerned with giving disadvantaged kids a week-long country adventure.
As it happens, the last part of July is often a very good time to visit southwest England, also known as the West Country, if you can't make it in spring. In the Wings will present their first show, Musical of Musicals, July 22, 23 and 24th (Wed-Fri) at 7:30 pm at Tavistock College auditorium.
Musical of Musicals is (duh) a musical. First presented in New York in 2004, the show satirizes several well-known musical theatre composer/librettist teams. The five sections of the show are:
- Corn (parodies of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, plus The Sound of Music, Oklahoma)
- A Little Complex (parodies of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, plus Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music)
- Dear Abby! (parodies of Hello Dolly, Mack and Mabel, La Cage Aux Folles),
- Aspects of Juanita (Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, plus Cats, Jesus Christ Super Star)
- Speakeasy (Kander and Ebb’s style, including Chicago and Cabaret)
Each of the five mini-musicals has the same basic boy-meets-girl plot, enhanced by a villain and a wiser mature woman, the “Dear Abby” character in five different guises. And, naturally, it’s all very musical.
Tickets are inexpensive, with adults at 7 pounds, and young people and seniors at 5 pounds. (You can convert dollars to pounds here to see how little the tickets will cost.) You can order tickets at the fledgling company’s online shop by credit card. Or, if you wait until you get to the great West Country, you can purchase them at Stolton’s Pharmacy (phone 01752 257267) or Ron’s Pet Supplies (phone 01822 611110 in Tavistock. To purchase locally, you’ll need cash, however.
If all goes well in this first season, Ayling and Stolton have bigger plans than simply providing an evening’s entertainment for locals and tourists, and raising some funds for CHICKS and St. Luke’s Hospice. They will do summer shows for the next two years. And then, once both have gained their theatre degrees, they intend to offer lessons in music, dance and acting as well.
None of this would be particularly amazing in a large, bustling metropolis...like London, for example. But Tavistock is relatively tiny, with a population of only 12,000, which already supports the Tavistock Musical Theatre, a non-musical amateur/semi-pro theatre group, and now this seasonal addition. The Wharf Theatre, home to the other two troupes, also presents music from international acts to burgeoning international acts like the Rumble Strips. (Two Rumble Strips members, Sam Mansbridge and lead singer Charlie Waller, are from Tavistock. Check them out here.)
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