- Our House (musical)
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Our House Music Madness Lyrics Madness Book Tim Firth Productions 2003 West End
2006 Japanese tour
2008 UK TourAwards 2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical Our House is a musical with music and lyrics from Madness and the book by Tim Firth. The show featured songs from the ska/pop band Madness, and was named after one of their popular hit singles, "Our House". The story is of Joe Casey, who becomes involved in petty crime and follows different directions in his life in London.
Contents
Productions
Our House was first staged at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End from 28 October 2002 to 16 August 2003.[1]
Michael Jibson made his professional debut as Joe Casey and was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.[2] Direction was by Matthew Warchus with choreography by Peter Darling, and featured Julia Gay as Sarah.[3] Members of the band Madness played roles in the executive production of the show, and Madness frontman Suggs performed in the production for a while as Joe's father.
The musical won the 2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. However, it received mixed reviews and closed after less than 10 months.[4]
UK tour
A UK revival started at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and continued on a UK tour in 2008, with Chris Carswell playing the lead role of Joe Casey.[5][6] In 2008/2009 it played cities from Stoke in July 2008 to Crawley in March 2009.[7]
The touring production changed aspects of the show in reaction to criticism of show's début in the West End. House of Fun was replaced with "Los Palmas 7" as the opening of the show. "Sarah's Song" was also replaced with the new Madness hit "NW5".
International productions
A new production of the show toured Japan in July 2006, starting in Tokyo.
The show was performed in Ramat Gan, Israel, by the Beit Zvi Company in May 2010.
Synopsis
This is a synopsis of the new production after the show had been adapted
Our House is the story of Joe Casey who, on the night of his sixteenth birthday, takes Sarah, the girl of his dreams, out on their first date. In an effort to impress her with bravado, he breaks into a building site overlooking his home on Casey Street, which is owned by Mister Pressman, a high-end property developer. The police turn up, at which point Joe’s life splits into two: the Good Joe, who stays to help, and Bad Joe, who flees.
Good Joe, having stayed to help Sarah, is sent to a ‘correctional facility’ for two years. On his release, finding that his past prevents him from getting a good job, he struggles to make ends meet. Despite managing to buy himself a second-hand car, he convinces himself that he is an embarrassment to all who care about him – especially Sarah, whose new college lifestyle reading law is complicated by Callum, a fellow student. In an effort to keep up with this guy, Good Joe is beguiled by his ‘mate’ Reecey into helping stage a break-in for some easy money – is caught and this time sent down.
Meanwhile, Bad Joe has lost Sarah, but is making a success of a burgeoning career, using his breaking and entering skills to install security systems which he then instructs a lowlife ‘mate’ called Reecey how to breach. His efforts soon earn him enough money to start his own business in property development, where he attracts the attention of Mister Pressman. Now a successful businessman, he is able to swan back into Sarah’s life, literally sweeping her off her feet at her college dance.
Three years later, at 21, Bad Joe and Sarah get married in Vegas, while Good Joe is leaving prison, forced to sleep rough in the second-hand car he bought all those years ago. At this point, Good Joe and Bad Joe’s worlds start to collide. Mister Pressman has decided to ‘redevelop’ Camden by demolishing Casey Street – except Joe’s mum Kath refuses to leave. This house is special, she says, given to her family in perpetuity because their ancestors helped build Casey Street.
Good Joe vows to save the house. He calls on Sarah, now a trainee lawyer engaged to Callum, to help prove that Kath does own the deeds to 25 Casey Street. Bad Joe, meanwhile, is called on by Mister Pressman to help destroy the house in a strong arm final straw tactic to get the occupant to move out. Bad Joe does this by arranging – with Reecey’s help - for the house to be burned down while she is out celebrating her birthday. Except tragically all Kath wants to do is wait in the house for her son to come visit her on that special day. In the Good Joe story, the errant son returns, holding the property deeds, to find the house burning down but his mum safe; in the Bad Joe story the ‘successful’ son returns too late, to realise his mum was in there, waiting for him.
From the ashes of the house fire Good Joe is reborn, reunited with Sarah, who he marries, and also with his mum. Mister Pressman and Reecey are sent down for arson. Bad Joe, having lost Sarah and his mum, is sent down as an accomplice to manslaughter. And in the final beat of the show we wind back time to where we started, the moment of decision on Joe’s sixteenth birthday: when asked what he wants to do, somehow he knows now the right decision to make. He simply says ‘Let’s go dancing!’
Original Cast
- Michael Jibson - Joe Casey
- Chris Thatcher - Alternate Joe Casey
- Richard Frame - Emmo
- Oliver Jackson - Lewis
- Hannah Tollman - Chemist/Policewoman/Harper
- Julia Gay - Sarah
- Tameka Empson - Billie
- Andrea Francis - Angie
- Peter Caulfield - Chemist/Neighbour/ Caribbean Clergyman/ Stall Holder
- James Beattie - Miss Clay/Joe's Solicitor/ Toy Farm Interviewer/ Jaguar Salesman
- Lesley Nicol - Kath Casey
- Paul Kemble - Priest/Mr Jesmond/Stall Holder/ Clerk
- Lynden O'Neill - Uncle/London Alarms Boss/ Barrister/Stall Holder
- Alison Forbes - Aunt/Guard/Mrs Pressman
- Andrew Spillett - Grandad/Custody Officer/ Barman Dave/Lawyer/Ray
- Matt Cross - Reecey
- Ian Reddington - Joe's Dad
- Deborah Bundy - Council Solicitor/Neighbour
- Mark Hilton - Magistrate/Callum
- Mary Doherty - Custody Officer/ House of Waffles Interviewer/Massey
- Dean Stobbart - Careers Officer/Weird Bloke
- Mike Scott - Mr Pressman
- Carryl Thomas - Heather/Smith
- Ruth Brown - Julie/Stall Holder
- Darren Smithers - Ensemble
- Oliver Tompsett- Swing
- Gavin Wilkinson - Swing
Original Production Crew
- Director - Matthew Warchus
- Decor - Rob Howell
- Effects - Paul Kieve
- Lighting - Mark Henderson
- Sound - Rick Clarke
- Choreography - Peter Darling
- Orchestrations - Steve Sidwell
- Musical Director - Philip Bateman
Musical Numbers
- Los Palmas 7 / House of Fun
- Our House
- Simple Equation
- My Girl
- Baggy Trousers
- Prospects
- Embarrassment
- Driving In My Car
- Shut Up
- Tomorrow's Just Another Day / The Sun and the Rain
- Night Boat to Cairo
- Wings Of a Dove
- One Better Day
- Margate
- Rise and Fall
- NW5
- It Must Be Love
- The Sun and the Rain
- Finale
Recording and video
The recorded original production was telecast on BBC Three in December 2003 and was released on DVD on 1 November 2004.[8][dead link]
References
- ^ History of the musical Our House
- ^ Tim Firth's website - summary and reviews of Our House
- ^ Loveridge, Lizzie.Review, Our House curtainup.com, 5 November 2002
- ^ Laurence Olivier Awards - Chronological list of winning musicals officiallondontheatre.co.uk
- ^ writer Tim Firth talks to What’s On Stage whatsonstage.com (cached), June 6, 2008
- ^ Our House listing, 29 May 2008 – Sat 21 Jun 2008 birmingham-rep, retrieved March 2, 2010
- ^ [1] maddogs1.blogspot.com
- ^ Our House - The Musical: BBC3 cast list
External links
Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical (2001–2025) Merrily We Roll Along (2001) · Our House (2003) · Jerry Springer: The Opera (2004) · The Producers (2005) · Billy Elliot (2006) · Caroline, or Change (2007) · Hairspray (2008) · Jersey Boys (2009) · Spring Awakening (2010) · Legally Blonde (2011)
Complete list · (1976–2000) · (2001–2025) Categories:- 2002 musicals
- Madness (band)
- Jukebox musicals
- West End musicals
- Laurence Olivier Award winning musicals
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