Back to the 80's

Infobox Musical
name = Back To The 80's
subtitle = ... The Totally Awesome Musical!


image_size =
caption =
music = Neil Gooding
lyrics = Neil Gooding
book = Neil Gooding
basis =
productions =
awards =

"Back to the 80's" is a musical written by Neil Gooding with original musical adaption by Scott Copeman. It was originally staged by Neil Gooding Productions Pty Ltd in Sydney, Australia in 2004. [http://www.backtothe80smusical.com Show Website] It is a popular show for school productions in the English speaking world. [cite web|url =http://www.backtothe80smusical.com/news.php| title=Back To The 80's...THE TOTALLY AWESOME MUSICAL!| accessdate= 2007-11-12]

The musical contains pop songs from the 1980s as well as songs written by Neil Gooding.

ynopsis

"Back to the 80's" is about a 30 something year old man reminiscing about his teenage years. The man is named Corey Sr. Corey Sr is the narrator of the show explaining to the audience about what life was like when he was 17. The story begins in the year 2000, where a radio station announcer is talking about the 80's. Then there is a flashback seen an Corey Sr comes on and shows the audience his class mates. The story revolves around Corey Jr trying to fit in at school with his two best friends, Alf Bueller and Kirk Keaton. Towards the middle of the musical, Corey tries to get together with his next door neighbour, Tiffany Houston, but he has a little competition considering the coolest guy in school, Michael Feldman, wants her too. Eventually Corey Jr runs for School Captain, but Michael steals his proposal. Eileen, a new girl, arrives at school and Michael and his gang, Billy Arnold, Lionel Astley and Huey Jackson, put fake Love Letters into her locker making her and her new friends Laura Wilde and Debbie Fox think that she has a secret admirer. At the end of the play, Tiffany and her friends, Cyndi Gibson, Mel Easton and her twin Kim Easton, find out about Michael’s evil plan and Tiffany dumps him in favour of Corey Jr to take her to the School Prom.

Act One

The story begins with a radio station host talks about the 80's. Shortly after this, "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" plays and the dancers begin to dance in the center of the stage. In the middle of the dance, the characters all slowly enter the stage. After all the characters and cast are on stage, they all go into a pose and freeze while Corey Snr enters the stage. Corey Snr begins to introduce the class to the audience and Corey Snr finishes, Kids In America begins to play and while it is playing, the cast begin to interact. The next scene starts by Mr Cocker and Miss Brannigan welcoming the students to their final year at William Ocean High School and that the School President candidates will be informing the class on their election speeches. Corey Jnr and his Vice Presidents, Alf and Kirk are the first to the stage stating they have some 'Awesome Election Ideas' and that they'll 'Reveal Them At The Ralley Next Friday'. The next canditate is Michael Feldman who is drenched in applause from every one except Corey Jnr, Alf and Kirk. Michael and his V.P's, Billy, Tiffany and Cyndi, inform the class that they are 'the only team worthy of being School President' and that if the guys vote for they're team, Michael will invite cheerleaders. After a massive amount of applaude, Fergal Robert McFerrin III steps up to the stage with his Vice Presidents, Laura and Debbie. Fergal informs the class that the school has to 'become technologically advanced' and begins to bore the class with his plans to buy hundreds of computers nad how technoledgy will advance. Before Fergal can finish his speech, the school bell rings. After assembly, Corey Jnr. enters the stage and starts to talk to Tiffany. After his conversation, he sees Alf and Kirk and

Characters

Your average school kids

Corey Palmer-The hero of the musical. Although it does not focus solely on him, the story is largely about his life, and the people and events surrounding him throughout the 1980's. He is 17 during his Senior Year. He is a very likeable, very ordinary American teenager, experiencing the events that every young male goes through. Unfortunately for him he is doing it in a time of hypercolour t-shirts, big hairdos and fluorescent white pants.

Alf Bueller-One of Corey Junior's two best friends. He is a likeable teenager, only just coming out of childhood. Where as the 'cool' group of guys are into adult things like girls, cars and sports , Alf is only just coming out of the phase of racing bikes and burning ants with magnifying glasses Maybe this is because he is still young at heart - or maybe it's just because he is just immature, and doesn't get much female attention! At one point in the play Alf insists that he has a day off, a homage to 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'

Kirk Keaton-Corey's other best friend. Kirk is very tight, but is rather naive, particularly about women. Him and his two best pals come from excellent family homes and are probably considered to be the "nice" boys of their year. Unfortunately for them, "nice" does not lead to lots of babes, hard parties or cool status among the rest of their year. Damen plays this part. We'll see in april-ish if he's any good.

The Cool Girls

Tiffany Houston- Tiffany is one of the group of girls that "Just Wanna Have Fun". She is a cute, bubbly teenage female from the 80's - aspiring to be Cyndi Lauper and Madonna rolled into one. This brings with it the burdens aspiring to be a Material Girl - big hair and copious amounts of make-up. She has been Corey Jnr's neighbour since they were born, and they are good friends. She seems oblivious to his deep-seated love for her, probably because she is too busy mooning over Michael Feldman - and applying more blue eye shadow!!!

Cyndi Gibson-One of Tiffany's best friends. Rather than having a best friend, all these kids seem to have groups of best friends. Whereas Tiffany is fairly innocent, naive and doe-eyed about boys and love, Cyndi is more street-smart. Cyndi knows that boyfriends are a passport to attention and presents. As with every other female, she would love to have a fling with Michael Feldman, but she settles from time to time for Billy Arnold, or Lionel Astley, or Huey Jackson - or anyone else from the football team who is around.

Mel Easton- Another one of the inner click of "The Cool Girls". She is an all-singing, all-dancing party girl who seems to be happy to be taken along with the group of girls, and burst into song whenever the opportunity arises. With her twin sister Kim, she seems to have a natural affinity for harmonizing, and for backing up solo singers, which is very lucky because Cyndi and Tiffany both continually break into show-stopping 80's tunes.

Kim Easton-The twin sister of Mel. Mel and Kim are new to the school, but they have been friends with Cyndi for a long time, so they are automatically accepted into her group. Kim does not do well at school, and makes the decision halfway through their senior year to leave. However, she is talked out of this by her friends. The option of parties, boys and a little bit of studying is far more tempting than working nine to five.

The Cool Guys

Michael Feldman-The coolest guy in the school. The girls all fall at his feet. He is a car-driving, Fonzie-styled football star. He has the romantic attention of all the girls, but particularly Tiffany Houston (who Corey just happens to be in love with.) Michael is very suave in the presence of any females. However, when they are not around he shows his true colours - he is a mean, manipulative oaf who picks on smaller kids. The girls never seem to see this side of him though. To them, he is a God. Fortunately, by pure coincidence, his name can be shortened to "Mickey".

Billy Arnold-One of Michael Feldman's posse. Another popular, good-looking, athletic guy. The kind of person that every 17 year old wants to be (particularly if they are not popular, good-looking or athletic!!) When Billy is around Michael and his group, they all assume coolness. But, like the others, when he is by himself, Billy is a little lost, particularly without Michael's advice. He makes the misguided decision to dress up like Rick Astley and hire backup singers in an attempt to serenade his way into the heart of Cyndi

Lionel Astley-Lionel is fairly similar to Billy. All of the cool guys walk and talk the same way, but they all have slightly individual personalities. The group is stronger than the individuals. In Lionel's case, he is not quite as cool as the others, but because he is in the group, the girls put up with him anyway.

Huey Jackson-The final guy to round out the group of Michael Feldman's friends. Not much else to be said - big hair, wears clothes that were cool at the time, but now just look like fluorescent mismatches of colour. Huey is an 80s tragic - he is the only member of the cool group to go as far as wearing a white Michael Jackson glove - as was the fashion of the day!

Geeky but Loveable

Feargal McFerrin III-The school nerd! Feargal is a nice, sensitive young male - but that doesn't count for much when you are 17, get good marks at school, wear glasses...and still a virgin! As a side note, pretty much everyone in the show are virgins, but at least it is conceivable that the others may not stay that way until they are 30. With Feargal, this is a definite possibility! Feargal is supremely intelligent, but his visions of life in the new millennium are always laughed at. He is taking self-defense classes with Mr Miyagi, which proves very fortunate towards the end of the show!

Eileen Reagan-Eileen arrives at William Ocean High School during the year. She is a charming girl - full of life and vitality. She is also a dreamer who lovingly longs for the day when she has a boyfriend. However, she is rejected by the popular girls upon her arrival to the school, so she is destined to hang around some of the less popular girls at the school (namely Laura and Debbie). Consequently, they boys are rather cold to her, and some of them make fun of her behind her back.

Laura Wilde-One of the girls that adopts Eileen into their group when she arrives at the school. Laura and Debbie have been best friends for years. This is not necessarily by choice, but more by the fact that neither of them fitted in anywhere else, so they found each other. They are basically nice girls, but they have no luck with boyfriends. However, this does not stop them from spending hours ogling at posters and dreaming about Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and Anthony Michael Hall.

Debbie Fox-As with Laura, Debbie is happy to accept Eileen into their group of two people - because there is safety in numbers when you are not accepted as being cool. She also has a tendency to spend too much time looking at posters of all the movie hunks of the time. Both girls have trouble distinguishing between reality (i.e. that they have had no boyfriends) and fantasy (that they are married to Neil Patrick Harris - Doogie Howser). They make up imaginary boyfriends to impress each other, and these boyfriends always seem to take on the features of the pinup of the month. Strangely, neither girl has ever met any of the numerous boyfriends that the other has had.

Sheena Brannigan-The only female teacher at the school to be seen. She is around 30, and is the Senior Students Co-ordinator. On the surface in front of classes of children she seems very reserved, very friendly and slightly conservative. What they don't know is that at 18 she posed nude for Hustler. She has an on again, off again relationship with Mr Cocker. That is to say, it was on while he did not know of her history, and off when he discovers that she stripped for a magazine shoot for $100.

Stevie Cocker-The Deputy Principal and maths teacher at William Ocean High School. He is one of only two teachers who will appear in the show. Stevie sees a future together with Sheena, but has major issues when he discovers he is dating a former centerfold (even though she is now a respectable, conservative English teacher.) Stevie has problems with erasing the image of Sheena's prior modeling from his mind.

Life for the characters after school

Corey never got married to Tiffany, although he is currently dating a fashion designer.

Kirk married a girl he met in Disneyland in 1998.

Alf has not yet got married and is destined to remain a bachelor.

Tiffany got married to someone in Chicago and had two children.

Cyndi never got together with Billy and became a diplomatic politician.

Mel and Kim married twins from England and had two sets of Triplets and were featured in Guinness Book of World Records.

Michael tried out for pro-football league but was forced into early retirement after a groin injury. He has had two wives and four kids. He is also a Baptist minister in New Orleans.

Billy, Lionel and Huey started their on chain of skating rink but when skating went out of fashion, they were turned into car parks.

Feargal married Eileen after he stuck up for her when he heard Michael put fake love letters in her locker. He also became a billionaire along with his good friend Bill Gates, when they made the World Wide Web.

Laura and Debbie became millionaires when they boosted the biggest dating agency in the USA.

Mr Cocker and Miss Brannigan got married and still teach at the school.

Musical numbers

The song lists are different for: Australia and New Zealand; Canada and the United States; and the United Kingdom. Songs have been taken out and/or removed in each case. The full song list is below with country flags indicated for discrepancies between song list.Act One
#One of the following songs:
#*flagicon|AUSflagicon|NZL'" - Male Singer and Three Backing Singers
#*flagicon|GBR"Kids in America" - Featured Female Singer with Full Student Ensemble
#One of the following songs:
#*flagicon|AUSflagicon|NZL"Kids in America" - Featured Female Singer with Full Student Ensemble
#*flagicon|GBR"Kids in America (Reprise)" - Full Student Ensemble
#"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" - Tiffany, Cyndi, Mel and Kim with Female Student Ensemble
#"Footloose" - Michael, Billy, and Huey with Male Student Ensemble
#"Mickey" - Tiffany, Cyndi, Mel and Kim
#"Michael's Election Rap" - Michael
#"Video Killed the Radio Star" - Fergal with Laura and Debbie
#One of the following songs:
#*"Believe It Or Not" - Corey, Jr. with Featured Singer
#*flagicon|AUSflagicon|NZLflagicon|GBR"Glory of Love" - Corey, Jr. with Featured Male Singers
#"Let's Hear It for the Boy" - Laura, Debbie and Eileen
#"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - Corey, Jr. and Michael
#"You Give Love a Bad Name" - Corey, Sr.
#"You Give Love a Bad Name (Reprise)" - Mr. Cocker
#"Man in the Mirror" - Mr. Cocker and Miss Brannigan with Full Student EnsembleAct Two
#One of the following songs:
#*'" - Full Student Ensemble
#*flagicon|AUSflagicon|NZLflagicon|GBR"We Are the World" - Full Student Ensemble
#flagicon|GBR"Dancing on the Ceiling" - Corey, Jr., Featured Female Singer and Lionel with Full Student Ensemble
#"Love Shack" - Corey, Jr., Featured Female Singer and Lionel with Full Student Ensemble
#flagicon|AUSflagicon|NZL"Love Shack (Reprise)" - Full Student Ensemble and Lionel
#"Total Eclipse of the Heart" - Corey, Jr. with Miss Brannigan
#flagicon|AUSflagicon|NZL"Nine to Five" - Kim, Mel, Cyndi and Tiffany
#"Walking on Sunshine" - Eileen with Laura
#"Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" - Michael and Tiffany with Ensemble
#"Centerfold" - Mr. Cocker with Full Student Ensemble
#"Lost in Your Eyes" - Eileen and Tiffany
#"Never Gonna Give You Up" - Billy with Three Female Backup Singers
#"Material Girl" - Cyndi with Male Ensemble
#"Don't Worry, Be Happy" / "Come On Eileen" - Corey, Jr, Kirk and Alf
#One of the following songs:
#*flagicon|AUSflagicon|NZL"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (Reprise)" - Featured Male Singer
#*flagicon|GBR"The Final Countdown" - Featured Singer
#"(I've Had) The Time of My Life" - Corey, Jr. with Tiffany, Miss Brannigan with Mr. Cocker, and Fergal with Eileen
#"Back to the 80's Megamix!" - Full Ensemble

Instrumentation

"Back To The 80's" requires only a small band of musicians to perform. Instruments needed are: two keyboards, an electric bass guitar, an electric guitar, a drum kit, an alto saxophone or a tenor saxophone, a trombone and a trumpet. [cite web|url =http://www.musictheatreinternational.com/show_instrumentation.asp?ID=000327 |title= Show Orchestrations Information: Back to the 80's: Music Theatre International - MTI - Musical Theatre Broadway Shows Available for Licensing|accessdate= 2007-11-12| publisher=Music Theatre International]

References

External links

* [http://www.backtothe80smusical.com/ Home Page of Back To The 80's]