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Music & Lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin Book by Ken Ludwig Co-conception by Ken Ludwig and Mike Ockrent Inspired by material by Guy Bolton and John McGowan Direction and Choreography by Susan Stroman
WELCOME
KATHY BOURNE AND DANIEL EVANS PHOTOGRAPH BY SEAMUS RYAN
FESTIVAL 2022
There have been several royal visits to the Festival Theatre over the past 60 years, but this year, true Broadway royalty has come to Chichester. We couldn’t be more thrilled that this new production of Crazy for You has direction and choreography by the great Susan Stroman, winner of five Tony and two Olivier Awards for productions including The Producers, Contact and The Scottsboro Boys. Therefore, it’s an enormous pleasure to welcome you to this performance. While CFT marks its 60th anniversary, this joyous musical is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its New York debut. David Benedict charts its fascinating genesis in this programme. Incorporating some of the most beloved Gershwin standards, its witty book and dialogue are written by Ken Ludwig,
who wrote this season’s Murder on the Orient Express and is the author of the Tony Award-winning Lend Me a Tenor. It is also a particular joy to welcome back Charlie Stemp. In 2016, his performance as Kipps in Half A Sixpence was greeted by the kind of rapturous ‘star is born’ acclaim that is usually the stuff of fiction rather than fact. He went on to star on Broadway and in the West End, so it’s wonderful that he’s back to play Bobby Child, alongside Carly Anderson who makes a very welcome Chichester debut as Polly Baker. They lead an outstanding company. There are two further musicals to come this season: Local Hero, based on the Bill Forsyth film with music by Mark Knopfler (formerly of Dire Straits), and our new family musical The Famous Five. We hope you enjoy this performance, and to see you again soon.
Executive Director Kathy Bourne
cft.org.uk
Artistic Director Daniel Evans
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LOCAL HERO Book by David Greig, Music & Lyrics by Mark Knopfler Based on the Bill Forsyth film CFT Artistic Director Daniel Evans directs a new musical version of this funny and enchanting story, featuring new songs by the legendary Mark Knopfler (formerly of Dire Straits).
MINERVA THEATRE 8 October – 19 November #LocalHero
cft.org.uk
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THE FAMOUS FIVE A NEW MUSICAL
Music & Lyrics by Theo Jamieson, Book by Elinor Cook Based on the books by Enid Blyton The Famous Five go on a daring mission with the future of the planet at stake! An exciting and heart-warming family treat celebrating adventure, bravery and friendship, directed by Tamara Harvey. A co-production with Theatr Clwyd
FESTIVAL THEATRE 21 October – 12 November #FamousFive
cft.org.uk
LEARNING ON THE JOB Apprenticeships and Traineeships are an important feature of CFT’s work, not least because they support the training of the next generation of theatre makers and provide vital access routes into the creative industry.
WITHIN THE LAST SIX YEARS: • 10 Technical Theatre and two Education apprentices and trainees have successfully graduated from CFT and are all now working professionally in the industry. • 12 Trainees and 42 Young Practitioners have trained in our LEAP department, with 89% opting for careers in the arts. • Over 200 work experience opportunities have been offered to school students. • In 2021, an alumni apprentice, Jesse Caie, won the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) Award for Emerging Excellence. • We have also partnered for three years with the Association of Professional Lighting
LEAP YOUNG PRACTITIONERS – KATE POTTER
Designers (ALPD) to launch Lumiere: an early career development programme to offer professionals working in theatrical lighting a six-month placement at CFT, followed by six months with a freelance theatre lighting designer. CURRENTLY: • We have a new Creative Learning and Participation Officer Apprenticeship (level 3); a Creative Venue Technician Apprenticeship (level 3); and a Creative Industries Production Manager Apprenticeship (level 7) which we believe to be the first of its kind in theatre. • We also have one Trainee Producer; one Youth & Community Trainee, one Youth & Outreach Trainee and six young people undertaking the annual Young Practitioners Training programme.
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CFT APPRENTICES RYAN PANTLING & AMY CLAYTON
Lucy Guyver is Creative Industries Production Manager Apprentice: a two-year MA-equivalent course at CFT in partnership with Chichester College I did a degree in technical theatre and stage at CFT; next, I’m going to help him on the management at RADA. I wanted to go into South Pacific tour. production management, but didn’t have The apprenticeship is 80% working at CFT, enough experience. So this apprenticeship, 20% college work or self-training. Alongside for this very specific job, was exactly this is a lot of coursework, building up to my what I needed. end-point assessment for which I have to The production manager oversees all the complete a big project and give a presentation physical and technical aspects of getting a on why I did it the way I did, and present production ready for the stage, making sure my portfolio. the set is built and every department has the This course is unique; it’s the first in the time they need to create the vision on stage. country. don’t know where I Alecky Blythe’s engrossing new verbatim playI genuinely tells the stories of a generation. You have to keepOften everyone happy! Budgets would be if I hadn’t found it. To be good too extraordinary to be fiction, Daniel Evans directs this funny aand and scheduling are the moving other key aspects. production manager, you need a lot of play in a co-production with the National Theatre. CFT has given me opportunities to be experience; it’s hard to get into and it’s still mentored by professionals. I’ve achieved male-dominated field, although the MINERVAa very THEATRE a West End credit as Assistant Production number of women is growing. Without this – 14 May I doubt I would still be Manager on Cock at the Ambassador’s 22 Aprilapprenticeship, #OurGeneration Theatre, which came through their production considering it as a career. It’s been pretty manager, Ben Arkell, who works regularly life-changing.
LEAP cft.org.uk
FOOD AND DRINK Enjoy delicious food and drink at our welcoming café and restaurant. Whether you’re having a meal before the show, simply relaxing with a coffee or powering up using our free Wi-Fi, we can’t wait to welcome you.
DINE BEFORE THE SHOW
GREAT COFFEE IN A GREAT LOCATION
Enjoy a contemporary British menu featuring local and seasonal ingredients, a selection of excellent wines and top-notch service in our stylish and award-winning restaurant The Brasserie – the closest restaurant to the Theatre.
A great spot for barista coffee, freshly made sandwiches, delicious cakes and a range of drinks. Our Café on the Park offers indoor and outdoor seating overlooking Oaklands Park and family friendly areas in our spacious foyer.
Open for Festival Theatre performances: matinees from 12pm and evening shows from 5pm. Also available for private hires and functions.
Open Monday to Friday from 10am and from 9am on Saturday so ParkRunners can stop by for much needed refreshment.
Visit cft.org.uk/eat, call 01243 782219 or email dining@cft.org.uk for opening times, reservations, menus and more.
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Music & Lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin Book by Ken Ludwig Co-conception by Ken Ludwig and Mike Ockrent Inspired by material by Guy Bolton and John McGowan Direction and Choreography by Susan Stroman
XXX GEORGE AND IRA GERSHWIN, PUBLICITY SHOT FOR THE FILM GIRL CRAZY, 1932 IMAGE COURTESY OF THE EVERETT COLLECTION INC/ALAMY
CRAZY FOR
GERSHWIN From The Beverley Sisters to The Jackson 5 via the Trapp Family Singers, musical history is littered with singing siblings. But none of those wrote their own material. Brothers in composition, it turns out, are seriously rare. In the early 1960s, Walt Disney hired Robert and Richard Sherman who wrote heaps of scores for musicals as beloved as Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book. But the template was set four decades earlier by two brothers who made songwriting into a less-than-small family business: George and Ira Gershwin.
An extraordinary number are treasures of what is now known as The Great American Songbook, but that’s not the full story.
You opened to raves, won the Tony for Best Musical and went on to play another 1,621 performances over almost four years. But ages before the term entered theatreland’s lexicon, this runaway hit was actually what’s now known as a jukebox musical. And like all the best ones – Singin’ in the Rain which strung together songs with lyrics by Hollywood producer Arthur Freed, or Mamma Mia! which famously put Abba songs on stage – it took a musical back catalogue and gave it original, pulse-quickening dramatic life. But unlike those other two titles, when Crazy for You was created neither of the Gershwin brothers was there to help as they had both long since died: lyricist Ira in 1983 aged 86, George in 1937 at the tragically early age of 38. Scholarly and calm Ira was born on New York’s Lower East Side in 1896. His brother Jacob, known as George, arrived two years
They could scarcely have been more famous. Within ten years of writing their very first song together they had four musicals running concurrently on Broadway. In the decade before sound arrived in the movies, when Broadway musical comedy was king, the brothers shared the throne. Their umpteen hit shows included Funny Face, Oh, Kay! and Of Thee I Sing which was the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. But, ironically, their longest runner, Crazy for You TM, billed as ‘The New Gershwin Musical Comedy’, was the one musical they didn’t actually write. Premiered at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre on 19 February 1992, the joy-filled Crazy for OH KAY! (JANE CARR, MICHAEL SIBERRY) AT CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE 1984 IMAGE BY REG WILSON