INTRODUCTION

BUMBLESCRATCH

INTRODUCTION

Bumblescratch is a sung-through musical-comedy set in London during the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666. It's told from the perspective of a demented, lascivious plague rat named Melbourne Bumblescratch, who demonstrates his unique and twisted love affair with the ancient city through telling his marvellously gruesome tales.

Bumblescratch had a workshop performance at London's Network Theatre in 2013 and received a full-scale charity gala concert at the West End's Adelphi Theatre on Sunday 4 September 2016.

For more information, please visit www.bumblescratch.com.

bumblescratch.com

@Bumblescratch1

Bumblescratch

SYNOPSIS

Bumblescratch opens with "Melbourne" befriending a guileless young rodent named "Perry", and in so doing, revisiting his own lost innocence. Through this friendship, Melbourne is inspired to become a better version of himself, foregoing some of his more negative personality traits.

But to accomplish this, Melbourne must first elicit the help of a less-than-saintly guardian angel, the ghost of a rat pirate named "Hookbeard". Together, they escape the lengthy claws of the vicious King Rat, "Socrates", and Melbourne eventually even does right by his long suffering fiancé, “Bethesda”.

Melbourne must utilise every trick he knows (including some impressive sleight-of-hand) to get himself out of the desperate scenario in which the malevolent Socrates has put him: having to steal King Charles II’s Crown Jewel. In the end, Melbourne finds a middle path between righteous living and the distorted course of his prior existence. However, as fate would have it, the plague rat may have to burn down London in the bargain... It's this final act that assures Melbourne's place in the dark tapestry of city legend.

HISTORY

Bumblescratch had a workshop performance at London's Network Theatre in 9 and 10 May 2013 and received a one night only Charity Gala Concert at The Adelphi Theatre on the 4th September 2016. To find out more visit www.bumblescratch.com.

CAST & CREATIVE

The cast for the 2016 Bumblescratch gala charity concert at The Adelphi Theatre were:

MELBOURNE – Darren Day
BETHESDA – Jessica Martin
HOOKBEARD - Michael Xavier
SOCRATES – Jacob Chapman
PERRY – Ilan Galkoff
THAMESA/ENSEMBLE – Cathy Reed
CHARMER/ENSEMBLE - Dickie Wood
FATS/ENSEMBLE – Alastair Barron
SQUABBLER/ENSEMBLE – Teddy Moynihan
ROLANDA/ENSEMBLE – Katie Kerr
LASCIVIA/ENSEMBLE – Jessie May
SQUEAKER/ENSEMBLE - Emma Harrold
RUFUS/ENSEMBLE - James Dangerfield

The creative team for the 2016 Bumblescratch gala charity concert at The Adelphi Theatre were:

BOOK, MUSIC & LYRICS - Robert J. Sherman
DIRECTOR & CHOREOGRAPHER - Stewart Nicholls
DESIGNER - Gabriella Slade
MUSICAL SUPERVISOR/DIRECTOR - Tom Kelly
ORCHESTRATOR - Rowland Lee
LIGHTING DESIGNER - David W Kidd
LX PROGRAMMER & OPERATOR - Miles Fisher
SOUND SYSTEM DESIGNER/OPERATOR - Marcus Wadland for White Light
HEAD SOUND ENGINEER - Tony Gayle
SOUND OPERATOR - Simon Fox
VIDEO/PROJECTION DESIGN - Daniel Denton
COSTUME SUPERVISOR - Justin Allin
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER - Kimberley Moses
ASSISTANT MUSICAL DIRECTOR - James Church
ORCHESTRAL CONTRACTOR - Nick Norton-Smith
FIGHT DIRECTOR - Paul Benzing
CASTING DIRECTOR - Jane Deitch
PRODUCTION MANAGER - Leigh Porter
COMPANY STAGE MANAGER - Jude Cound
DEPUTY STAGE MANAGER - Xanthe Parker
COSTUME MAKERS - Norma Bonnell, Alice Brown
HAIR, MAKE UP & PROP COSTUMES - Amy Addison
GENERAL MANAGERS - Adam Paulden, Daniel Sparrow
FINANCIAL CONTROLLER - Phil Machado
PUBLIC REPLATIONS/PRESS - Susie Safavi
PROMOTION & MARKETING - Pauline Fallowell for Boom Ents
SOCIAL MEDIA - Terri Paddock
SOCIAL MEDIA ASSOCIATE - Joanna Sawyer
GRAPHIC DESIGNER - Rebecca Pitt
VIDEOGRAPHER - Matthew Titterton
ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING PRODUCER - Simon Greiff for SimG Records
LIVE AUDIO RECORDER/MIXER - Kevin Poree & Danny Monk
REHEARSAL PHOTOGRAPHER - Robert Workman
PROGRAMMER PHOTOGRAPHER - Francis Loney
CHAIR, MARKETING - Rod Natkeil for Variety (Great Britain)
PROGRAMMER & MERCHANDISE - Diane Pinnock (Smart Business Solutions)
CHAPERONES - Eleanor Dowling, Linda Russell

The cast for the 2013 Bumblescratch workshop were:

MELBOURNE – Paul Baker
FATS – David Alder
BETHESDA – Rosemary Ashe
SOCRATES – John Barr
CHARMER – Gary Jerry
HOOKBEARD – Jeremy Secomb
THOMAS FARYNOR – Darren Street
HORTENSE – Ziggie Sky Ward
MORDEKAI – James Yeoburn
RUFUS – Harry Stone
PERRY – Sebastian Croft, Daniel Dowling
THAMESA – Frances Encell
ENSEMBLE – Lydia Grant
ENSEMBLE – Bianca Harris
ENSEMBLE – Stephen Matthews
ENSEMBLE – Sarah Moyle
ENSEMBLE – Sophie Poulton

The creative team for the 2013 Bumblestratch workshop were:

BOOK, MUSIC & LYRICS - Robert J. Sherman
DIRECTOR - Graham Gill
MUSICAL DIRECTOR & ARRANGER - Colin Billing
GENERAL MANAGERS - Joanne Benjamin, Clive Chenery
STAGE MANAGER - Fiona Bailey
ASSISTANT MUSIC DIRECTOR - Matthew Ramplin
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT - Stephanie Marks
TECHNICAL MANAGER - James Henshaw
CASTING - Anne Vosser
CHILDREN'S CASTING - Mark Deitch and The Sylvia Young Theatre School
WARDROBE - Debbie Bennett
PRESS - David Bloom at Target Live
CHAPERONES - Rus Russell, Doulla Croft
FILM CREW DIRECTOR - Ramsey Jeffers

SONGS

Bumblescratch is a sung-through musical.

Overture
London in the Plague
Ev'rybody Hide
Ring-A-Ring a Rosy
Thank You, Sir
Melbourne Bumblescratch
At Least a Rat 'As Got an Excuse
Socrates' Scorn
Close Scrape Today
Hookbeard's Theme
Don't Eat Bad Cheese
Hookbeard's Rebuke
Can't You Hear The Music?
Storyteller
Widow MacGregor
Jiggery Pokery
What Is This That I See?
Adorable Me!
Unhand Me!
Really Rather Strange
I Want to Believe in Love
I'm Faithful (To All My Lovers)
Music of the Spheres
Always a Test
And One Day... / We've Got to Get Out of This Place!
Dual Epiphany
My Place in the Sun
All Fallen Angels
News Of Thamesa's Imminent Demise
30 Beautiful Now
I Cannot Hear You
Hookbeard's Theme
The Present Tense / Ain't That Just The Whiff
Bumblescratch Nightmare
Long Long Road
We Will Live To Be Free
Socrates' Grand Ploy
Dance, Dance, Dance!
Blackness Fills The Night
All The Rats Are Dead
Plague Rat
Epilogue

REVIEWS

During Bumblescratch's 2013 workshop Daily Mail columnist, Baz Bamigboye, previewed the show.

Daily Mail

His dad, Robert B. Sherman, co-wrote (with his brother Richard) the songs for Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Now Robert Jr has written his own musical called Bumblescratch, featuring a rat named Melbourne. The story is set during the Plague and Great Fire of London.

Sherman started writing it before his father passed away last winter. ‘He listened to one song and shouted: “That’s your hit!” I’m pleased he at least heard some of it,’ he says.

I’ve heard a few songs and they’re fun and inventive.

Robert is holding a workshop for Bumblescratch today and hopes to be able to mount a production in London. ‘I always wanted to write a sung-through musical that starts with the plague and ends with the fire; it’s an era full of rich drama,’ he adds.

GALLERY

Pictures from the 2016 gala charity concert performance of Bumblescratch: A New Musical at The Adelphi Theatre in London's West End.