Production Notes

A few years ago Sir Winston Churchill was voted by the British public as the Greatest Briton to have ever lived gaining more votes than Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher put together. To this day stories of his inspirational speeches, amazing wit and one liners and his leadership during the Second World War are frequently told and are now handed down from generation to generation.

'CHURCHILL - The Musical' is a stage show in the form of a musical that portrays the life of Winston Churchill from his marriage to Clemmie to his retirement from public life.

In offering this version to Amateur Dramatic Societies, Schools and Colleges the writers have tried to provide as much information as possible along with backing tracks, DVD clips, sound effects, scripts and vocal scores thus enabling anyone to put on a version of the show.

At the World Premiere production a cast of 42 actors, singers and dancers were used, but this can be reduced to about 20 if a full cast is not available. All actors apart from the three principals (Winston, Clemmie and Percy) can double or treble up with extensive use of costumes and wigs.

The stage version can be simply staged if resources are limited. Basically, two trucks are required which can quickly be linked together to form a large base on wheels. The walls of Chartwell (Winston and Clemmies home) are erected on the back of these two trucks and the notes and plans provided give all the information required. On the reverse side there are two smaller sets - one of the Cabinet War Room and the other being The Oval Office in the White House.

If facilities for building such sets are unavailable then painted flats can be incorporated for the three locations mentioned above or alternatively it is possible to perform the entire production in pools of light using just a backdrop for Chartwell when needed.

In the original show there was extensive use of over 250 costumes, 50 wigs and 200 props, but again this can be cut down considerably depending on the size of production envisaged by the producer and director. Conversely there is no limit to the extent to which more lavish facilities can be employed. In either event, it is important to achieve a difference of feels on the stage, to suggest the actors entering a fairly lavish home (Chartwell) or in an underground bunker (Cabinet War Room).

No attempt is made to give a lighting plot as this entirely depends on the equipment available but, generally speaking, the play calls for full-up, warm, bright lighting during the dance numbers, more subdued lighting for the Cabinet War Room and Anne Franks Attic and a warm atmosphere for Chartwell. In the original production a combination of pinks and blues was used to great effect during the wedding scene.

Simple pools of light can be very effectively used as in the scene where Clemmie is writing a letter to Winston and all we see is Clemmie in a cool pool of light at her writing desk which then fades down as a pool of warm light on the other side of stage fades in showing Winston seated in a bamboo chair wearing hot climate clothes reading the letter.

'CHURCHILL - The Musical' does not need or use live musicians as the orchestral scoring of the show

would require over 35 musicians in order to recreate the variety of musical styles portrayed in the show ranging from large orchestral arrangements to big bands and more delicate arrangements using piano's and strings. We will supply a CD containing the backing tracks of all 20 songs in the show along with another CD with all the various sound effects required ranging from simple waves, seagulls, birdsong, clocks chiming etc to bombs exploding, aerial dogfights and air raid sirens.

In the original stage production the audiences eyes and ears were taken away from the stage during scene changes to large screens at the side of the stage showing external shots of the real Chartwell, along with relevant movie clips from the Second World War, all set to instrumental versions of songs from the show. These short films were enough to cover the sights and sounds of the scene changing taking place on stage whilst at the same time providing continuous entertainment and information about the upcoming scene. These short films will also be supplied on DVD and can be shown on either large flat screen TVs suspended at the front sides of the auditorium or projected onto white screens.

In addition to the stage play, a full SATB vocal score for each song will be needed for each member of the production and members of the chorus will need to be able to sing in four part harmony to give the best effects. The Chorus simply singing in unison is possible, but it will not have such an inspiring effect on the audience on such numbers as 'Road to Victory' and 'Our Finest Hour'.

There are four big dance numbers in the show ('The Rationing Song', 'Watch me Dance', 'We're In' and