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A classic coming-of-age story set in the forgotten world of the great New England sailing ships. In 1928, a millionaire's pampered son falls off an ocean liner and is rescued by a Portuguese fisherman, who teaches him the virtue of hard work and the true riches of life.
Harvey Cheyne, a spoiled 12-year-old boy who falls off his father's ocean liner in the North Atlantic in 1928. Rescued by Manuel, a Portuguese fisherman, Harvey is brought aboard a New England fishing schooner and put to work. Thrust into a pre-modern world of ropes, sails and fishing lines, Harvey rebels, and he is soon branded a "Jonah" and blamed for the ship's bad luck. But with Manuel's help and friendship, Harvey leaves his boyhood behind, wins over the crew, and learns the value of hard work, spirit and song. The musical is based on the Rudyard Kipling novel and the classic Academy Award-winning film.
Though CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS was written for an all-male cast (a 12-year-old boy and fifteen men), the show can be performed by mixed-gender groups (with women taking the tenor roles and the role of Harvey played by a girl). Most of the action of the show takes place on a sailing ship; in prior productions, minimal sets have worked better than naturalistic ones. The show has also worked well in concert presentations, with no set and reduced staging. (Note: in publicity images, be certain not to use pictures of square-rigged "tall ships"; the ship in this story is a two-masted, fore-and-aft-rigged schooner, as in Winslow Homer paintings.)
Patrick Cook and Frederick Freyer
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS
A Musical
Music by FREDERICK FREYER
Book & Lyrics by PATRICK COOK
Based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling and the movie by John Lee Mahin, Marc Connelly, and Dale van Every.
Captains Courageous was presented at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals in 1990
Originally produced in New York City by the Manhattan Theatre Club, February 1999
Originally Produced by Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C. 1992
Subsequently produced by Goodspeed Opera House, Michael P. Price, Executive Producer
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS was partially developed at the O’Neill Center during the 1990 National Music Theatre Conference
MANUEL (tenor/baritone): a Portuguese fisherman
HARVEY CHEYNE (boy alto): a 12-year-old boy
CAPTAIN TROOP (baritone): captain of the "We're Here".
DAN (1st tenor): the captain's son, 16 years old.
DOC (bass): cook on the "We're Here".
MR. CHEYNE (non-singing): wealthy industrialist, Harvey's father.
ELIOT (non-singing): Mr. Cheyne's secretary SHIP'S ATTENDANT (non-singing)
CREW OF THE "WE'RE HERE":
LONG JACK: (baritone/bass) morose, religious, menacing.
EVANS: (second tenor) unassuming, insecure
HEMANS: (second tenor) dark, sensitive.
STEPHENS: (bass) intelligent, assertive.
SIMON: (baritone) jocular, the "class clown".
TOM PLATT: (first tenor) educated, rational.
OLLIE (bass): elderly, wise.
PETERS (second tenor): shifty, ill-mannered.
HARRIS (first tenor): portly, dour.
MURPHY (baritone): short-tempered, brutish.
WALTERS (bass): burly, loyal
N.B.:The ages of the crew may range from 20's to 60's. Ollie is the oldest member of the crew. MR. CHEYNE, ELIOT, and SHIP'S ATTENDANT double as crew members.
Conductor/Keyboard 1 (Piano)
Keyboard 2 (Synthesizer, Accordion)
Reed 1 (Clarinet, Flute)
Reed 2 (Oboe, English Horn)
Reed 3 (Bassoon)
Trumpet
French Horn
Violin
Viola
Cello
Bass
Percussion
Two
April 14, 2012 - April 22, 2012
Tacoma Musical Playhouse
Tacoma, WA
