Narnia is coming to town

Ready to roar: Lyric committee member, Chris Perrett helps Charles Gruen, who will be playing Aslan, with his lion costume.

REHEARSALS are now in full swing for the next Lyric Theatre musical Narnia, the stage adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first story in the Chronicles of Narnia, by C S Lewis.
Lyric Theatre’s Peter McAlpine was thrilled with the number of people who came to audition for the production.
“We had so many come to try-out; around 30 people have missed out on roles,” Mr McAlpine said.
“We chose this production because it has so many great roles for children. We haven’t really done a production for kids since Grease or for really young kids since The Wizard of Oz.
“The lead child characters range in age from eight, to 17. Out of 34 cast members, 21 are kids.”
The massive interest in the show by the youth of the area has led to the selection of an extremely talented cast now quickly learning new songs and movement for the show.
Narnia tells the story of four ordinary children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie who discover a wardrobe in Professor Digory Kirke’s house that leads to the magical land of Narnia.
The four children enter Narnia at a time of high adventure and come away with lessons of courage, selflessness and wisdom that will help them grow.
The children help King Aslan, the great lion of Narnia to save the world from the evil White Witch, who has reigned over the land of Narnia for a century of perpetual winter.
The production team for Narnia includes Scott Miller who is directing his first show with Lyric. He was been involved with Lyric, last year in Jekyll & Hyde and also with Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. Colin Chandler is music director, Cheryl Connor is choral director and Tania Chalmers is the choreographer.
Charles Gruen has been cast as Aslan and Lauren White will be playing the White Witch.
The lead roles for children are Peter, who is being played by Ayden Westaway who is 16.
Kate Ball, 17, is playing Susan, Tom Barker, who is 12, will play Edmund and Morgan Anthony, who is just eight, has the role of Lucy.
A highly skilled team has been established to manage set construction, costumes, lighting and sound.
The Leongatha Men’s Shed, who Lyric is accommodating until they find a permanent location, is also providing valuable assistance with construction of sets and other works.
If anybody would like to assist Lyric Theatre with set building or costume creation, contact Peter McAlpine on 5662 7222 or [email protected].
The cast is working extremely hard and enthusiastically and the show will be a treat to all, young and old. Tickets will be on sale next month.
The musical will open on Friday, July 13, at Mesley Hall, when a total of 10 shows will be performed over three weekends.

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Posted by SiteAdmin on May 30 2012. Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry