A New Musical
Book by Thomas
Edward West Lyrics by
Alison Hubbard
Music by
Kim Oler
Based on the play by
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero
(1921)
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Characters: OLIVER BASHFORTH,
20’s; once young, athletic and handsome, a stray bombshell in a World War I
trench has transformed him into a wreck of a young man; his face is drawn and pale
and heavily scarred; his eyes are sunken; his clothes hang loosely upon a
twisted and emaciated frame. He is mysteriously changed back into his former handsome
self over the course of the play. Vocal range:
A-Ab (baritone/tenor) LAURA PENNINGTON,
20’s; an exceedingly plain young woman with a sallow, unhealthy complexion
and colorless lips. Her dull, scant hair is drawn tightly from her temples and
she is pronouncedly round-shouldered. During the play she is transformed into a
lithe, elegant, strikingly beautiful woman. Vocal range: A-F (soprano/mezzo) MAJOR MURRAY
HILLGROVE, 40's; once a minor tennis player,
Hillgrove was blinded in the war and now keeps himself amused with the comings
and goings of the locals in the small West Sussex town where he is a houseguest
for the summer. He has faced his blindness with a stoic courage and now lives
through his vivid imagination. Vocal range: A-G (baritone/bass) MRS. MINNETT,
35; widowed by the war, the once-lively Mrs. Minnett has withdrawn into a
melancholy, lonely existence as the caretaker of the cottage to which Oliver has
retreated. She has a mysterious, spidery air about her that, combined with a
local legend, has caused her to be identified as a witch. Vocal range: G-Eb
(belt/mezzo) CHARLES CORSELLIS,
60’s, Rector of Fittlehurst. A country cleric, Corsellis and his wife tend an
ever-dwindling congregation and an ever-growing brood of children. He has the
round, staring eyes and puzzled air of one who is in constant bewilderment at
the difficulties of his position. (doubles as WOODCUTTER). Vocal range: B-E (baritone) MRS. CORSELLIS,
30’s, a genteel, delicate‑looking lady with a weary smile and a
desperate need to feed her growing family. She is about eight months pregnant.
(doubles as WOODCUTTER’S BRIDE). Vocal range: B-Eb (mezzo) MRS. SMALLWOOD,
late 40’s, Oliver's social-climbing mother, elegant, voluble, and domineering. Beneath her flippant exterior resides a deep concern for Oliver.
(doubles as LADY). Vocal range: A-Eb (belt/mezzo) RUPERT SMALLWOOD,
55, Oliver’s stepfather, a gaunt, lank, saturnine man of
fifty-five with a solemn visage and ponderous manner.
(doubles as LORD). Vocal range: A-F (baritone/bass) Harry RIGG,
Major Hillgrove's manservant and former aide-de-camp, a man of soldierly
appearance and manner, minus his right arm. (doubles as TOM MINNETT). Vocal range: A-E (baritone/tenor)
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Copyright © 2008 Thomas Edward West, Alison Hubbard and Kim Oler
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