productions
Click on a link below to display details of a production in the right-hand column of this page.
West End
Glyndebourne
Bach Festival Leipzig
Berliner Kammeroper
Aldeburgh/Almeida Opera
Radio
Brighton Theatre Collective
Community Opera
The Castle Wellingborough
Shaker Productions
Alarmist Theatre
- The School of Night
- Whose Crime Is It Anyway?
- The Bedbug (adaptation)
- The Assembly Women (adaptation)
Brighton Actors Workshop
Thumbscrew Theatre Company
Daddy cool
Daddy Cool is the story of Sunny, a young black musician who is a member of the Subsonics, a West London hip hop crew. The crew fall foul of an East London crew, The Blades, whose gangster rap does not stop short of real violence. They are led by Benny Baker, son of the pole-dance club owner, Ma Baker. Sunny meets and falls in love with Rose, Benny's sister and daughter of Ma Baker. The lovers' relationship fuels the hostility between the two gangs and reopens the feud between Ma Baker and Sunny's mother, who were both in love with the same man twenty five years earlier at the height of the disco era – the legendary Johnny Cool.
Music by: Boney M and Frank Farian Productions
Book by: Stephen Plaice with Amani Naphtali
Director: Andy Goldberg
Producers: Robert Mackintosh and Frank Farian
Choreographer: Sean Cheesman
Musical Staging: Lizzie Gee
Set and Costume designer: Jon Morrell
Lighting Designer: Rob Halliday
Original Book Concept: Mary Applegate and Michael Stark
Cast includes: Michelle Collins, Harvey, Javine, Melanie La Barrie, Camilla Beeput, Dwayne Wint, Hope Augustus, Donovan F Blackwood, Maxime Bowers, Jordan Darrell, Davie Fairbanks, Richard ‘Lianhart’ Francis, Adrian Gas, Duane O’ Garro, Alani Gibbon, Simon Harvey, Yasmin Kadi, Helen Kurup, Jay McKay, Michael Moulton, Sarah Moyle, Ricky Norwood, Page, Darvina Plante, Amber Rimell, Ezra Russell, Kirisa Samuel, Marc Small, Emmanuel Sonubi, Maria Swainson, Elliot Trend, Ashlea Vernon, Dennis Victory, Larrington Walker, Shelley Williams, Jacqui Zvimba
Première : Shaftesbury Theatre, September 21st 2006
Press notices
'The show, with a book by Stephen Plaice and Amani Naphtali and given a
raw, energetic production by Andy Goldberg, also boasts a soupçon
of wit, a hint of a heart and lashings of energy.'
Charles Spencer Daily Telegraph
'Rough but ready, this high-energy, vibrant, refreshingly unpretentious
show bursts with talent and has the feel of a street carnival to which everyone,
old and young, hip and not so hip (Cliff Richard, bless him, was dancing
in his seat), is welcome.'
Georgina Brown The Mail on Sunday
'The music, a sort of sexed-up disco with a generous sprinkling of rap,
is by the group Boney M and its prime mover, Frank Farian. However, they
and their librettists, Stephen Plaice and Amani Naphtali, avoid the obvious
dangers. This isn’t just a compendium show. Nor does it succumb to
the weakness of Mamma Mia — to insert Abba songs into a story that
has absolutely nothing to do with them.
Benedict Nightingale The Times
'The plot creaks, and the music — Boney M, with a side order of
Milli Vanilli — is relentlessly cheesy and reductive, but what the
hell, this is a rather wonderful show…Sure, they’ll pop open
the bubbly if the tills go ker-ching, but the team behind Daddy Cool
have managed not to entirely sacrifice heart and humour for profit.'
Dan Cairns The Sunday Times
'A largely black cast sizzle; the rapping is musical verbal terrorism;
the breakdancing is eye-popping; and you can't stop yourself having a sneaking
admiration for a show that integrates the song Rasputin without any reference
to haemophilia. On paper, Daddy Cool looked like the poor relation to the
autumn's musical big hitters, but it may outstay them all.'
Lyn Gardner The Guardian