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Mabel Stark: Tiger Tamer
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Mabel Stark: Tiger Tamer
Mabel Stark: Tiger Tamer
A new musical.
Music & Book by Jonathan Cooper; Lyrics by Barb Jungr
Commissioned by the Royal & Derngate Theatres.
With additional support from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Greenwich Theatre, & Nitro.
A musical telling the real life story of one of the twentieth century’s greatest female circus performers, Mabel Stark. Rising through the ranks of the circus from exotic dancer to star turn, Mabel Stark becomes a world-renowned big cat trainer, performing with lions, tigers and even the odd panther. Mabel was outspoken, irascible, moody and often unpredictable but irresistible to men, rapidly going through a succession of husbands. But the real constant in her life is Rajah, a magnificent male Bengal tiger. This music theatre version of Mabel’s life features a male chorus playing both Mabel's husbands and her tigers and is based on a series of letters Mabel wrote to a potential biographer.
First showcased in Musical Futures at the Greenwich Theatre in November 2008. Supported by Greenwich Theatre and Nitro.
Developed further by Royal & Derngate Theatres, Northampton and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in October 2009 and by the Royal & Derngate Theatres in November 2011 with Director Laurie Sansom.
You can listen here to excerpts from the musical recorded live during workshops with the following performers:
2011: Simon Burke, Michael Rouse, Hal Fowler, Mark Dickinson, Kevin Walton, Liza Sadovy, Laura Pitt-Pulford, Cathy Jayes (MD), John-Paul Gandy (piano).
2009: MA students from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama.
2008: Jonathan Storey, Jacob Chapman, Michael Rouse, Kevin Walton, Barb Jungr, Jonathan Cooper (piano).
Please contact Jonathan Cooper or Barb Jungr for further information.
LISTEN TO Back In The Golden Days (live edit)
LISTEN TO Mary Haynie Once (live edit)
LISTEN TO How I Started Out Boys (live edit)
LISTEN TO Might That Interest You? (live edit)
LISTEN TO On The Road (live edit)
LISTEN TO Sometimes (live edit)
LISTEN TO Coming Undone (live edit)
LISTEN TO In The Ring Tonight (live edit)
LISTEN TO Nothing Left To Hide (live edit)
LISTEN TO Circus Folk Give It All They Got (live edit)
LISTEN TO The Great Miss Stark (live edit)
LISTEN TO Together (live edit)