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On Stage with Hal Leonard Australia – New Musical Releases for 2007!

This month brings not one but FOUR fantastic new releases to Australian and New Zealand stages. These titles range from the biggest Tony-award winning show in history, to a brand new Australian comedy currently enjoying a National tour. We are hugely excited to announce the following new releases to non-professional companies in Australia and New Zealand for performances in 2007:


EUROBEAT – Almost Eurovision!
The Producers
Return To The Forbidden Planet
San Francisco
and coming soon.... Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL!

Demand is going to be high, so make sure you get in quick with your perusal requests and applications for 2007!

Companies and schools will find something for everyone here…read on and you’ll be as excited as we are!

By Craig Christie and Andrew Patterson

It’s a musical banquet. It’s a glamourfest. It’s a political minefield. Eurobeat – the Eurovision Musical is an original adaptation of the infamous Eurovision Song Contest. Set in Sarajevo and hosted by the glamorous Bronya and her tall, blond, pretty and dumb co host Sergei they present for the enjoyment of the audience 12 acts representing an eclectic mix of countries.

Whether it be the Swedish pop stylings of AVLA, the Russian boy band KGBoyz, from the Hungarian triplets the Molnar Sisters with their powerful folk music (sung in Hungarian of course) to the heartfelt longing of the song for Ireland presented by Ronan Corr, audiences are treated to a smorgasbord of entertainment presented by a cast of 30 performers who sing, dance and whip audiences up into a frenzied state.

In true Eurovision style at the end of the performances the audiences have the opportunity to vote (having been endowed with a nationality on the night and handed a voting form upon entry). The audiences votes are tabulated and then counted down as each country’s votes are given out ’live via satellite’. The event is reinvented every night as the audience dictates who the winners are. Once they are identified by the end of the voting the winners return to the stage for a triumphant reprise of their winning entry.

Home-grown in Melbourne, this Australian musical has been touring capital cities since May 2006, bringing huge crowds wherever it goes. Visit www.eurobeat.com.au for tour dates and information, because this show is destined to take on the world!

Eurobeat will be available for performances by non-professional companies and schools in 2007. In addition, Hal Leonard Australia will also be releasing other musical works by Craig Christie, including After The Beep and The White Rose.

No band needed! Eurobeat comes with a full backing track CD. Eurobeat can be on as large or as small a scale as your budget permits.

The Producers

Book Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan
Lyricists Mel Brooks
Composer Mel Brooks

Bialystock and Bloom! Those names should strike terror and hysteria in anyone familiar with Mel Brooks’ classic cult comedy film. Now as a big Broadway musical, The Producers once again sets the standard for modern, outrageous, in-your-face humour. It is a truly “boffo” hit, winning a record twelve Tony® Awards and wowing capacity crowds night after night.

The plot is simple: a down-on-his-luck Broadway producer and his mild-mannered accountant come up with a scheme to produce the most notorious flop in history thereby bilking their backers (all “little old ladies”) out of millions of dollars. Only one thing goes awry: the show is a smash hit! The antics of Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom as they manoeuver their way fecklessly through finding a show (the gloriously offensive “Springtime For Hitler”), hiring a director, raising the money and finally going to prison for their misdeeds is a lesson in broad comic construction. At the core of the insanely funny adventure is a poignant emotional journey of two very different men who become friends.

With a truly hysterical book co-written by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (Annie) and music and lyrics by Mr Brooks, The Producers skewers Broadway traditions and takes no prisoners as it proudly proclaims itself an “equal opportunity offender!”

Return To The Forbidden Planet

Book Bob Carlton
Lyricists Bob Carlton
Composer Bob Carlton
Inspired by the motion picture 'Forbidden Planet'.

Join Captain Tempest and his fearless crew on their journey into hyperspace... and beyond!

This winner of the 1990 Olivier Award for Best Musical bursts with red hot rock and roll hits, including Great Balls of Fire, Good Vibrations, Teenager in Love and The Young Ones

So fasten your seat belts, set your ray guns to stun and get ready for a cosmic adventure of meteoric proportions! Bob Carlton's smash hit West End musical takes the 1956 film, with plot taken from Shakespeare's The Tempest, raids the Bard's other plays at will (and not always absolutely verbatim) and sets it to a score of great pop hits from the 1960s and 70s.
Songs include:
Shake Rattle 'n' Roll
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Gloria
Great Balls of Fire
Shakin' All Over
The Young Ones
Who's Sorry Now
Johnny B Goode
Born To Be Wild
Wipeout
Good Vibrations

San Francisco

Music and Lyrics: Geoff Morrow
Book/Lyrics: Martin Marcus, Timothy Prager, and Bob Bettinson.

A new adaptation of the 1936 MGM movie that starred Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy. Features the song ‘San Francisco’ made famous by Judy Garland.

The story begins on the Barbary Coast on New Year's Eve, 1906, as rakish but likeable political boss Blackie Norton hires demure young singer Mary Blake to perform at his rowdy Paradise gambling house. Local priest Father Mullin, Blackie's best friend, disapproves of the exploitation of the lovely Mary, feeling that she's suited for classier surroundings. Jack Hurley, Nob Hill socialite and Blackie's political rival, agrees with Father Mullin and offers the girl the opportunity to sing with the San Francisco Opera. Blackie, who's fallen in love with Mary but won't admit it to himself, jealously holds on to her contract, forcing Mary to walk out on him. Mary is torn between the "respectable" lifestyle offered her by Hurley and the baser creature comforts provided by Blackie. It looks for a while that Hurley has won out, but fate takes a hand in the form of the devastating San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906. Hurley is killed in the holocaust, while Blackie, desperately searching for Mary in the rubble, at long last finds religion and prays to God for his sweetheart's salvation.



Contact us today for information! Perusals can be requested by visiting our website at www.halleonard.com.au  and downloading a Perusal Request Form. More information about each of these shows will also be found in our Catalogue section.

We are very pleased to introduce to you all our new Customer Service Co-ordinator in our Music Licensing and Hire Department – Nikol McKail. Nikol is taking over from Craig Jamieson, who has moved to our Operations department as Shipping and Logistics Administrator. While we will miss Craig as he moves to his new position, we are very happy to welcome Nikol to Hal Leonard Australia. We’re sure you will all have a chance to get to know her as she assists you in your theatrical enquiries. In addition, Erin Matheson (Supervisor) and Stuart Hendricks (Manager) are also both here to help in any way they can.

COMING SOON……