This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2015) |
Just So | |
---|---|
Music | George Stiles |
Lyrics | Anthony Drewe |
Book | Anthony Drewe |
Productions | 1984 Watermill Theatre 1990 Tricycle Theatre, London [1] 1998 Goodspeed Opera House 2001 North Shore Music Theatre 2003 Starlight Theatre 2005 Chichester Festival 2006 Globe Theatre 2008 Kanata Theatre 2010 Birmingham Rep. 2018 Barn Theatre, Cirencester 2021 Watermill Theatre |
Just So is a musical by Anthony Drewe and George Stiles written in 1984 based on the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Just So was originally produced by Cameron Mackintosh at the Watermill Theatre and in 1990, also by Mackintosh, at the Tricycle Theatre in London. It has been subsequently produced at various theatres in the US and UK.
Act One
The Eldest Magician begins by reading a story to the Best Beloved ("Just So"). All of the animals did as the Eldest Magician asked except for Pau Amma the Crab, who would go out looking for food twice a day, causing large areas of the land to flood ("Another Tempest"). The elephants gather round the watering hole to discuss the tyranny of the Crab. The Elephant's Child decides "There's No Harm in Asking", and so, he asks a series of "Silly Questions". They are interrupted by the Crab's feed and are forced to move to higher ground.
The Elephant's Child and the flightless Kolokolo Bird journey to the "Limpopo River" in search of the Crab. Travelling in a small raft, the two are washed up on an uninhabited island where the Parsee Man and his beloved Cooking Stove can no longer cook, as the Crab constantly floods the crops ("Living on This Island"). Rhinoceros bursts on stage complaining about his "Thick Skin" and continues on his way. Parsee Man and the cooking stove agree to cook a special cookie made out "Butter, Sugar and Flour". Parsee Man shows the Elephant's Child and the Kolokolo Bird "The Parsee Cake-Walk". Once the cake is completed, Rhino leaps forward and rushes off with it, leaving the Parsee Man and the cooking stove vowing to get revenge ("The Crime").
The Elephant's Child and the Kolokolo Bird set sail once again. The raft reaches the coast of Africa, where they meet the animals on the High Veldt ("The Chase"). When the Elephant's Child asks for help in finding the Crab, Jaguar and Leopard offer a deal: they will help find the Limpopo River in exchange for help finding Giraffe and Zebra. When the Elephant's Child asks why, Jaguar and Leopard cheerfully explain ("We Want to Take the Ladies Out"). The travelers feel they should warn the other animals, so they convince Giraffe and Zebra to join them ("Pick Up Your Hooves and Trot"). The Eldest Magician moulds and shapes the light beam to fall on the animals in such a way as to hide the giraffe and zebra. The two are transformed into their patchy and stripey patterns ("Jungle Light").
The Elephant's Child politely asks the Crab to stop playing with the sea. Pau Amma laughs and vows to go out and hunt for food seven times a day now so that the waters will never be still. The Kolokolo Bird convinces The Elephant's Child that they must continue their way to the Limpopo River and think of something to stop the Crab ("Limpopo River (Reprise)").
Act Two
The Eldest Magician is interrupted by the arrival of the Elephant's Child and the Kolokolo Bird having an argument ("The Argument"). The Eldest Magician introduces The Elephant's Child to the Kangaroo, who sings about how normal his legs used to be ("Aboriginally I Came"). He wanted, however, to be more powerful and so the Eldest Magician recruited the Dingo Dog to chase him, building up the muscles in the Kangaroo's legs ("Leaps and Bounds"). As he ran he began to hop, and as his legs got larger he hopped so much that he could run no more. As Kangaroo exits he warns the Elephant's Child: "Sometimes you get what you want, sometimes you get what you deserve".
Back in the jungle, the Kolokolo Bird sits wondering why she always makes herself wait ("Wait a Bit"). The two cats appear and tie her up, just as the Elephant's Child bursts through to rescue her. The Jaguar offers to let the bird go in exchange for the whereabouts of the Zebra and the Giraffe. Now perfectly camouflaged by their new skins, Giraffe and Zebra taunt and tease them. The Elephant's Child offers to show the Leopard and the Jaguar how they can change their skins too in exchange for his and the Kolokolo Bird's freedom. The cats agree and use smoke ("Just So (Reprise)") to acquire new hides of their own.
The Elephant's Child is searching for Kolokolo Bird in order to apologize ("Does the Moment Ever Come"). The Parsee Man and the Cooking Stove enter in a boat made from an upturned Crab shell with the Rhino swimming close behind. The Rhino blames the Parsee Man for ruining his skin, as he filled it with crumbs whilst the Rhino was swimming. He prepares to charge at the Parsee Man's Cooking Stove, but the Parsee Man begs the Rhino ("Please Don't Touch My Stove"). Rhino, Parsee Man, and the Cooking Stove all agree to be friends.
The Elephant's Child sees water in the distance and exclaims they must be at the Limpopo River. The Crocodile invites him to come over, offering to give the Elephant's Child directions if he will give him a meal ("Little One Come Hither"). Eventually, the Elephant's Child pulls free and the Crocodile slinks back into the water. The Elephant's Child is embarrassed to see that his nose has been pulled into a trunk. The Kolokolo Bird encourages him to look on the bright side of having such a long nose.
The Elephant's Child notices the abandoned Crab shell and realizes how they can defeat the Crab ("If"). As the Crab emerges from the water, the Eldest Magician casts a spell on the Crab which makes him shrink. When the Eldest Magician asks the other animals what to do with the Crab, the Elephant's Child prompts him to let the Crab go to play in the sea, where he can no longer harm anyone.
All of the animals and the Eldest Magician celebrate their victories and their uniqueness with a grand finale ("Just So (Reprise)/Limpopo River (Reprise").
Act 1
Act 2
Main characters:
Secondary characters:
Ensemble:
Character(s) | Original 1984 Watermill Theatre cast | 1990 London cast | 2005 Chichester Festival Theatre & cast recording [2] | 2018 Cirencester cast | 2021 Watermill Theatre cast |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elephant's Child | Nathan Campbell | Richard Henders | Richard Dempsey | Lewis Corney | Eleanor Kane |
Kolokolo Bird | Emma Redmond | Linzi Hateley | Julie Atherton | Molly Lynch | Emma Lucia |
Eldest Magician | William Pool | Gary Bond | John Barrowman | Duncan Drury | Nathanael Campbell |
Parsee | Clive Rowe | Clive Rowe | Ahmet Ahmet | Kiran Patel | Dan De Druz |
Cooking Stove | Todd Kane | Tom Robbins | Anthony Drewe | Evie Rose Lane | Peter Mooney |
Giraffe | Jane Morton | Nadia Strachan | Alexis Owen-Hobbs | Imogen Halsey | Emma Morton |
Zebra | Laura Anderson | Sharon Benson | Akiya Henry | Rosalind Ford | Laura Guimarães |
Jaguar | Mark Inscoe | Clinton Derricks | Dean Hussain | Dylan Wynford | Dan De Cruz |
Leopard | Daniel Parker | Tico Wells | Simon Grieff | Grant Urquart | Kemi Clarke |
Rhino | Martyn Ellis | Martyn Ellis | Nicolas Colicos | Michaela Stern | Alexander Bean |
Kangaroo | Simon Cranfield | David Schneider | Andrew Spillett | David Tinston | Peter Mooney |
Dingo Dog | Rachel Lee | Jenna Russell | Daniele Coombe | Sophie Lane | Emma Morton |
The 2005 production of the show was recorded with the Chichester Festival Theatre cast (including Julie Atherton, and Richard Dempsey) and also featuring John Barrowman as the Eldest Magician, and Anthony Drewe as the cooking stove, but it does not include all the numbers, particularly "Aboriginally I". [3]
The Houston Zoo is a 55-acre (22 ha) zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The zoo houses over 6,000 animals from more than 900 species. It receives around 2 million visitors each year and is the second most visited zoo in the United States, surpassed only by the San Diego Zoo. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
Just So Stories for Little Children is a 1902 collection of origin stories by the British author Rudyard Kipling. Considered a classic of children's literature, the book is among Kipling's best known works.
Samburu National Reserve is a game reserve on the banks of the Ewaso Ng'iro river in Kenya. It is 165 km2 (64 sq mi) in size and is 350 km (220 mi) from Nairobi. It ranges in elevation from 800 to 1,230 m. Geographically and administratively, it is part of Samburu County.
Mysore Zoo, officially known as Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, is a composite of zoological gardens and animal park located in the southern Indian city of Mysore, Karnataka. Stretching across a 157-acre (64 ha)-expanse and situated at about 700 metres from Mysore Palace, it is the oldest zoo in India and one of the oldest in the world. One of the most popular zoos in India and one of the city's most popular attractions, it is home to a wide range of over 168 species.
Brevard Zoo is a 75-acre nonprofit facility located in Melbourne, Florida, United States, that is home to more than 800 animals representing more than 170 species from Florida, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The zoo features animal feedings, kayak tours, behind-the-scenes tours, and a train ride, along with the attraction Treetop Trek. The zoo has also featured a dinosaur exhibit several times in its past, including one titled "Dinosaurs are Back", which ran from November 2017 to April 2018. Brevard Zoo is a nonprofit organization accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
64 Zoo Lane is a children's animated series created by Belgian-born English author An Vrombaut. The series is co-produced by French animation studio Millimages and British-based Zoo Lane Productions in association with ZDF and ZDF Enterprises. La Cinquième, The Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Co., Sofica Cofanim and CBeebies, with the participation of France 5 /France Televisions.
ABQ BioPark Zoo, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a facility of the Albuquerque Biological Park. Founded in 1927, the 64-acre (26 ha) zoo was originally known as the Rio Grande Zoo. Sections of the zoo include an Africa exhibit area, an Australia exhibit area, the "Cat Walk" and a herpetology area. An endangered species carousel was added in 2016. A narrow-gauge railroad connects the zoo to the other facilities of the Albuquerque Biological Park. Walking distance through the zoo is 2.27 miles (3.65 km).
The San Antonio Zoo is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums–accredited zoo in Midtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is located in the city's Brackenridge Park. San Antonio Zoo is a 50+ acre zoo home to over 750 species, some of which are endangered or extinct in the wild, and an annual attendance of more than 1 million. It also runs non-animal attractions, such as the 2 ft narrow gauge San Antonio Zoo Eagle train ride, which first opened in 1956.
Shanghai Zoological Park, or commonly Shanghai Zoo in short, is the one of the two main zoos in Shanghai. It is located near the township of Hongqiao and is administratively in Changning District. Shanghai Zoo was formerly known as " Xijiao Park", which is still a common name used locally for the zoo.
The Bratislava Zoo is a zoo in Bratislava, Slovakia. It is located in the area of Mlynská dolina in the borough Karlova Ves. Opened in 1960, it is the second oldest zoo in Slovakia. The zoo covers an area of 96 hectares, out of which 35 hectares is open to the public. The zoo receives on average around 300,000 visitors annually.
The wildlife of Zimbabwe occurs foremost in remote or rugged terrain, in national parks and private wildlife ranches, in miombo woodlands and thorny acacia or kopje. The prominent wild fauna includes African buffalo, African bush elephant, black rhinoceros, southern giraffe, African leopard, lion, plains zebra, and several antelope species.
The Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens is a joint zoo and botanical garden located at Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan. It is open every day except Monday, and charges a modest admission fee.
The ZooParc de Beauval, more commonly called Beauval Zoo or, more simply, Beauval, is a French zoological park located in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire. It features more than 35,000 animals on 40 hectares, which is one of the largest animal collections in France and in Europe. Created in 1980 by Françoise Delord, it is now run by her son, Rodolphe Delord, and managed by his family, which owns most of the capital.
Barcelona Zoo is a zoo in the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The zoo used to be internationally known as the home of Snowflake, the only known albino gorilla, who died in 2003.
Tshukudu Private Game Reserve, is situated next to the Kruger Park, near Hoedspruit, Limpopo province, South Africa. The name "Tshukudu" means "rhino" in Sotho. Tshukudu has been a family owned reserve since 1980.
Moditlo Private Game Reserve forms an integral part of the 10 000 hectare Blue Canyon Private Game Reserve, located near Hoedspruit, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The reserve borders Kapama Game Reserve to the eastern side, the Drakensberg Mountains forms the backdrop to the west, and falls into the southern/central region of the Greater Kruger Park biosphere. The size of the Blue Canyon Conservancy has now reached 36,000 acres in total, and is home to typical African game such as lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos, cheetahs, hippos and several hundreds of bird species typical to the lowveld in South Africa. The reserve is also home to a pack of wild dogs, which is the second rarest carnivore species in Africa with only an estimated 2000 remaining specimen in existence.
Le Cornelle is a zoo and amusement park in Valbrembo, in the Lombardy province, northern Italy, created by Angelo Ferruccio Benedetti in 1981; extending over an area of 100,000 square metres.
Kōbe Ōji Zoo, or simply Kobe Zoo or Ōji Zoo (王子動物園), is a municipal zoo in Kobe, Japan.