The Legend of Deadrock Manor
December 2005

The Show

After the success of last year's rock musical, Return to the Forbidden Planet, the Conquest Youth Theatre decided to write their own rock musical, something tailor-made for and by the group, something dramatic, challenging and just a little bit spooky...
The Result was The Legend of Deadrock Manor, created by the whole company throughout 2005 to produce this exciting and dymanic show. Technical, musical and artistic expertise in every form (acting, dancing, singing, artwork, set, props, costume) were stretched further than ever to create a theatrical experience to remember! The costumes and props were designed and created especially for the show by a team of willing volunteers, the dance routines choreographed by Greg Harwood. The songs were diverse and included some excellent classics such as Alice Cooper's 'Poison', Cockney Rebel's 'Mr Soft', Meatloaf's 'Deadringer for Love', 'Love Potion Number 9', Wilson Pickett's 'Midnight Hour', plus other great rock/soul numbers and a few beautiful ballads. The backing tracks were all played and recorded by Jim Rolt, the company's talented musician/sound engineer and all backing vocals were recorded and/or sung live by the company. All lead vocals were sung live - this show really rocked!

The Story
Legend has it that on All Hallow's Eve (Hallow'een) the worlds of the living and the dead are at their closest and if you're in the right place, at the right time, the veil that divides us might just part for a while and you could experience something a little bit unusual, (whether you return to your own realm or not is another matter though). Such a place is Deadrock Manor and most are afraid to enter the old house, especially on this particular night. But it appears there's to be a party at the old Manor and some are keen to go there. As the two worlds open up to each other and a bizarre party begins, who will make it out by dawn? Will our intrepid human 'goths' even notice they are partying with werewolves, vampires, ghosts and other spirits of the night? Will they care?
We follow the fortunes of several humans who brave the old manor to 'party' and the spooky inhabitants of the manor as they entertain their guests....

Deadrock Manor was amazing and it ROCKED! Read our excellent review published in the local Bromyard publication 'Off the Record' below.

The Cast & Crew:

In order of appearance
Lily - Ellie Scott
Daemon Ben Marshall
Ghoria Banshee - Scarlett O'Donnell
Dr Cadavia Nocturna - Grace Parker
Baron Von Wolfenstein (Wolfie) - Joe Rolt
Humphrey Boggart - Josh Raven
JB - Liam Stobart
The Grey Lady (Olivia) - Angharad Smith
Count Dorlok - Ian Smith
Roxanne - Christine Hamilton
Ali - Emma Gibbons
Jack - Ollie Edgar
Meg - Abby Regan
Sam - Helen Albert
Effie - Steph Street
Una - Beth Flathers
Mony - Joanna Handley
Zoe - Alex Matthews
Charlie - Lucy Parker
Felicity - Mary Ann Wall
The Boz - Chris Cook

Music

Music for the recorded soundtrack was arranged, performed and engineered by Jim Rolt at Chelston Studios
'You Really Got Me' & 'Wild Thing' were played live on stage by 'real-life' band 'Ilusion' - Josh Raven (guitar & vocals), Ben Marshall (drums) and Chris Cook (bass guitar).

Sound ... Jim Rolt
Lighting ... Hugh Farey
Stage Manager ... Joyce Marshall
Stage Crew... Matt Oliver, Frances Page, Georgia De Rohan, Veronica Dru, Kitty Goff

Directed & Designed by Barbara Hockley
Costumes by Barbara Hockley, Jill Hockley, Alison Stobart, Kevin Stobart & Steph Breeze with thanks to Jane Raven, Jenny Shortland Anne Watson & Joyce Marshall
Set Construction - Jim Rolt, Barbara Hockley, Hugh Farey, Angharad Smith, Emma Gibbons, Pete Goodson
Make-up by the Company with special thanks to Karen Neilson and Jean Walker for advice and materials.
Vampire Teeth thanks to Ann Smith
Photographs & AV show by Peter Frampton

The Review

"Follow that!" they said at the end of The Return To The Forbidden Planet, and by golly, they did. One might have been forgiven for a few forebodings about a rock opera improvised by a group of teenagers, but under the masterful direction of Barbara Hockley, their initial ideas, themes and characters were crafted together into a coherent whole, built around twenty or so classic rock hits.

The unusual plot involved a Halloween competition between an eclectic group of the undead, each trying to be the first to seduce an unsuspecting human, and thus draw him into their realm. This year's game is infiltrated by last year's victim, whose aim is to draw her boyfriend after her into the otherworld. A number of delightful little subplots decorated the main theme, and there was an intriguing twist at the very end.

A good thing about writing your own show is that everybody's talents can be exploited to their best, and it was clear that being comfortable in their own roles enabled each of these young actors to interact as team. Particularly notable was the developing romance between a rather feisty banshee (Scarlett O'Donnell) and the venerable butler of Deadrock Manor (Josh Raven), the ensemble acting of a group of demon dolls (Steph Street, Beth Flathers and Joanna Handley) and a wonderful little cameo between an eager young human (Mary Ann Wall) and a very apprehensive apprentice butler (Liam Stobart).

The older members of the cast led the show both dramatically and vocally, with terrific solos from five of them (Joe Rolt, Angharad Smith, Emma Gibbons, Ben Marshall and Ellie Scott) and a couple of crisp numbers from live band Illusion (Josh Raven, Ben Marshall and Chris Cook). On top of this there was a really amazing 3D ghost effect at the end of Act 1, where all the audience had to wear special glasses, and a wonderful audio-visual slide presentation in the foyer during the interval by photographer Peter Frampton. There is barely room to mention the technical wizardry behind all this performance. Jim Rolt's backing tracks (with recorded vocals from the cast), the all-original costumes (Barbara and a dedicated team), the ghost, werewolf and vampire make-up, Boz Farey's atmospheric lighting and Greg Harwood's choreography all combined to make the show truly first-rate, with a talented committed cast and highly professional production values.

This review appeared in the January 2006 edition of 'Off the Record'

Pictures of the show in rehearsal

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