Synopsis

In the early 1980’s, Dennis Watkins tried to imagine what the most ludicrous update of Shakespeare you could think of would be, and, being brought up on the ‘schools out for summer’, incy-wincy bikini movies of the 1960’s (his favourite being ‘How To Stuff A Wild Bikini’), he naturally arrived at the beach party movie genre.

After Dennis met Chris Harriot, ‘Beach Blanket Tempest’ was born in 1984, and it became a major hit in Australia. It toured all over Queensland, the Northern Territory, Adelaide and finally Sydney. It was revived in the early 1990’s and again received great reviews. One described it as “… a nicely rounded pop musical, but apart from a few cracks of lightning and a bit of a storm at sea, it has little in common with Shakespeare”. Dennis Watkins begs to differ. In ‘The Tempest’ proper, Shakespeare examines the relationship between a Duke, called Prospero, and his evil and jealous brother. The brother steals Prospero’s fortune and casts him and his daughter onto an island. While marooned there Prospero practices magic, raises his daughter and meets and releases a spirit from a tree. He also meets another ‘resident’ of the island, who is the mis-shapen son of a witch.

In ‘Beach Blanket Tempest’, the central character is Vince Prospero; he is the Duke Of Rock ‘N Roll, a superstar of Elvis proportions. He too is marooned on an island with his gorgeous daughter, Annette. Their ‘spirit’ is Gidget, a genie released not from a tree, but from a bottle. She wants to be free and ride the wild surf of the world. The ‘other resident’ is Moondoggie, a delinquent teenage punk biker. Just as in Shakespeare’s tempest, a wild storm is whipped up in ‘BBT’ to bring the evil brother and his cohorts to the island, with Vince Prospero setting up a series of tests, designed to reveal Tony Prospero’s true evil character.

In the modern age, the most entertaining ‘tests’ are of course quizzes on television. So, true to form, the last part of BBT takes the form of a Giant Quiz Show where Tony Prospero and other contestants are invited to ‘come on down’! The chorus sings, “Will you take the great temptation?”, as the evil brother’s true character is laid bare.

Much in the vein of ‘Return To The Forbidden Planet’, ‘Beach Blanket Tempest’ is a stupendous show that is jam-packed with thumpingly catchy ballads and tunes, beautiful love duets, thrashing sixties rock, and even a visit from The Supremes.

The show was originally cast for a minimum of eight, but this new edition for schools and amateur groups has a chorus that becomes part of the tempest; spirits on the island; more Supreme Beings look-alikes; party animals, and members of the TV Studio audience.

Beach blankets by the way, are made from two normal-sized beach towels sewn together so that two people can sit or lie on them.

Characters

Songs