Our House (musical)
Encyclopedia
Our House is a musical
with music and lyrics from Madness
and the book by Tim Firth
. The show featured songs from the ska
/pop
band Madness, and was named after one of their popular hit singles, "Our House
". The story is of Joe Casey, who becomes involved in petty crime and follows different directions in his life in London.
in the West End
from 28 October 2002 to 16 August 2003.
Michael Jibson
made his professional debut as Joe Casey and was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Direction was by Matthew Warchus
with choreography by Peter Darling
, and featured Julia Gay as Sarah. Members of the band Madness played roles in the executive production of the show, and Madness frontman Suggs performed in the production for a while as Joe's father.
The musical won the 2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. However, it received mixed reviews and closed after less than 10 months.
in July 2008 to Crawley
in March 2009.
The touring production changed aspects of the show in reaction to criticism of show's début in the West End
. House of Fun
was replaced with "Los Palmas 7" as the opening of the show. "Sarah's Song" was also replaced with the new Madness
hit "NW5
".
.
The show was performed in Ramat Gan, Israel
, by the Beit Zvi
Company in May 2010.
Our House is the story of Joe Casey who, on the night of his sixteenth birthday, takes Sarah, the girl of his dreams, out on their first date. In an effort to impress her with bravado, he breaks into a building site overlooking his home on Casey Street, which is owned by Mister Pressman, a high-end property developer. The police turn up, at which point Joe’s life splits into two: the Good Joe, who stays to help, and Bad Joe, who flees.
Good Joe, having stayed to help Sarah, is sent to a ‘correctional facility’ for two years. On his release, finding that his past prevents him from getting a good job, he struggles to make ends meet. Despite managing to buy himself a second-hand car, he convinces himself that he is an embarrassment to all who care about him – especially Sarah, whose new college lifestyle reading law is complicated by Callum, a fellow student. In an effort to keep up with this guy, Good Joe is beguiled by his ‘mate’ Reecey into helping stage a break-in for some easy money – is caught and this time sent down.
Meanwhile, Bad Joe has lost Sarah, but is making a success of a burgeoning career, using his breaking and entering skills to install security systems which he then instructs a lowlife ‘mate’ called Reecey how to breach. His efforts soon earn him enough money to start his own business in property development, where he attracts the attention of Mister Pressman. Now a successful businessman, he is able to swan back into Sarah’s life, literally sweeping her off her feet at her college dance.
Three years later, at 21, Bad Joe and Sarah get married in Vegas, while Good Joe is leaving prison, forced to sleep rough in the second-hand car he bought all those years ago. At this point, Good Joe and Bad Joe’s worlds start to collide. Mister Pressman has decided to ‘redevelop’ Camden by demolishing Casey Street – except Joe’s mum Kath refuses to leave. This house is special, she says, given to her family in perpetuity because their ancestors helped build Casey Street.
Good Joe vows to save the house. He calls on Sarah, now a trainee lawyer engaged to Callum, to help prove that Kath does own the deeds to 25 Casey Street. Bad Joe, meanwhile, is called on by Mister Pressman to help destroy the house in a strong arm final straw tactic to get the occupant to move out. Bad Joe does this by arranging – with Reecey’s help - for the house to be burned down while she is out celebrating her birthday. Except tragically all Kath wants to do is wait in the house for her son to come visit her on that special day. In the Good Joe story, the errant son returns, holding the property deeds, to find the house burning down but his mum safe; in the Bad Joe story the ‘successful’ son returns too late, to realise his mum was in there, waiting for him.
From the ashes of the house fire Good Joe is reborn, reunited with Sarah, who he marries, and also with his mum. Mister Pressman and Reecey are sent down for arson. Bad Joe, having lost Sarah and his mum, is sent down as an accomplice to manslaughter. And in the final beat of the show we wind back time to where we started, the moment of decision on Joe’s sixteenth birthday: when asked what he wants to do, somehow he knows now the right decision to make. He simply says ‘Let’s go dancing!’
in December 2003 and was released on DVD
on 1 November 2004.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with music and lyrics from Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
and the book by Tim Firth
Tim Firth
Tim Firth is an English dramatist, screenwriter and songwriter.Tim Firth was born, and has lived all his life in, the North West of England on the border of Cheshire and Lancashire...
. The show featured songs from the ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
/pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band Madness, and was named after one of their popular hit singles, "Our House
Our House (Madness song)
"Our House" is a single by English ska/pop band Madness, from their UK album The Rise & Fall and their US compilation Madness.-About:...
". The story is of Joe Casey, who becomes involved in petty crime and follows different directions in his life in London.
Productions
Our House was first staged at the Cambridge TheatreCambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929-30. It was designed by Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie; interior partly by Serge Chermayeff, with interior bronze friezes by sculptor Anthony Gibbons...
in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
from 28 October 2002 to 16 August 2003.
Michael Jibson
Michael Jibson
Michael Jibson is an English actor born in 1980, Hull, East Yorkshire, England. He is married to the stage actress Caroline Sheen. His father, Tim Jibson, was the programme director of KCFM in Hull. His brother is the actor Paul Jibson...
made his professional debut as Joe Casey and was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Direction was by Matthew Warchus
Matthew Warchus
-Life:Warchus studied music and drama at Bristol University. He has directed for the National Youth Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, Opera North, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera and in the West...
with choreography by Peter Darling
Peter Darling
Peter Darling is an English dancer and choreographer best known for his award-winning work in Billy Elliot the Musical.-External links:...
, and featured Julia Gay as Sarah. Members of the band Madness played roles in the executive production of the show, and Madness frontman Suggs performed in the production for a while as Joe's father.
The musical won the 2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. However, it received mixed reviews and closed after less than 10 months.
UK tour
A UK revival started at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and continued on a UK tour in 2008, with Chris Carswell playing the lead role of Joe Casey. In 2008/2009 it played cities from StokeStoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
in July 2008 to Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
in March 2009.
The touring production changed aspects of the show in reaction to criticism of show's début in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
. House of Fun
House of Fun
"House of Fun" is a song by British ska/pop group Madness, credited to Mike Barson and Lee Thompson. It was released as a one-off single on April 30, 1982, and reached #1 in the UK charts, spending 9 weeks in the charts. The song was re-released in 1992, reaching #40...
was replaced with "Los Palmas 7" as the opening of the show. "Sarah's Song" was also replaced with the new Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
hit "NW5
NW5
"NW5" is a single by the band Madness, released in January 2008.The band brought it out via their own label, Lucky 7 Records.The single entered the chart at no.24 on Sunday 20th Jan 2008....
".
International productions
A new production of the show toured Japan in July 2006, starting in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
The show was performed in Ramat Gan, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, by the Beit Zvi
Beit Zvi
Beit Zvi is an acting school located in Ramat Gan, Israel. Graduates of the school are much in demand in the Israeli theater world.-History:...
Company in May 2010.
Synopsis
This is a synopsis of the new production after the show had been adaptedOur House is the story of Joe Casey who, on the night of his sixteenth birthday, takes Sarah, the girl of his dreams, out on their first date. In an effort to impress her with bravado, he breaks into a building site overlooking his home on Casey Street, which is owned by Mister Pressman, a high-end property developer. The police turn up, at which point Joe’s life splits into two: the Good Joe, who stays to help, and Bad Joe, who flees.
Good Joe, having stayed to help Sarah, is sent to a ‘correctional facility’ for two years. On his release, finding that his past prevents him from getting a good job, he struggles to make ends meet. Despite managing to buy himself a second-hand car, he convinces himself that he is an embarrassment to all who care about him – especially Sarah, whose new college lifestyle reading law is complicated by Callum, a fellow student. In an effort to keep up with this guy, Good Joe is beguiled by his ‘mate’ Reecey into helping stage a break-in for some easy money – is caught and this time sent down.
Meanwhile, Bad Joe has lost Sarah, but is making a success of a burgeoning career, using his breaking and entering skills to install security systems which he then instructs a lowlife ‘mate’ called Reecey how to breach. His efforts soon earn him enough money to start his own business in property development, where he attracts the attention of Mister Pressman. Now a successful businessman, he is able to swan back into Sarah’s life, literally sweeping her off her feet at her college dance.
Three years later, at 21, Bad Joe and Sarah get married in Vegas, while Good Joe is leaving prison, forced to sleep rough in the second-hand car he bought all those years ago. At this point, Good Joe and Bad Joe’s worlds start to collide. Mister Pressman has decided to ‘redevelop’ Camden by demolishing Casey Street – except Joe’s mum Kath refuses to leave. This house is special, she says, given to her family in perpetuity because their ancestors helped build Casey Street.
Good Joe vows to save the house. He calls on Sarah, now a trainee lawyer engaged to Callum, to help prove that Kath does own the deeds to 25 Casey Street. Bad Joe, meanwhile, is called on by Mister Pressman to help destroy the house in a strong arm final straw tactic to get the occupant to move out. Bad Joe does this by arranging – with Reecey’s help - for the house to be burned down while she is out celebrating her birthday. Except tragically all Kath wants to do is wait in the house for her son to come visit her on that special day. In the Good Joe story, the errant son returns, holding the property deeds, to find the house burning down but his mum safe; in the Bad Joe story the ‘successful’ son returns too late, to realise his mum was in there, waiting for him.
From the ashes of the house fire Good Joe is reborn, reunited with Sarah, who he marries, and also with his mum. Mister Pressman and Reecey are sent down for arson. Bad Joe, having lost Sarah and his mum, is sent down as an accomplice to manslaughter. And in the final beat of the show we wind back time to where we started, the moment of decision on Joe’s sixteenth birthday: when asked what he wants to do, somehow he knows now the right decision to make. He simply says ‘Let’s go dancing!’
Original Cast
- Michael JibsonMichael JibsonMichael Jibson is an English actor born in 1980, Hull, East Yorkshire, England. He is married to the stage actress Caroline Sheen. His father, Tim Jibson, was the programme director of KCFM in Hull. His brother is the actor Paul Jibson...
- Joe Casey - Chris Thatcher - Alternate Joe Casey
- Richard Frame - Emmo
- Oliver Jackson - Lewis
- Hannah Tollman - Chemist/Policewoman/Harper
- Julia Gay - Sarah
- Tameka Empson - Billie
- Andrea Francis - Angie
- Peter Caulfield - Chemist/Neighbour/ Caribbean Clergyman/ Stall Holder
- James Beattie - Miss Clay/Joe's Solicitor/ Toy Farm Interviewer/ Jaguar Salesman
- Lesley Nicol - Kath Casey
- Paul Kemble - Priest/Mr Jesmond/Stall Holder/ Clerk
- Lynden O'Neill - Uncle/London Alarms Boss/ Barrister/Stall Holder
- Alison Forbes - Aunt/Guard/Mrs Pressman
- Andrew Spillett - Grandad/Custody Officer/ Barman Dave/Lawyer/Ray
- Matt Cross - Reecey
- Ian ReddingtonIan Reddington- Early life :Ian Reddington was born in Sheffield. He was educated at Frecheville Comprehensive. He had no formal drama training, but became a leading figure in the Meatwhistle youth theatre project run by youth workers in the city. This gave him his first appearance as The Herald in Peter...
- Joe's Dad - Deborah Bundy - Council Solicitor/Neighbour
- Mark Hilton - Magistrate/Callum
- Mary Doherty - Custody Officer/ House of Waffles Interviewer/Massey
- Dean Stobbart - Careers Officer/Weird Bloke
- Mike Scott - Mr Pressman
- Carryl Thomas - Heather/Smith
- Ruth Brown - Julie/Stall Holder
- Darren Smithers - Ensemble
- Oliver TompsettOliver TompsettOliver Tompsett is a British stage actor and singer best known for his portrayal of Fiyero in the West End production of the musical Wicked.- Biography :...
- Swing - Gavin Wilkinson - Swing
Original Production Crew
- Director - Matthew WarchusMatthew Warchus-Life:Warchus studied music and drama at Bristol University. He has directed for the National Youth Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, Opera North, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera and in the West...
- Decor - Rob Howell
- Effects - Paul KievePaul KievePaul Kieve is an English professional illusionist and whose consulting work for both stage and screen has contributed to changing how magical special effects in productions are approached...
- Lighting - Mark Henderson
- Sound - Rick Clarke
- Choreography - Peter DarlingPeter DarlingPeter Darling is an English dancer and choreographer best known for his award-winning work in Billy Elliot the Musical.-External links:...
- Orchestrations - Steve Sidwell
- Musical Director - Philip Bateman
Musical Numbers
- Los Palmas 7 / House of Fun
- Our House
- Simple Equation
- My Girl
- Baggy Trousers
- Prospects
- Embarrassment
- Driving In My Car
- Shut Up
- Tomorrow's Just Another Day / The Sun and the Rain
- Night Boat to Cairo
- Wings Of a Dove
- One Better Day
- Margate
- Rise and Fall
- NW5
- It Must Be Love
- The Sun and the Rain
- Finale
Recording and video
The recorded original production was telecast on BBC ThreeBBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
in December 2003 and was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on 1 November 2004.