STORY:  London's most famous mayor, the real Dick Whittington was born over 600 years ago into a wealthy Gloucester family who sent him to London as a boy, where he made his fortune in trade. He was elected Lord Mayor of London three times, lending money to the King and doing charitable work for the poor, such as financing St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Newgate Jail and improving London’s water supply. This fun, musical version of his life is portrayed by characters that might have lived in his time, including cheeky urchins and swarthy sailors. The story goes that, plagued by rats, and bullied by a bossy housekeeper, Dick acquired a clever cat that sold itself to an exotic Barbary Queen for a small fortune. Whether this is true or not, a memorial to Dick Whittington and his cat still stands on Highgate Hill.

Key Stages 1 – 3  (age 5 – 14) ; Duration approximately 1 hour ;  Cross Curricular Aspects include science, geography, citizenship, social education, music, dance, drama, art and design

CAST:  to suit the number of performers available, the cast size is flexible with 15 to 320 evenly distributed speaking/singing parts and choruses ;  * = solo/small group singing part ;  ^ = solo/small group speaking part

Dick Whittington – Lord Mayor of London (as a boy* /man*) ; Travellers* – Caravaners ; Gypsy ^ – Fortune-teller ; Craftsmen*^ – Cobbler, Tailor, Tinker, Barber etc ; Mrs Sourdough*^ – Cook ; Mr Fitzwarren*^ – Sea merchant ; Alice Fitzwarren – Mr Fitzwarren’s daughter (as a girl*/woman*^) ; King Rat*^ – ‘Wide boy’ ; Cat-seller*^ – collects strays ; Cat^ – Dick’s loyal servant ; Barbary Queen*^ – Exotic ; Choruses – Urchins, Townsfolk, Rats and Cats, Sailors, Barbary Dancers

SONGS:  twelve songs and dances explore a wide diversity of musical styles including folk, jazz, rap, sea shanty, African, ballad, waltz and march. Please click the buttons to hear the songs and see pictures of a performance at Jackson's Lane Theatre.

play song 1 Little Boy Lost – Traveller/Chorus
play song 2 Somewhere in Between – Craftsmen
play song 3 Wicked City – Urchins
play song 4 I’m the Boy for You – Dick/Mr Fitzwarren
play song 5 The Rat Rap – Mrs Sourdough/Rats
play song 6 Cats for Sale song/exit – Cat Seller
play song 7 Heave Ho, Me Hearties – Sailors/Mr Fitzwarren
play song 8 In the Land of Africa – Barbary Queen/Dancers
play song 9 I Will Give You a Diamond – Barbary Queen
play song 10 Turn Again Whittington – Chorus
play song 11 That’s What We Want – Chorus

 

STAGING MATERIALS: for details of the SCRIPT, SCORE and CD, PROJECT PACKS, the NECESSARY LICENCE and convenient ONE-STOP PERFORMANCE PACKS please click the red arrow on the right.