Jack and the Beanstalk Familiarisation Pack 2019 Arriving at Harrogate Theatre

This is Harrogate Theatre.

It is a theatre in the centre of Harrogate, a short walk from the train and bus stations.

There is on-street parking on the streets behind the theatre. You will need coins or a contactless card to pay to park here. A stay of three hours costs £4.20. After 6pm it is free to park here.

There are three spaces for disabled badge holders on Cheltenham Parade, directly behind the theatre.

The nearest car park to Harrogate Theatre is the Jubilee Car Park. It has 16 disabled spaces and 11 parent and child spaces on level three. It costs £4.20 to park here for three hours. You pay when you collect your car. The Jubilee Car Park closes at 11pm weekdays. It is a ten minute level walk to Harrogate Theatre. For more information on this car park please visit www.harrogate.gov.uk .

It can be very busy in Harrogate so you need to allow enough time to find a space to park.

The main doors to Harrogate Theatre are accessible. Just push the silver button on the wall to open the doors. Once inside, you will find our Box Office on the left-hand side. This is where you can book and collect tickets for the show. Our staff will be happy to help you.

There is a small shop on the right-hand side. The shop sells programmes, sweets, crisps and soft drinks. You can take these items into the auditorium.

It is best to arrive early for the show to have enough time to collect your tickets, go to the toilet and get settled in your seat before the show starts.

Our foyer area gets very busy during show times so you can expect there to be lots of people around. It may be quite noisy.

There are Christmas garlands and fairy lights decorating the theatre with a beanstalk wrapping around the tree and hanging from the ceiling on the circle level.

Both the Stalls and Circle bars sells hot and cold drinks, alcoholic and soft drinks as well as sweets, ice-creams and crisps. The Stalls bar is the quietest. You will be able to watch the performance on live feeds from each of the bars if you don’t like being in the auditorium.

Harrogate Theatre and our facilities

The Relaxed Performance of Jack and the Beanstalk will take place in the Main Auditorium. It is a large theatre with 500 seats across three levels; stalls, circle and balcony. For Relaxed Performances we only open the stalls and the circle. We sell around 200 seats.

There are two sets of stairs you can use to get to the stalls. One of our ushers will tell you which set of stairs is best to use to get to your seat.

There is a disabled toilet on the stalls level. It is an adapted toilet and also has baby change facilities.

The Main Auditorium will open 45 minutes before the show is due to start. There may be a queue to get in. On your tickets you will find your row and seat number. Our ushers will help you find your seat.

You can find your seat as early as you like. If you prefer to wait until the show is about to start, you can go in within a few minutes of the show starting. There will be regular announcements through our tannoy system to let you know how long you have left to take your seat before the show starts.

You can bring cold drinks in plastic cups into the theatre. Hot drinks are not allowed in the auditorium.

In the stalls we have booster seats available to give a bit more height on the theatre seats for smaller children. These are found at the back of the auditorium. Stalls Level

To reach the stalls level, there is level access via Cheltenham Parade (a two minute walk from the main entrance and is partially sloped) or via two staircases; one has 13 steep steps and the other has 11 steps that have a more gradual decline. If you need to use the level access entrance please tell Box Office you are here first and they will send someone to open the door for you.

There are adapted spaces for wheelchairs on this level. They are at the back of the Main Auditorium on a raised flat level platform. We can accommodate four wheelchairs, two on either side of the Sound Desk. One wheelchair can be seated with two carers as we have two moveable theatre chairs.

For Relaxed Performances there are plenty of seats kept free, so that if you want to move around, you can.

This also means that if you need to leave the theatre at any point you can come back in and sit in a free seat rather than returning to your original seats, if that is easier.

There will be two quiet areas if you need some time in a quieter space – one in the Stalls bar and one in the Circle bar (upstairs). There will be a live feed of the show in both bars so you can still see and hear what is going on onstage.

Before the show starts, please make sure you have turned off your mobile phone and please don’t take photos or film during the show.

The Show

The first half of the show lasts for 1 hour 15 minutes. There will be one interval (break) of 20 minutes. The second half of the show lasts for 1 hour.

Jack and the Beanstalk is a story you may be familiar. When you come into the auditorium you will see a front cloth with a sign which says Jack and the Beanstalk on it.

As the show is about to start you will hear an announcement telling you to turn off your phones.

During the show there are lots of opportunities to join in by clapping along to the songs, by shouting out catchphrases or by booing and hissing the evil villain, Fleshcreep. The actors will make it clear when you can do this. During the rest of the show it is best if everyone in the audience stays as quiet as possible, so everyone can hear the actors. Because this is a Relaxed Performance, we won’t mind at all if you make some noise or move around.

It’s important that you don’t go onto the stage before, during or after the show. The actors won’t ask you to come on stage.

When the show starts the lights will fade and music will start to play. There are lots of songs in Jack and the Beanstalk and sometimes it can be quite loud. If you don’t like loud noises, you could bring ear defenders or ear plugs with you.

Characters

In our show there are eight actors playing ten roles and four dancers.

Dame Tilly Trott

Dame Trott is Jack and Simon’s mum. She works in the dairy. The Dame character is a man dressed up as a woman. Simon

Simon is Dame Trott’s son and Jack’s brother. He loves sport.

King Bumble

King Bumble is Jill’s father. He is a keen gardener and is Dame Trott’s landlord.

Princess Jill

Princess Jill is King Bumble’s daughter. She is Jack’s best friend and she has a crush on Simon.

Jack

Jack, or Jacqueline to use her full name, is Dame Trott’s daughter and Simon’s sister. She is also Princess Jill’s best friend but King Bumble doesn’t like her. Jack is desperate for an adventure.

Fleshcreep

Fleshcreep is the villain. He is the King’s evil twin. He has gone to work for Giant Blunderbore who has been banished to the clouds.

Buttercup

Buttercup is Dame Trott’s cow and works in the dairy.

Giant Blunderbore

Giant Blunderbore has been banished to the clouds because he ate Morag’s husband, who was an inventor, and stole the golden harp and the magic hen.

Morag

Morag was married to the inventor of the golden harp and the magic hen. When Giant Blunderbore ate him, he captured Morag, the harp and the hen and kept them in his castle.

Fairy of the Forest

The Fairy introduces us to the story and uses her magic to help Jack save the day. The next section tells you about what will happen onstage during the show.

Act One

First, we meet the Fairy of the Forest. She tells us the story of how Giant Blunderbore was banished to the castle in the sky for stealing the golden harp and the magic hen and eating the inventor who had created them. While in the sky he has stolen all the clouds making it very hot on earth. The Fairy tells us that there is someone on earth who will be able to save the day with her help.

The scene changes to the hot streets of the village outside Dame Trott’s cottage. They dance to Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. After the song we meet Fleshcreep for the first time. Fleshcreep tells the Fairy that he now works for Giant Blunderbore and he is going to help him take control of the kingdom and everyone in it. Fairy tells him that she has found a brave woman called Jacqueline, or Jack for short, to defeat him and Giant Blunderbore

Here is Simon. Simon loves sport. He will teach you a routine so every time he blows his whistle everyone in the audience claps a rhythm and then shouts “Simon!” Simon will choose someone from the audience to talk to throughout the show. This person is known as the stooge. The stooge will be sat on the front row and is happy to be talked to.

Simon introduces us to Buttercup the cow. He also puts a pretend axe and some eggs on the stage for safe keeping. Try and remember where he puts them so you can help in the story later on! This is Princess Jill. Jill tells the audience a secret – she is organising a surprise party for Jack’s 21st birthday.

Jack and King Bumble enter. King Bumble is unhappy with Jack because Buttercup has damaged his garden. Jack and Buttercup apologise. Before he leaves King Bumble tells them that he needs to speak to Dame Trott about the rent.

Jack tells Princess Jill and Simon that she wants an adventure. Dame Trott enters.

This is Dame Trott. She tells the audience that things have been hard recently. Since Giant Blunderbore stole the clouds there’s not been any rain and the rent of the cottage keeps going up.

Jack and Jill are at the dairy. Jack is trying to milk Buttercup but Jill is distracted waiting for Simon to come and help. Jack realises that Jill has a crush on Simon and teases her.

Fleshcreep enters pretending to be the Trott’s new neighbour. Now he’s met Jack, who the Fairy told him about, he’s going to hatch an evil plan.

Dame Trott, Simon and Jack tell Jill how worried they are about the dairy’s future so they think of other jobs they could do. They sing Something Else I’d Rather Be.

The scene changes to the gym at the King’s palace. Jill and Simon are going to use this room for Jack’s surprise party so are getting it ready. Simon spots the Proper Perfect Princess Pampering Prototype 3000. Jill hasn’t used this pampering machine for a long time and isn’t sure whether it works anymore. She leaves to get the cake while Simon decorates the room.

Dame Trott enters to do one of her work outs. She tells Simon that she has fixed the Proper Perfect Princess Pampering Prototype 3000. Simon is given a new hair do and then he enters the tanning booth…

We return to Dame Trott’s dairy and Fleshcreep is speaking to the Giant. The Giant is not seen but you can hear his voice. The Giant tells Fleshcreep that he wants Jack or he will eat Fleshcreep himself. Fleshcreep tells the audience that he is giving Dame Trott a letter forged from the King telling her that he is doubling her rent.

Dame Trott, Jack, Jill and Simon read the letter and realise that they must sell Buttercup so they can pay the rent.

Simon is sad about saying goodbye to his friend Buttercup. Jill tells him that she has a friend that she would be sad about saying goodbye to, meaning Simon. She sings Someone Like You by Adele.

A villager gives Jill a letter that she believes is from her father, King Bumble, but is actually from Fleshcreep. The letter asks her to meet King Bumble at the castle in the sky. She goes to meet him because if the King puts everything right with Giant Blunderbore, then Jack won’t have to sell Buttercup, Simon will get his best friend Buttercup back and the rent will stay the same.

Jack is taking Buttercup to market when she meets Fleshcreep in disguise as an old man on the path. Jack sells Buttercup to the man for some ‘magic’ beans. The Fairy of the Forest appears and sprinkles real magic onto the beans.

Jack returns home and shows Dame Trott the magic beans. Dame Trott is furious and throws the beans into the garden. Jack, Simon and Dame Trott go to sleep. Music plays and a huge beanstalk grows.

Jack and her family wake up and see the beanstalk. King Bumble arrives and they realise that the rent letter was a fake and Jill has been captured by Fleshcreep. Jack convinces them all to climb the beanstalk to rescue Jill and defeat the Giant. Jack sings This Is Me from The Greatest Showman.

Interval

There is a 20 minute interval at this point. You can eat and drink in the theatre and ushers will bring bin bags to collect rubbish.

Please do not go onto the stage during the interval.

During the interval, lights will be on full. When the show is about to start again the lights will dim and the musicians will start to play.

Act Two

The Fairy of the Forest gives us a racing commentary of the Trotts and King Bumble heading up the beanstalk to the castle. Before she goes she tells us to look out for a dear old woman called Morag. She’s the woman that reared the hen that could lay golden eggs and was married to the inventor who made the golden harp. That is until the Giant gobbled him up and took her to be his cook and servant, which started this entire story…

Morag the Cook is outside the castle gates and meets all the characters as they get to the top of the beanstalk. She bonds with Dame Trott over how much they preferred their lives when things were less dramatic. They sing Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes.

Jill is outside the castle waiting for her father. Fleshcreep tricks her into sitting in a cage and locks her in it. He sings Trouble by Elvis Presley.

Fleshcreep leaves and Jill shouts for Simon. Simon comes on and together they manage to get her out of the cage. Jack enters and together the three decide to get the magic harp and hen from the Giant. Jack and Jill go into the Giant’s counting house where the hen and the harp are kept. They hear giant footsteps and hide. We see the Giant for the first time. The Giant calls for Morag as he can smell a pesky human. Morag tells him its just the smell of the pie she’s cooking and so he asks the harp to play a tune to lull him to sleep.

The Giant falls asleep and Jack and Jill creep out from their hiding places, take the harp and the hen and run away before the Giant is able to catch them. The Giant realises what has happened and furiously tells Morag that he will search everywhere for the pesky humans. Morag warns Simon, Dame Trott and King Bumble that they are in danger. They sing There’s a Worm at the Bottom of the Garden to calm themselves down but the Giant scares them all one by one before he is scared by Dame Trott herself.

We see King Bumble and Simon running away. King Bumble and Simon do the shout outs. If your name or group is mentioned you can cheer, clap and wave to say hello. When they’ve finished King Bumble and Simon remember they should be running away from the Giant. The cast will come into the auditorium during this section and will wave and say hello to everyone. The Giant does not come into the auditorium. We’re back outside Dame Trott’s cottage and Jack cuts down the beanstalk so the Giant can’t come down to earth. He has been defeated!

Jack realises that she shouldn’t have taken the harp and hen as they don’t belong to her anymore than the Giant. The Fairy appears and tells them that Morag is now free from being the Giant’s slave so the harp and hen can be returned to her. The Fairy also found Buttercup wandering in the forest so she is reunited with Simon.

Fleshcreep enters and Dame Trott is angry with him. She corners him and he accidentally sits on the eggs. They hatch and he realizes that he shouldn’t be evil anymore and everyone forgives him.

Jill asks Simon to be her plus one at Jack’s 21st birthday and he says yes.

With everything that’s been going on the Fairy suggests they have a boogie and they sing and dance to a medley of songs including Paradise by George Ezra, Hold My Hand by Jess Glynne, Baby Shark and The Heat Is On by Glenn Fray.

Simon has been asked to sing at Jack’s 21st birthday and practices his song with us. He will invite you to join in. The words are:

Oh yes! I like to play at football I like to play at golf Oh yes! I like to play at tennis I think I like that most Oh yes! I like to play at rounders I’m really good at it! But don’t forget to play every day, It’s a great way to stay fit!

Oi!

The audience will be divided into two teams who will sing the song separately and our Musical Director, Uncle Nick, will choose the winning side. It can get very loud during the singing! After a final run through of the song, led by the stooge, we see all the characters as they take their bows at the palace for Jack’s birthday.

This is the end of the show.

When the show is finished, it is really nice if you can show the actors that you have enjoyed yourself by clapping, cheering or waving at the end of the show.

Because it’s a Relaxed Performance, the actors will come back into the theatre after the show. You can have you photo taken with them, so don’t forget to bring your camera.

At the end we will help you find your way out of the theatre and back to the main entrance.

We’d love to hear what you thought of the Relaxed Performance of Jack and the Beanstalk. You can let us know by contacting Hannah Draper on [email protected]