TOM SAWYER
1956 The
British press 1956 The
book is well adapted...the music is gay,
light-hearted...his grasp of his subject is
assured. (The
Stage) 'a
considerable achievement... the music throughout was
pleasing and should attract interest in places where
musicals are dealt in and one hopes Mr Boyd's work
will become known. (Theatre
World) The
British press 1960 "An
excellent musical" (The
Financial Times) "A
loyal and lively version of Tom Sawyer..."
(Kenneth
Tynan in The Observer) "Tom
Sawyer is a driving colourful show full of sturdy vitality
and sharp satire." (The
Stage) 1962 Adam Faith and Joe
Brown, in line for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn,
1962 Disappointed
and disheartened, Tom Boyd put his musical away in a
drawer, where it lay dormant for the next 48 years until
Maria Jagusz, director of the youth theatre group MJ-UK,
staged a revival with performances in Gloucestershire,
England in 2010, the centenary of Mark Twain's
death.
2010
The
book, music and lyrics were written by Tom Boyd, an
American student at the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama in London. The musical was first produced at the
college under the title We're from
Missouri
'He
[Tom Boyd] has followed the original closely,
his instinct for theatrical situation is strong...his
lyrics grow naturally from their context...his
melodies are well defined, even when chromatic.'
(The
Times)
A
major West End production of Tom Boyd's Tom Sawyer
was planned, to star the young pop idol Adam Faith as Tom
Sawyer and chirpy cockney singer Joe Brown as Huckleberry
Finn, when both boys were at the peak of their popularity
and fame. Adam Faith's biography reports he was: "in line
for the title role in a forth-coming West-End musical,
Tom Sawyer, written & scored by Tom Boyd... however,
shortly after he returned [from the USA], the
production of Tom Sawyer was postponed indefinitely due
to the lack of a suitable theatre in London".
PERFORMANCES 23rd AND 24th APRIL, 2010 in the POULTON VILLAGE HALL
and 13th JUNE in the BARN THEATRE, CIRENCESTER
HUCKLEBERRY
FINN - Nic Sims
