|  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. |
