| Theatre Resources | |
| Theatre information sites | |
| Check out British Theatre Guide, UK Theatre Web and Amdram - all have tons of helpful information and links to more specific sites. The Amdram site in particular has classified ads and a web forum visited by lots of helpful experts in amateur theatre! British Theatre Guide covers a vast range of amateur and professional theatre topics. The webmaster (Peter Lathan) puts in a lot of time on the "editorial content" which gives the site an excellent authoritative feel. | |
| Theatre Australia covers a similar sort of area for Oz. | |
| Sources of Theatre Scripts | |
| In case you got to this page straight from a search engine (searching for "theatre resources", for example), then on this site (Lazy Bee Scripts) you can find drama scripts for schools and youth theatre, pantomime scripts, play scripts, one-act plays and sketches. | |
| Lewis W. Heniford manages the Small-Cast One-Act Guide Online. Based in California, but with a world-wide scope, Lewis's mission is to encourage production, publication, perusal and preservation of scripts for one act plays with up to 4 characters. The scripts are catalogued in various ways, including by numbers of characters. | |
| Theatre in Education | |
| The Drama Education website, managed by Kim Flintoff, is based in Australia but has tons of material applicable to (English-speaking) drama teachers and students worldwide. | |
| The Applied and Interactive Theatre Guide, managed by Toni Sant, has a theatre in education section, and also other sections which are equally relevant to teaching drama (and teaching through drama). | |
| National Drama bills itself as "the UK's leading professional association of Drama Educators" | |
| Ken Taylor's Drama in Education site covers (by content and by links) a wide range of material related to teaching drama and using drama in an educational context. | |
| School Zone is a searchable site of education information (including links to well over 100 theatre-related sites). They have a rating system for educational relevance which scores Lazy Bee Scripts as highly recommended, hence this award logo: | |
| Music | |
| Most amateur theatre musical directors are overworked, hence I'm trying to compile a list of useful contacts for obtaining scores. , particularly if there are on-line resources.) | |
| We have "backing CDs" and "rehearsal CDs" for some of our shows. (The difference is that backing CDs are generally more elaborate arrangements, designed to accompany a performance.) Find out more from our CDs Page. | |
| Sound-Board.com provides high-quality backing tracks for songs. Sound-board offers a custom service (you specify the songs, they provide the tracks) or off-the-shelf sets of backing tracks designed for specific pantomimes and shows (notably the pantomimes of TLC Creative) which you can buy from our CDs page. Sound-board also provided the backing track for SCInderella. |
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| I spent an age scouring music shops and libraries, failing to find the score for Offenbach's Gendarmes' Duet (used in Aladdin). Then my sister put me in touch with Banks of York (18 Lendal, York, UK, phone 01904 658836). When I phoned them, they asked asked me which voices I wanted it for. (Their web site is not as helpful as it might be - no on-line catalogue yet - but the staff really are helpful.) | |
| Noel Gay Music (8/9 Frith Street, London W1V 5TZ) have been useful, selling copies of otherwise out-of-print scores from their back catalogue (including stuff by the marvelous Leslie Sarony). | |
| I make a lot of use of Chappells for sheet music (particularly instrumental books). Again, no on-line catalogue, but the phone service (020 7491 0133) is excellent. | |
| MIDI files of classical music tend to sound as though they are scored for barrel organ, however The Classical Music Archive - a library of MIDI files - can be useful for finding the piece of music you want. (Note that whilst most of the music in their catalogue is out of copyright, a MIDI file counts as a performance, and all the performances are copyrighted. The files may not be used without the permission of the copyright owner.) | |
| Sounds | |
| FindSounds.com has a unique way of cataloguing noises by wave form. Fortunately, you can also search using text. The site acts as a link to many sources of sound. | |
| Costumes | |
| Some of our customers have used Bath Theatrical cosume hire based in Frome, UK (01373 472786) and given us good reports. | |
| The giant shown in the MKAOS production of Jack and the Beanstalk came from Haslemere Wardrobe in Surrey (01428 642202) | |
| A long way from Haslemere and Bath, but much closer to our Californian customers is Costumes Galore, in Orange County, California. (Their web site has some great displays of their costumes.) | |
| The Theatrical Division of Costumes Galore now has a great website where they have costumes designs for specific shows. Check them out at Theatrical Costumes. | |
| Amateur Theatre Societies | |
| This is just a taster - there are lots of sites out there! | |
| Colbury and Ashurst Theatrical Society is where many of Stuart Ardern's scripts (published by Lazy Bee Scripts) get their first public performance. | |
| Paignton Pantomime Productions does what it says on the packet! | |
| I like the Chameleon Players web site, not least because of their quirky obsession with tea. I like quirky. There is a great pleasure in finding a recipe for curry on the message board of the Grosvenor Light Opera Company web site, or finding that the Queen's golden jubilee was celebrated at the Broadbent Theatre with karaoke. | |
| South London Theatre web site is host to the Little Theatre Guild discussion board (so used by many other theatre groups). It also has a Shakespearian insult generator. | |
| Murder Mysteries | |
| Really Horrid Productions create some of the murder mystery scenarios published by Lazy Bee Scripts, but mainly they are an acting company, performing their murder mysteries at dinners and other functions in a wide area around Milton Keynes. Click on the logo to find out more, then "Dial 'em for murder!" | |
| Other Things | |
| I'm not sure how to classify Hybrid Studios, but I like what the site is doing. It's a cross-over site for all sorts of arts, including contributions from visual artists, poets and musicians, and "studios" for dance, drama and several other categories. | |