Stephen Keeling
Composer
@keeling_stephen
The Last Wave (The Other Side)
Acclaimed musical for younger casts (ages 13 to 20s)
THE LAST WAVE (The Other Side)
Stephen’s second musical for Eileen Fawcett's Made in Sheffield Theatre Company was
THE LAST WAVE (aka The Other Side), a musical about a dangerous quest set sometime, someplace in the near future. The book and lyrics are by Peter Spafford who had previously collaborated with Stephen on the Mercury Workshop’s second multi-collaborative musical The Ten Commandments.
Stephen and Peter are now collaborating on a new musical Comrade Pav.
They have also written a number of choral works together including The Breeze.
THE LAST WAVE is a powerful and challenging musical and was performed to acclaim at Rotherham Arts Centre in 1998 by the Made in Sheffield Theatre Company, directed by Em Whitfield.
SHOW INFORMATION
THE LAST WAVE is available for either professional or amateur performance in a newly revised version. It is ideal for musical youth theatre groups, drama colleges and schools age 13+.
THE LAST WAVE is written for a large cast, but parts can be doubled (see Page 2). Libretto and Piano Score are available. Please note no orchestrations are available at this time.
THE LAST WAVE is a book musical.
​
A selection of songs from the show are available on Score Exchange (see Sheet Music 3).
It's Fest Night and young people all over town are looking forward to a great night out. After all,
there's precious little else to look forward to in this place.
Then a stranger appears. He's a young man from the city called Obo.
Obo tells them the Fest is cancelled.
By whom? Why? By Them, of course. At least that's what Obo tells them. But who are they?
Now the strange young man tells the thwarted partygoers that everything bad or wrong in their lives, their town, their country, is caused by Them. Just look around! Now the time has come to stop Them. Parents, teachers, rulers, do nothing. Only young people can make this journey, this quest across the desert, across the sea to The Other Side. There they will find Them and put an end to evil and injustice forever.
But how does Obo know all this? And who exactly has he been sent by? Obo declares that he recently received a letter.
This letter is from God.
Who is Obo? A visionary, a freak, or just a cynical manipulator? Paul and Geneve have their doubts, but their best friend Lys is an instant believer. For Obo's summons works powerfully on a community of young people desperate for release from the banality of small town life. And so the great march begins, across the desert, across the sea to The Other Side.
Will they make it? What will they do when they get there? Can anyone resist the quest? What are the consequences of standing against the crowd? Paul and Geneve will find out.
Copyright © 1998 Keeling/Spafford. All rights reserved.
Director Em Whitfield
Musical Director Victoria Elsdon
Pianist Jane Osborn
PRINCIPAL PARTS: GENEVE, LYS, GEORGIO, PAUL, OBO, LOUISE
LARGE ENSEMBLE PLAYING AS: QUESTORS, OFFICIALS, COUNCILLORS, 4 REPORTERS, MERCHANT SHIPPERS, PARENTS.
For a complete list of characters see page 2.
Listen to the excellent 1998 Cast perform 7 songs from the show on SoundCloud