

The jungle comes to life in this new and sensational musical extravaganza!!
WILD (The Musical) is a Broadway-style musical production set in the jungle with a orchestra and conductor cast as part of the story and the theatrical action. The plot of the musical is about two human poachers who come into the jungle to traffick wild animals. When they discover that all the animals are enormously talented, they commence a plan to capture them for a lucrative show on New York’s Broadway. Their plans go astray as the sounds of the WILD reign supreme!

Created by Leanne Nicholls (playwright/lyricist) and Nick Harvey (composer), WILD (The Musical) integrates live orchestral music with beatboxing, Chinese drumming and jazz, hip hop, cha cha, ballet and Chinese martial arts dance styles. Featuring a stellar cast of 40 musicians, singers and dancers in dazzling animal costumes, the show delivers a powerful message about wildlife preservation for all ages.


SYNOPSIS

Act One
Notorious animal poachers, Jim and Chad have come to the jungle to look for endangered species. Instead, they encounter a WILD orchestra. The parade that unfolds before them is unbelievably spectacular with Rhinos on horns, Monkeys on fiddles, Toucans on flute, Gazelles dancing pirouettes and Hippos dancing hip-hop. There is even a Lemur on a unicycle! Amazed by their discovery, the poachers conjure up a plan to capture the talented animals for a lucrative show on Broadway. The Lion then makes an entrance to conduct the WILD orchestra, followed by the Gazelle who sings the Lion’s praises in “King of the Score.” After a performance by the Jaguars, the Lion detects a new smell. Nonetheless he carries on with a rehearsal of the “Wild Suite”.

Meanwhile the poachers make their move in close to the orchestra and create havoc by mixing up the animals’ music scores. During the ensuing chaos, the poachers entice the Toucan and the Rhino away from the orchestra. When the Lion realizes the Toucan and the Rhino are missing, he is enraged and orders the Gazelle, the Jaguar and the Baboons to commence a search for them. The Lion’s wrath is heard in “Sounds of the Wild”, bringing act one to a powerful climax.

Act Two
Jim and Chad are on the way back to their campsite. They revel in their capture of the Toucan and Rhino. The Rhino sulks and is taken aside while Jim promises the Toucan the fame and fortune of New York’s Broadway. Determined to secure more talent for their plan, the poachers set off once again leaving the Toucan locked in a cage. Meanwhile, in another part of the jungle, the Gazelle and the Jaguar have commenced their search for the missing animals. They discover a dazzle of Zebras on trumpet and a colour-changing Chameleon on clarinet, however the Toucan and the Rhino are nowhere to be seen. The Baboons - who have set off in another direction - stumble across the poachers’ temporary campsite and get side-tracked playing with the poachers’ belongings. At the campsite they discover the Rhino hidden in a cage. Pleased with their discovery, they commence their journey back to the orchestra. When the poachers return to their campsite, they spot a pair of Cheetahs dancing cha cha and run after them as fast as they can!

As dusk descends, the Lion grows increasingly impatient and orders an ambush of Tigers to summon all the missing animals back to the orchestra to the beat of their drums. The drumming attracts the poachers who suddenly arrive on the scene and attack the ambush. The crack of a gunshot awakens the Cobra, whose melody on oboe sends the poachers into a deep sleep. When Jim and Chad come to, they find themselves face to face with the Lion and the animals they have captured. Their hunting days now over, they run for their lives, as the sounds of the WILD reign supreme!



CREATIVES

CAST

CITY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF HONG KONG

City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) holds a unique position as one of Asia’s leading chamber orchestras. Members are professional musicians experienced in playing a diverse range of music styles and genres including Baroque, Classical, Contemporary, East/West Crossover, Tango, Jazz, Cinema and Orchestra Theatre. Established since 1999, CCOHK has performed with many world-class artists including Sir James Galway, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Dame Emma Kirkby, Sir Thomas Allen, Sir Neville Marriner, Michala Petri, Christian Lindberg, Sarah Chang, Philippe Entremont, Julian Lloyd Webber, Edgar Meyer, Branford Marsalis, Richard Galliano, Sharon Isbin and Dawn Upshaw. The orchestra has also collaborated with celebrities including Hayley Westenra, Richard Clayderman, Robin Gibb, Dame Edna Everage and Canto-pop stars Sandy Lam, Hins Cheung, Hacken Lee and Jacky Cheung. Additional highlights include concerts with the Vienna Boys’ Choir, The American Boychoir, the Warsaw Boys Choir, the Swedish Voices Chamber Choir, the King’s Singers and the Swingle Singers. On tour CCOHK has been invited to perform in Italy, Taipei, Beijing, Chengdu and at the 20th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.
In Hong Kong, CCOHK’s engagements have included Hong Kong Ballet, French May Arts Festival, RTHK Radio 4’s televised Christmas Concerts in the Park, the World Harp Congress and The Hong Kong International Piano Competition. A keen supporter of contemporary music, CCOHK has performed for Musicarama and at the Hong Kong Contemporary Music Festival, and has commissioned new works by Mao Yuan, Daniel Binelli, Dobrinka Tabakova and Richard Harvey. The orchestra’s CDs include world premiere recordings on four internationally acclaimed releases on the NAXOS, Orchid Classics, Forgotten Records and OUR Recordings labels. CCOHK’s passion for building young audiences for music has inspired the evolution of several new and fully staged musical productions and extravaganzas. Credits include Magnificent Mozart, The Star Bach, Vivaldi Unmasked, The Bonn Man, Haydn & The Prince, WILD (The Musical) and Bug Symphony, winner of the Public Choice Award at the YAMawards in Portugal 2017. At the helm of CCOHK’s artistic planning is CCOHK’s founder Leanne Nicholls who was awarded for Community Service in the HKSAR’s Chief Executive’s 2022 Honours List for her contributions to the development of classical music in Hong Kong. Chief conductors include French conductor Jean Thorel (2008 to 2016) and Armenian conductor and virtuoso pianist Vahan Mardirossian (since 2019).


PERFORMANCES
Performed in English. Running time is approximately 90 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.


NEWS
WILD (The Musical) by City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong was a selected finalist for the YAMawards 2022 in the “Best Large Ensemble” category and won the Public Choice Award. The awards were held on 18 October 2022 at the Concertgebouw in Bruges, Belgium.

PRESS









WILD IMAGES
©Artwork by Redmer Hoekstra



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