PAUL WILLIAMS
BUGSY MALONE JUNIOR
THE BROADWAY JUNIOR COLLECTION^TM
DIRECTOR'S GUIDE
1999

 A Brief History and Facts about Bugsy Malone.

 Film director Alan Parker first had the idea of a gangster film featuring an all kid cast in 1973.Though meeting with little encouragement from the film industry, Parker persevered and a year later began work on a script that would become the film, "Bugsy Malone." A team of pro­ducers rounded up enough money to develop the project and Parker went to show business legend Paul Williams to commission the score for the film. Parker searched all over Britain for American children who happened to live in the U.K., mostly on Air Force bases, and in schools throughout New York City. Over the year 1974-75 over 10,000 children auditioned for the film!

The process of making the film is best summed up by the writer/director himself, Alan Parker: "... filming for thirteen weeks, making over 300 specially cut-down costumes, designing a complete 1929 New York street set, setting up a full-time school for lessons in between scenes, finding ways of making the cars and the splurge guns nearly work, getting child work permits from two countries... and we were on our way. A thousand custard pies and 100 gallons of synthetic cream later we had our film." The movie version starred then unknown Scott Baio and child star Jodie Foster and a supporting cast of over 200.

Long a favorite of the British amateur stage, Bugsy Malone was finally released in North America by Music Theatre International in 1999. The North American premiere of the Broadway Junior Collection version, Bugsy Malone Junior premiered at the Lincoln Community Playhouse in Lincoln, Nebraska in July of 1999 under the direction of Rhonda Lake.

The Plot

In this version of Bugsy Malone Junior the show is broken down into 14 Scenes. Here is the plot line for Scene 1

Scene 1

Casting Suggestions

Bugsy is the hero of our story. Cast a handsome young man who can sing and act well. This role is equal parts Jimmy Stewart, James Bond and Gene Kelly. Bugsy alter­nates as the narrator and the star of the show A young performer at home in front of an audience who radiates a sense of charm and sincerity as well as a street-wise sen­sibility will take your show a long way towards success. 

BLOUSEY BROWN

Vocal range: Low G to F (Soprano)
Suggested vocal audition:
#16 "I'm Feeling Fine": All #23 "Ordinary Fool": All
Suggested dialogue audition:
Scene 1, pp. 42-43
Scene 2, pp.47-48
   

FAT SAM

Vocal range: F# to F (Husky Baritone)
Suggested vocal audition:
#29 You Give A Little Love": measures 10-17
Suggested dialogue audition:
Scene 1, pp.44-46
Scene 6, pp.68-70
 

TAIIULAH

Tallulah is the classic gangster's moll. Cast a young woman who is at home with herself and can deliver the role with deadpan sincerity and droll appeal. Tallulah is a Mae West type with a talent for performing. She needs to be a strong singer for her self-titled number. 

DANDY DAN

Dandy Dan is the unflappably stylish, debonair under­world businessman who outwits Fat Sam every step of the way. Your Dan should be at home singing his song, "That's Why They Call Him Dandy." Find an actor with just the right sense of style and grace.

Splurging is Bugsy Malone Junior terminology for taking somebody out'. In the gangster films that meant death. Thankfully, in the world of Bugsy Malone Junior, if someone is splurged' it means they are 'all washed up'. Though not fatal, splurging is the end of one's career as a gangster or hoodlum. 

For stage purposes, splurging can be achieved in a number of ways. In our Broadway Junior test sights Super String^TM  was used with great effect. By building small casements for the Silly String dispensers, they can be used throughout the show, wherever there is a splurge incident. This stuff cleans up very easily, which is a big consideration in Bugsy Malone Junior!

Performance / Guide Vocal CD

This CD contains both the background music for the show, along with guide vocals featuring the voices of The French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts.

ALAN PARKER (Librettist) 

Alan Parker is a world­ renowned film director and writer In addition to "Bugsy Malone" (1976), Parker is responsible for such cinematic blockbusters as "Fame" (1980), "Pink Floyd: The Wall" (1982), "Birdy" (1984), "Mississippi Burning" (1988), "The Commitments" (1991), and "Evita" (1996). Parker said of filming "Bugsy Malone" with a cast of 200 kids, "I said from the beginning we weren't making just a kid's film. I treated them like adults and so expected them to behave like adults. And, all in all, it worked out very well. Perhaps they didn't hit their marks as often as they ought to, but then again we didn't get any grown-up tantrums either!" 

Paul Williams is an equally acclaimed composer; singer and actor. His song writing credits include 'just An Old Fashioned Love Song," the Carpenters' hit "We've Only Just Begun." He wrote the lyrics for the 1976 Oscar winner for Best Song, "Evergreen" (from "A Star is Born"). His songs have been performed by a wide variety of artists including Barbra Streisand, Luther Vandross, Kenny Loggins, David Bowie, Cracker; Grant Lee Buffalo, Frank Sinatra, Mathew Sweet and Elvis Presley. Paul co-wrote the title song for "The Secret of Nimh," which he also performed. Mr. Williams has released 19 albums, been nominated for six Oscars and ten Grammys (winning for "Evergreen" and Producer of Best Recording For Children ("The Muppet Movie"). As an actor; he has been seen in a variety of television shows and his hilarious portrayal of Little Enos in all three "Smokey and the Bandit" films. An active songwriter today, he continues to write music and lyrics for performers everywhere while touring himself and he provides the voice of the Penguin on the animated television series "Batman."

Contact Details and Licensing Information

About Music Theatre International

Music Theatre International (MTI) is a theatrical licensing agency created by orchestrate Don Walker and com­poser-lyricist Frank Loesser to help theatre writers license their shows for live stage performance to schools, community and professional theaters around the country. 

On behalf of the show's authors, MTI issues a performance license to theatre groups which gives them the right to perform and present a musical theatre work as a live stage production. MTI also provides all materials necessary to produce the work, as well as additional resources that aid in the rehearsal process and enhance the final production. 

These materials may be used only in conjunction with the licensed live stage performance of this play. You are prohibited under federal copyright law from using these materials without a current license from Music Theatre International, exclusive licensing agent, and from reproducing and / or disseminating any part of these materials by any means whatsoever, including electronic transmission.

Your Performance License

After creating a show, theatre writers copyright their work, protecting their ownership of it and allowing them-and only them or their duly appointed represen­tative-to decide who may perform the show, where it may be performed, how it may be performed and how much will be charged for the privilege of using their work. This dramatic performance right (or "grand right") is known as an "intellectual property right"; the show is the "intellectual property" of the authors. 

On their behalf, Music Theatre International (MTI) grants a performance license to produce the show and collects a fee, known as a "royalty;" for this license. Royalties are the authors' way of being paid for the use of their show, and are determined by careful evaluation of the dates and times of an organization's performances, and the number and prices of the tickets that organization plans to sell. 

MTI's other responsibilities include enforcing copyright law as it pertains to grand rights, including enforcing unlicensed productions (presenting the show without a performance license is akin to cheating the authors out of their livelihood) and prohibiting unauthorized changes to the show The Broadway Junior~ version of your show has been approved by the show's authors and is the only authorized condensed version of the show. Some people think making "minor adjustments" to a show (such as changing the gender of a character, inserting songs that have been edited from the Broadway Junior ™ version, or changing the name of a town to give it local significance) is inconsequential to the integrity of the show; or believe they have the right to “experiment” with the authors' intentions as an expression of their artistic vision. This is simply not the case. You have no right to make any changes at all unless you have obtained prior written permission from the authors or MTI to do so. Altering the show in any unauthorized manner is unfair to the authors and the show itself. Moreover; such actions will subject you to liability-not only to the authors, but also to MTI-for breaching the terms of your license agreement, which clearly forbids you to make any changes or deletions. 

Ultimately, you must remember that a theatrical production is a collaboration between the authors of a show and the organization presenting it. Your responsibility in that collaboration is to realize the show as the authors conceived it.