About me

My name is Patrick Carswell and I love writing and performing in musical theatre. This interest started way back in 1994 when I co-ordinated Chanel College's first Rock Eisteddfod entry. From there I moved to Brisbane where I became involved in amateur theatre.

There was definitely a defining moment that inspired me to start composing shows. I went along with my class to watch a co-educational high school performance of "Calamity Jane". At least one part of the show's title rang true. The students weren't interested, the orchestra were dodgy and interval couldn't have come sooner.

I thought that there must be better shows out there for schools who want to include lots of students and would like the convenience of having backing music to work with. What I found was that most primary schools in Australia either -

• write their own shows (very time consuming and often dodgy)

• use adult shows like "My Fair Lady" ( Hello! These were written for adult casts)

• don't do musicals because they're too hard (Wakakirri is much easier)

I started with "I Love the Knightlife" which is still my biggest selling musical. This musical was originally written in 1999. It has a great combination of Monty Python type sketches, great rock 'n' roll music plus the wonderful adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot.

Next on the list was "Treasure Island" which is heavily based on the Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel. This was one of the easiest scripts to write as a lot of the language used in that era is colourful and lends itself to double meaning. For example - Doctor Livesey: (Shouting at pirate ship who are firing on their stockade)

"Blaze away you ninnies! I’ll stake my wig you’ll soon run out of powder … and balls!"

My third installment was "Tarzan and Jane ". This script is one of my best as the storylines interact nicely and characters all find some sort of resolution at the end.

"The Mummy Returns Again" was next on the list. This is a parody of rap music and bad movie sequels. It's Indiana Jones meets the Munsters with lots of gags and rap rip-offs. American Idol also features at the end.

My latest production is "Elementary" based on two Sherlock Holmes' cases: "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "Scandal in Bohemia".

As a former teacher I wanted to make shows which involve large casts but are easy to stage which is why the scripts are Word documents which allow you to change what you want and the backing music and sound effects are available to download online.

I hope you enjoy performing my musicals.

Cheers,

Patrick Carswell