Little Match Productions - The Owl & The Pussycat

Sail away with us in our beautiful pea-green boat...

In a pea green boat, an owl and a pussycat sail across the sea for a year and a day to where the Bong-tree grows. Adventure calls, new encounters await and love conquers all in a nostalgic journey and irresistible blend of romance and nonsense.

Little Match Productions' The Owl and the Pussycat is an enchanting and intimate opera for children, based on Edward Lear’s beloved poem. This charming children’s work melds live performance, operatic vocals, chamber music and experiential theatre inside a giant green boat. Created specifically for children 4-10 years, this interactive journey inspires, educates and enthrals by inviting children, alongside their families, carers and teachers, to help our loveable couple reach their destination.

This national collaboration of female artists and arts professionals, including Penny Challen (Opera Q Project Puccini), Alicia Cush (Opera Q, Circa), Kathryn Marquet (La Boite, QTC, Pale Blue Dot), Bridget Boyle (debase productions) and Lisa Cheney (Making Waves, MSO, TSO), has created a landmark musical work for children that encourages imaginative thought, uses tactile learning, and explores the universal themes of love, harmony and acceptance.

The Owl & The Pussycat premiered on Surfers Paradise beach as part of Festival 2018.

Nominated for 4 Matilda Awards including Best Composition and Best Actress
WINNER - Best Supporting Actor - Jackson McGovern
WINNER - Best Costume Design - Penny Challen

CREDITS

Concept by Alicia Cush and Penny Challen

Composer Lisa Cheney
Writer/Librettist Kathryn Marquet
Director   Bridget Boyle
Designer Penny Challen
Creative Producer   Alicia Cush
Lighting Designer Geoff Squires
Musical Director  Luke Volker

Sound Design Lisa Cheney
Dramaturg   Jane Bodie
Design Assistant   Caitlin Armstrong
Head of Costume   Gayle MacGregor
Production Manager   Kylie Mitchell
Production Assistants   Meg Hamilton & Freya Hillier

CAST
Pussycat Laura Coutts (previously Irena Lysiuk)
Owl Natasha Veselinovic (previously Sarah Murr, Pia Frangiosa, Meg Hamilton)
Moon/Sir Kitty/Sea Bear/Piggy-wig/Turkey Jackson MacGovern
Puffins Daniel Byrne, Ely Streatfeild & Cameron Kennedy (Rebecca Lloyd-Jones, Kathryn McKee, Jarrad Linke, Andrew Chamberlain, David Freisberg & Danielle Bentley)

The development of The Owl and the Pussycat is supported by Creative Sparks; Creative Partnerships Australia through MATCH Lab; APRA Art Music Fund; Works In Progress at the Arts Centre Gold Coast and Queensland Theatre through the Independent Artists @ Queensland Theatre initiative 2017. Creative Sparks is a joint initiative of Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

PURCHASE & STREAM THE ALBUM

THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT ALBUM

Launching 2 Oct 2020, relive the magic of The Owl and The Pussycat with the album from our show, recorded in the exquisite acoustics of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music Theatre.

Composer/Co-Musical Director Lisa Cheney Book and Lyrics Kathryn Marquet
Owl (Mezzo Soprano) Pia Frangiosa Clarinets: Daniel Byrne
Pussycat (Soprano)  Irena Lysiuk Cello Danielle Bentley
Moon & other characters (Baritone) Jackson McGovern Percussion Cameron Kennedy
Co-Musical Director  Luke Volker Musical Consultant  Michael Keen
Audio Engineer: David Spearritt Executive Producers  Little Match Productions and Lisa Cheney
Cover Art Penny Challen Original production directed by Bridget Boyle

Recorded in the Conservatorium Theatre, Queensland Conservatorium of Music on 18-19 November 2019

The recording of The Owl and the Pussycat Album was generously supported by Creative Partnerships Australia through MATCH Lab; The Queensland Conservatorium of Music Griffith University; and The Pea Green Boatwrights Club, led by their fearless Captain Judith Cush:
Freya Hillier, Danna Yun, Steve Cheney, Charlie Cush, Tanya Malouf, Cameron Lam, Ally Bennett, Beck Grace, Bernie Thorpe, David Taplin, Gayle MacGregor, Marcie McMeniman, Steven Dunn, Dianne Baker, Alison Peaker, Mark Wolf, Jacqui Murr, Kate Raymond, Erica Davis, Suzie & Kieren Rowe, Connor D'Netto, Stefanie Lorimer, Samuel Boyd, Benjamin Knapton, Anisha de Aneida, Mark Challen, Chris Byrne, Annie Larsen, Emma Nightingale, Trevor Jones, Samantha Moller, Rebecca Lockyer, Anna Cawse, Catriona James-McGovern, Andrew Chamberlain, Kate Cordukes, Martine Wengrow, Elton Cane, Rachel Bruerville, James Maskey, Danielle Collier, Jo Willans, Susan Marquet, Denis Cush, Mark Challen, Sandra Pillai, Amber Pennell, Matan Franco, Meg Hamilton, Aleisha Godfrey, Zinia Chan, Katie Stenzel, Patricia Lee & Daryl Waters