THE LEGEND OF WHITE BEAR LAKE
Dark and atmospheric, The Legend of White Bear Lake draws you into the mysteries of a land inhabited with humans, animals, spirits and old legends.
Two teenagers from rival tribes fall in love and must fight to keep their relationship a secret, rowing to the middle of the lake each night to meet each other. The legend of the white bear is passed down to each generation and warns that the two tribes must not mix or a giant bear will wake from his slumber and attack the tribes. When the secret relationship is discovered, a battle breaks out. One night when the lake is frozen over, the bear appears and viciously attacks the young lovers. The tribes must decide if they can come together to defeat the mysterious white bear.
Our incredible Creative Team, Writer Caroline Wigmore, Composer Jen Green, Director Anthony Underwood, Musical Director Stephanie Jayne Amies and Choreographer Hannah Miles, brought this fascinating and heart-rending new show to life with an an ethereal score and breath-taking movement.
As well as our incredible young performers, BYMT always wants to make sure we are supporting the next generation of theatre makers by giving them invaluable experience on our summer projects. Each year, BYMT makes a number of training places available for recent graduates or those in their second or third year of higher education wishing to gain work experience on music theatre projects working with young people. These take the form of assistant roles on our 2 and 3 week projects across the summer and are principally for Assistant Musical Directors, Assistant/Associate Designers and Deputy Stage Manager.
We spoke to Emily Bachelor, who this year was given the opportunity to work as the Assistant Musical Director on The Legend of White Bear Lake.
‘This summer, I had the opportunity to work as the Assistant musical director for British Youth Music Theatre’s summer production of The Legend of White Bear Lake based in Plymouth. From day one, I was struck by the warm and welcoming atmosphere, with everyone taking part in the warm up games and ice breakers with the cast.
It was brilliant to work closely with such a fantastic musical director, Stephanie, for the entirety of the project. I learned so much working in alongside her in rehearsals and during the show, for example, learning how to create repeats, stops, fades and vamps using the program Qlab and working both with the whole cast and individuals, focusing on learning songs and vocal technique.
It was great working with the entire production team, learning more about the creative process for shows and hearing their insights into the theatre industry - we were also lucky enough to be able to speak with both of the composers for The Legend of White Bear Lake.
One of my favourite parts of the process was leading vocal warm-ups and cast singing rehearsals. Another highlight was cueing all of the shows in the theatre and I was incredibly proud watching the cast perform. Thank you so much BYMT for an amazing two weeks, I loved every minute!’
The Legend of White Bear Lake opened in Theatre Royal Plymouth August 2022 with great success. Please head to our social media channels where you can enjoy snippets from the production.
