The Blues Brothers™: First Contact

I’m so delighted to have been selected as the Choreographer for the Tauranga Musical Theaters April 2020 production. Its great to be able to bring my experience as a dance coach and choreographer to a new and exciting show

Two Tauranga Kiwi scriptwriters secured the rights to use the iconic Blues Brothers characters in a stage show inspired from the hit-film after talks with Hollywood bigwigs Dan Ackroyd and the late John Belushi’s widow.

Tauranga writers Liam Hagan and Gordy Lockhart spent three years writing the script and secured permission from Ackroyd and Judith Belushi by promising to donate to a children’s charity in the name of the film’s lovable main characters Jake and Elwood.

The 1980 blockbuster earned rave reviews and featured an all-star Hollywood line up of Ackroyd, Belushi, Carrie Fisher, Aretha Franklin, John Candy and Ray Charles.

“We set out to put on a Blues Brothers movie adaptation but we were told we had to write our own one, so we did,” Lockhart said.

“We wanted to do it properly so we reached out to the IP owners.”

That led to discussions with Aykroyd and Judith Belushi, who own the intellectual property for the name ‘Blues Brothers’ and the characters.

The result is Blues Brothers: First Contact which aims to capture the essence of the films, including the 1998 sequel Blues Brothers 2000, and bring them to the stage.

Belushi asked that the only payment for the rights be a $500 donation towards a childrens’ charity in the name of Jake and Elwood, the names of the characters from the film.

The story picks up from where the first movie left off, at the Joliet prison. The brothers are given a mission from the President of the United States directly, but that is just the start of their madcap adventure.

“Every Blues Brothers story has the same formula,” Lockhart said. “They are released from prison. Given a mission. Get the band back together. Get chased for some reason and put on a show.”

Hagan, who will direct the production, said a big challenge is bringing action sequences that made the movies iconic to a small-theatre production, including a car chase.

The Tauranga Musical Theatre and the production team will be hosting an information night in December – so if this is your type of show do watch out for that.

Contact

Elly (027 215 1430) or hi@dancecompany.co.nz

Finally I think its the start of Spring

Its that time of the year when couples start planning their spring and summer weddings.

I teach quite a few wedding couples, Fathers of the Bride, Mothers of the Groom and complete wedding parties each year. The songs that couples used have been as diverse as Flume, Talking Heads and Motley Crue through to Frank Sinatra, Jason Timberlake and Elton John. The inspiration for a wedding dance always comes from the music and any style of music is perfect if it means something to you both.

Do consider booking your wedding dance lessons in advance – that means one less thing to worry about closer to the actual day. If you are looking for some help, do call or email.

Stephanie and Nate asked me to create something for their wedding to Michael Bolton “I said I loved you but I lied”.

“My husband was extremely anxious about having to dance but always promised me he’d only take lessons when we got married. So we took a few lessons! We found Elly so great, she listened to what we wanted and was flexible as we went along and made sure we were comfortable with what we were doing. She was so relaxed and comical it made it really fun and easy. You can just tell Elly loves what she does. Thanks for helping us out”

Contact

Elly (027 215 1430) or hi@dancecompany.co.nz