SCORES

THE MOONRAKERS

Musical Theatre 

Music by Nicholas Keyworth
Words by Philip Jamieson

ABOUT

A companion piece to The Story of the Great White Horse (2024), The Moonrakers also has its roots lost in the time of ancient Wiltshire in the South West of England.

The swan (Hong) tells the pond dwellers how, long ago there was a terrible storm and the great old oak tree came crashing down destroying their world. But worse… the moon had been stolen and was now in the pond!

In addition to the vocal score, full score and parts, the package also includes the mask making template, slides and video for backdrop projection and ideas and suggestions for performance.

INSTRUMENTATION

flute, trumpet in Bb, cello, piano & percussion
(OR piano OR backing tracks)

DURATION
35:00

DATE OF COMPOSITION
2025

PERFORMANCES
Commissioned by Spotlight Festival 2025
Supported by Trinity College London and Eduprogress Thailand.

World Premiere: 22 March 2025, BACC, Bangkok, Thailand

Joan Odita as Hong in the premiere performance

Composer Nicholas Keyworth directs the world premiere of The Moonrakers in March 2025

JP Kaewhanam as Storm

MUSICAL NUMBERS

  1. Introduction
  2. Peaceful Pond
  3. Song of the Storm
  4. Ba-Da-Dam
  5. The Moon
  6. Moon-catching Dances
  7. Might Oaks
  8. Nature has the Answers

Composer Nicholas Keyworth & Writer Philip Jamieson

‘We enjoyed it so much! It was charming yet subtle. …relevant to contemporary issues and well-conceived…melodies and harmonic arrangement were beautifully crafted.’

Napisi Reyes (lecturer in voice and musical theatre, College of music, Mahidol University).

Templates for Pond Dwellers’ masks

Fishing for the moon

Hong with Pond Dwellers

Raking for the moon