Annabelle’s mum Jill is played by Emily Joyce
Aug 21, 2009 Author: admin | Filed under: CastEmily Joyce (Mutual Friends, My Hero) is nightmarish, bottle-blonde Jill, the stage mum from hell. She lives vicariously through her daughter, but there’s no motherly love or tenderness here. Annabelle’s career and the amount of money she’s making is Jill’s only concern. There’s no love lost between Jill and the Swanns, but she recognises having them on her daughter’s show is a necessary evil.
My Almost Famous Family episodes
Aug 21, 2009 Author: admin | Filed under: Episodes1. We’ve Only Just Begun
The Swann family get their first shot at fame as the house band on a tea-time chat show. Rock and, indeed, roll! But, with Annabelle determined to cast aside Aretha and “duet” with Hadley, is this the beginning of the end for We’re In Perfect Harmony?
2. The Girl Is Mine
While Gary and Shalondra are away Terry comes to play … his really loud guitar! Unfortunately it’s just when Toyah needs to practise for her grade eight cello exam. To make matters worse Terry insists the band perform his old embarrassing hit from the Seventies. Where’s mum and dad when you need them? Stuck in a field in the campervan with a deadly bull, that’s where.
3. The Sound Of Silence
Isaac kidnaps Annabelle’s pet pig, Pixie, while Aretha loses her hearing just as a record exec is coming to see her perform. As Toyah and Martha try helping Aretha rediscover her voice (and overcome her hearing loss) Isaac is desperate for Pixie to keep quiet before Hadley gets suspicious.
4. Beat Surrender
Gary and Shalondra announce a maths test. Anyone who fails is out of the band! Grandad’s arrival is a distraction for everyone, but for Isaac it’s a great way to avoid revising. But can the others stop him from being kicked out of the band?
5. Piece Of Me
Gary is determined not to miss Hadley’s football, or the father/son basketball with Isaac, so Shalondra devises a fridge magnet chart to keep everything to plan. Toyah, meanwhile, gets hooked on her celebrity status.
6. Can’t Touch This
Gary and Shalondra get locked in the recording studio spying on the kids. When Aretha breaks Toyah’s precious bow, Isaac glues it to her back! How long can the boys keep Toyah from discovering the truth and all hell breaking lose in the house?
7. Bittersweet Symphony
A small lie from Hadley sees him passing himself off as the bad boy of Harp, and all for the new love of his life. Meanwhile, Aretha is the lucrative voice of the yappy nappy puppy – unfortunately they insist she be the face of it, too.
8. Take A Chance On Me
Toyah and Aretha compete to write a song for R&B star, Monelle (Javine Hylton). Hadley, meanwhile, tries to work out why Isaac is so much more popular than him.
9. Born To Be Wild
When Hadley, the bad boy of rock, is mugged by girls, he wants to leave the band. It’s left to Isaac to try and help him “man up”. Aretha, meanwhile, enlists Toyah’s help to beat Annabelle to the Teen-Style Queen award.
10. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head
Hadley and Isaac get hooked on a not very rock ‘n’ roll supermarket computer game, Supalife, while Aretha gives Toyah a make-over to attract TV heart-throb Zac MacDonald – and promptly regrets it.
11. Christmas Time
The Totally Annabelle Christmas special is coming live from the Swanns’s living room. Unfortunately, Toyah’s OCD starts playing up making it difficult for her to be one of Martha’s wise men. Meanwhile, Hadley is desperate to sing his solo; Shalondra is determined to find her presents; and how exactly is Isaac supposed to play the drums with a cookie jar stuck to his hand?
CBBC’s new musical comedy My Almost Famous Family: producer Paul McKenzie
Aug 21, 2009 Author: admin | Filed under: About
CBBC wanted to create a fun comedy series with music at its heart and which also examined the effects fame can have on a family.
Producer Paul McKenzie explains how the series came about and the challenges he faced:
“Knowing our audience’s love of music, entertainment talent shows and famous faces, we decided it would be fun to make a show about a musical family on the treadmill trying to hit the big time. The notion of a family on the verges of fame who have one foot in the door and one foot grounded in reality was created. They might just make it, they might be famous… one day.
“However, parents Gary and Shalondra, who have been in the business before, are determined to make sure that they’re all grounded (or they’re grounded!) – the kids have got to do their school work and their chores. They’re trying to make sure they’re just regular kids.”
With the idea for the series taking shape the next challenge was to work out how the music should work within the series. The team knew that they wanted to have music at the heart of the show but also wanted the series to stand out.
“By creating comedy songs as the musical element in a show we have created a fresh and funny way of embedding music within the series. So Toyah will sing about not being able to dance, whilst Isaac will rap about his ability to glue things back together that he’s secretly broken.
“The comedic element gave us a licence to add some fun dance routines to add to the overall humour. When We’re In Perfect Harmony play as the house band they will cover big pop numbers from The Ting Tings to The Noisettes’ Don’t Upset The Rhythm, so hopefully we have covered all the bases that our audience will enjoy.
“Our musical director Richie Webb, who worked on That Mitchell And Webb Look, Radio 4’s Fifteen Minute Musicals and Horrible Histories, came up trumps with some fantastic numbers which are really catchy and very funny.”
In addition to humour and music, the team also spent a lot of time searching for the right person to play Martha. She is a funny, independent mixed-race deaf child. As Gary and Shalondra’s only child together she is the link gelling the family together.
After a long search across more than 200 people and organisations the team discovered eight-year-old Rachel through her deaf unit at school. Although able to hear herself, Rachel’s parents are deaf and her first language was BSL (British Sign Language).
“She was pefect to play Martha – combining the comedy timing to bring her to life as well as a personal empathy of the issues facing deaf people.”
To ensure Martha’s character was a realistic representation the production team employed an interpreter on set, who also taught the cast how to sign, and employed Daryl Jackson, a deaf actor/signer, to look and advise on the scripts and episodes.
Paul was also so impressed by one young deaf actor from the auditions for the role, Mikey Riddington-Smith, that he created a guest part especially for him.
Backstage – My Almost Famous Family
Aug 13, 2009 Author: admin | Filed under: NewsBackstage is a brand-new show, giving CBBC viewers a tantalising taste of some of its big, forthcoming series and letting them into the behind-the-scenes secrets of the shows. Narrated by Mackenzie Crook, Backstage kicks off with a peek at the new musical comedy series, My Almost Famous Family.
Each glossy, bespoke, “making-of” half-hour combines key interviews with the main cast and crew, with exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and clips.
This first programme introduces viewers to the story of My Almost Famous Family, setting up the main characters and exploring how the series has been made – from building the sets, to creating the music and filming a food fight!
As well as providing an exciting insight into the series, Backstage also gives viewers an opportunity to see all the work that goes into getting a drama on the air.
My Almost Famous Family is an 11 x 28′ laugh-a-minute musical comedy series about the Swanns, a large musical family who sing together as a television pop group, We’re In Perfect Harmony. The step-kids range from teenagers Aretha, a trainee diva and wannabe Beyonce, to smart-cookie Toyah, bass player who despises fame and wants be a cellist at The Royal College of Music.
Their parents Gary and Shalondra Swann are an unusual couple – Gary is a musician from Hatfield, and Shalondra is an African-American soul singer from LA. Between them they have five children, and they all live together just outside London.
Their first rung on the ladder of fame is as the house band on the TV show The Totally Annabelle Show, fronted by the nation’s sweetheart Annabelle … although in reality, she is an evil, vile, manipulative girl. The Swann family may be the envy of children up and down the country, but fame isn’t quite what it’s cut out to be, especially when you’re forced to have a squeaky clean image!
Young deaf character to lead CBBC show
Feb 25, 2009 Author: admin | Filed under: NewsCBBC has commissioned a new comedy drama called My Almost Famous Family, which will feature a young deaf performer in one of its leading roles.
The 12-part series, which is about a group of siblings that perform together as the house band of a fictional chat show, is being made by the BBC, and penned by a team of writers including Gail Renard and Emma Reeves.
Composer and performer Richie Webb, whose credits include the BBC Radio 4 series 15 Minute Musical, is working as the show’s musical director.
Actors for the series have yet to be announced, but a casting breakdown for the show reveals that one of its leading characters is deaf, with the BBC keen to employ a deaf performer.
The casting breakdown adds: “In the show, the character’s deafness will be treated very positively, and the way the family behave towards him or her will be little different to any other family member. The programme will also show that even profound deafness does not rule out an interest or talent in music.”
A spokeswoman for CBBC confirmed the children’s show is being made and said it forms part of a raft of new programmes set to be announced by CBBC over the next week.
From The Stage
Archives
Meta
