A MODEL GIRL

Back in 2007, I had the great pleasure of being the Musical Director and Orchestrator for A Model Girl at Greenwich Theatre. Written by Richard Alexander and Marek Rymaszewski, this musical had a five-year journey to the stage, beginning as a staged concert and undergoing numerous rewrites, before it finally opened with Emma Williams playing the lead part of Christine Keeler.

A Model Girl was based on the famous Profumo scandal from the 1960s and explored the events through the eyes of Christine Keeler, John Profumo, and Stephen Ward. One of the challenges of the musical was recreating the 1960s pop style in the new songs without them sounding pastiche, but the amazing cast and band that we had achieved this perfectly.

I wasn’t originally booked to be the orchestrator on the show, only the Musical Director, but a late availability clash for the original orchestrator meant that I was also asked to take on that additional role as well. We were still in rehearsals and were just two weeks away from opening night when I started orchestrating the score, so it was very tight to get everything finished… but we managed it.

Working on a new musical, with the rewrites and constant changes, is always exciting, and it was made even better thanks to the incredible creative team that were assembled. The four-week run was from Tuesday 30th January to Saturday 24th February, and stepping into the world of Christine Keeler really was the perfect way to start 2007.

The cast was made up of Emma Williams (Christine Keeler), James Clyde (Stephen Ward), Dale Rapley (Jack Profumo), Lorraine Bruce (Maureen) along with Jenii Hicks, Victoria Kruger, Lee Reynolds, Laura Selwood, Mark Oxtoby, Stuart Nurse, David Ricardo-Pearce, and Graham Bryan.

The creative team was Ruth Carney (Director), Paul Wills (Designer), Nichola Treherne (Choreographer), Oliver Fenwick (Lighting Director), Nick Lidster & Terry Jardine (Sound Design), Kay Magson (Casting Director), Stephen Brooker (Musical Supervisor), Steve Hill (Musical Director), Stephen McCarthy (Music Preparation) and Sylvia Addison (Orchestral Management).

CALLYWITH COLLEGE

This September I'll be teaching my first sessions at Callywith College with the acting students on the Performing & Production Arts course. The course is designed to prepare students for progression to degree-level study or entry into the performing arts industry.

While the core focus of the course is acting, I'll be running a Musical Theatre session with the students and then following this up with additional sessions for those wanting to specifically apply to Musical Theatre colleges.

Choosing audition material is one of the hardest decisions a student has to make, and so guiding them based on my ten years of taking auditions at Laine Theatre Arts will give them an added level of confidence. I'm looking forward to helping the students with the next part of their journey to becoming professional performers, and also beginning my relationship with Callywith College.

HAIR - 20 YEARS ON

On 12th September 2005 it was the first preview of the Gate Theatre production of Hair, the official Press Night wasn't until Thursday 22nd. It was a reimagining of the original production, and was set in the present day. It still took the themes of the original, free love and anti-war demonsatration, but switched Vietnam for Iraq.

It was a bold reinvention of the piece by director Daniel Kramer, and it was an exciting opportunity for me to be both Musical Director and Musical Arranger. We were also lucky enough to have some new lyrics written for us by the original lyricist James Rado, which helped to add a further updated aspect to the production.

The cast and creative team have all gone on to have the most incredible careers, and it still remains one of my favourite shows out of the many I have done over the years.

The cast was made up of Charles Aiken (Claude), Gary Amers (Woof), Joanna Ampil (Sheila), Robyn Isaac (Jeanie), Lee Reynolds (Dionne), Golda Rosheuvel (Hud), Graham Tudor (George), Kevin Wathen (Berger), Nancy Wei-George (Crissy) along with Stuart Armfield, Miriam Elwell-Sutton, Kate Gillespie, Connor McAllister, Craig Perry and Laura Selwood.

The creative team was Daniel Kramer (Director), Soutra Gilmour (Designer), Charles Balfour (Lighting), Mick Potter (Sound), Ann Yee (Choreography), Penelope Challen (Costume), Steve Hill (Musical Director), Stephen Brooker (Musical Supervisor) and Stephen McCarthy (Music Preparation).