Side Projects
L-R: Daniel Reid-Walters, Gregor Milne, Andrew Corcoran, Frances McNamee & Eve Norris, in Phipps Music Hall at the University of Huddersfield after completing our lunchtime concert and afternoon student masterclass, 1st December 2022.
It’s often great (and rather healthy) to have little side projects to work on whilst on the road with a show, whether it be a hobby, a new skill, or in my particular case, a concert of musical theatre repertoire back at the University of Huddersfield. When I graduated in 2004, musical theatre was only really performed in an extra-curricular way, such as when I cobbled together a 60-piece orchestra and 40-strong choir (twice) to play bits of shows that I liked. This time round had a similar feel, although with just me on piano and a quartet of incredible singers from Girl From The North Country.
While there was a great sense of achievement when it came to nailing songs from the likes of Jason Robert Brown, Stephen Sondheim and Marvin Hamlisch, the main reason to make the trip was to work with some students afterwards on a vocal masterclass and be able to answer their questions about the industry. My time as a tutor at Edge Hill University had already shown me the benefits this can have, and I was delighted by how successful our afternoon at Huddersfield was. Here’s hoping I can take performers there again in the future!
The only small issue with really wanting to do justice to the concert with a raft of new material was fitting in rehearsal time around the ‘day job’, which this month included work on our tour EPK (Electronic Press Kit), filming parts of the show to help promote the tour into 2023. We just about managed to juggle everything, although it did get a little tiring at times!
I have also been working on the physical scores as we ready Girl From The North Country for future licensing, making sure everything is legible and consistent across band parts, vocal scores and full scores. Having done this years ago with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I will be intrigued to see what future productions of this show look and sound like.
We have now ticked Plymouth, Milton Keynes, Woking & Bradford off the tour list, with just one more venue this year: Cardiff. The show then powers down for a winter break, returning in January, with most of the company readying themselves to spend Christmas with friends & family, or heading off on a winter holiday. I am, however, heading straight into another show! Chicago The Musical is playing for three weeks in Tokyo over Christmas, and they needed a pianist. Having never been to Japan, the opportunity was hard to resist. It does mean having to drive straight from Cardiff to Heathrow Airport, but can’t wait to get started!