“DELECTABLE ENTERTAINMENT! A postmodern homage to the grand tradition of backstage musicals like Babes in Arms, Kiss Me, Kate and A Chorus Line.” – New York Times

Music & Lyrics by Jeff Bowen, Book by Hunter Bell
The Dates:
[Title of Show] Returns to London for a 3 week run at Waterloo East Theatre from 6th – 25th September 2016. Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm, Sunday 4pm. Full price £20 / Conc. £18
Previews £14 on Tues 6th September, Wednesday 7th September & Thursday 8th September
Press Night Thursday 8th September

The Show:Short Blurb:

[Title of Show] has music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen & Hunter Bell. The musical received a Tony Nomination for the best book of a musical and won 3 Obie awards. With three weeks to go before the submission deadline for the New York Theatre festival, and knee-deep in balled- up show ideas, the two ambitious young gay writers with bad taste in television and brains full of Broadway trivia, decide to write a musical with the help of their two best friends. [Title of Show] is a musical that feels like a rummage through the dressing-up box of Broadway history and is an inventive, fresh musical that chronicles its own creation & the lives of these four characters as they strive to make their show a success.

Official writers Blurb:

You’re reading the official blurb, or short summary, of [title of show]. Blurb. That’s a funny word. We spent a lot of time on this blurb so please read the whole blurb. [title of show] is a musical about two nobodies named Hunter and Jeff who decide to write a completely original musical starring themselves and their attractive and talented lady friends, Susan and Heidi. Their musical, [title of show], gets into the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and becomes a hit. Then it gets an off Broadway production at the Vineyard Theatre, and wins three Obie Awards! Then (drumroll if you’ve got a drum) it’s announced that their musical is going to Broadway (hooray!) and people start seeing this blurb everywhere! They read that The New York Times called [title of show]”DELECTABLE ENTERTAINMENT! A postmodern homage to the grand tradition of backstage musicals like Babes in Arms, Kiss Me, Kate and A Chorus Line.” Fully intrigued, those people snatch up tickets and help make Hunter and Jeff’s life-long dream come true!

Synopsis:

As the show opens (“Untitled Opening Number”) Jeff and Hunter are discussing the possibility of entering the upcoming New York Musical Theatre Festival. The submissions deadline is only three weeks away, but they long to make their mark in the theatre world. (“Two Nobodies In New York”) Jeff laments his lack of inspiration. When his blank writing pad begins to look like Hunter, ideas begin to flow. (“An Original Musical”) The two men recruit their friends Susan and Heidi to help with the project. As the guys battle writer’s block, the girls become voices in their heads, making suggestions. “Writing should feel easy,” Susan says, “like a monkey driving a speedboat.” (“Monkeys and Playbills”) Excitement mounts; if the show is a hit, they could replace the four ugly mismatched chairs on the set with chairs covered in diamonds! Hunter even ponders winning a Tony (“The Tony Award Song”)  but Jeff reminds him that they have already cut the song he is in the midst of singing. Jeff and Hunter discuss their ambition to write and compose for a living. (“Part of It All”)

Doubts and insecurities surface. Heidi wonders what she has gotten herself into, and Hunter worries that they are just stringing sketches and novelty songs together, that they need something “a little meatier”. (“I Am Playing Me”) Susan and Heidi become suspicious of each other. (“What Kind Of Girl Is She?”) Hunter and Jeff are getting increasingly discouraged: What were they thinking? Will they even finish? Susan says the “vampires” are devouring their confidence and creativity, and they cannot let that happen. (“Die, Vampire, Die!”) Reenergized, the men finish the show, and the ensemble tackles the festival paperwork. (“Filling Out The Form”) Since the deadline is upon them and nobody can come up with a killer name for the show, they decide to leave the title-of-show field untouched — which makes [title of show] the name of their show. “What if they don’t pick it?” Hunter worries. “Well, that’ll be Act 2,” says Jeff.But their little three-week-old musical is chosen! During the festival the four revel in their six performances, and lament that it all must end. (“September Song”) They note, as a bonus, that “fancy industry people” are in the audience. Heidi and Susan reconcile their differences and bond over their supporting roles. (“Secondary Characters”)

As plans progress toward taking the musical to Broadway, things begin to unravel: The four friends argue over the wisdom of making changes to the script, or leaving it alone. (“Change It/Don’t Change It”) Hunter and Jeff, after contacting numerous famous Broadway actresses, finally get a positive response from Sutton Foster, and Hunter suggests casting her in Heidi’s role to generate some “buzz”. Tensions build, and everything finally boils over at a publicity photo shoot. (“Awkward Photo Shoot”) Heidi is upset that Hunter wants to replace her, Susan is concerned about profit-sharing, Jeff is letting the “vampires” get to him again, Larry (the keyboardist) feels snubbed because he’s not in any of the press photos, and Hunter lashes out at all of them. Everyone leaves in a huff.

That night, Hunter breaks the ice by apologizing. More apologies follow, and the four wax nostalgic over younger, happier, less complicated days. (“A Way Back To Then”) They now understand that the show must sink or swim as it is—with the five of them, without a “bankable” star—because their relationship and the quality of their creation are more important to them than commercial success; they would rather be “…nine people’s favorite thing than a hundred people’s ninth-favorite thing (“Nine People’s Favorite Thing”) “Let’s just put it out there and see what happens,” Jeff says—which, of course, they have just finished doing—so the show ends. (“Finale”)

Production History:

[title of show] was chosen for production by the Musical Theatre Festival and premiered there, in September 2004, in New York City. It later ran off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in 2006, earning a second limited run the same year, then played at Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre in 2008 for 13 previews and 102 regular performances. Writer/stars Bowen and Bell, as well as director Michael Berresse all won Obie Awards for their work on the off-Broadway production, and Bell was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

The musical spawned a recurring video blog about the show’s journey to Broadway called The [title of show] Show.It last premiered in London at the Landor Theatre in 2013 and is now back 3 years later for a run at Waterloo East Theatre from 6th-25th September.

Cast & Creatives:
Creatives:
Director – Will Keith
Musical Director – Oliver Rew
Vocal Coach – Daniel Jarvis
Lighting Designer – Andy Hill
Producer – Jason Shand-Rodger
Co-producer – Leon Hernandez

Director Will Keith trained at Arts Educational School and was awarded the Musical Theatre Bursary from the BBC performing arts fund. Upon graduating he joined the cast of A Chorus Line as Greg at Tel Aviv Opera House, he also reprised the role touring in Singapore and Australia. He has been in such shows as Legally Blonde, Singing in The Rain, My Fair Lady, A.Christmas Carol, Darling of The Day and most recently the all male cast of HMS Pinafore. Will is also an accomplished director having recently been Director for Bad Girls: The Musical at the Union Theatre and also having been Assistant Director to Sasha Regan on H.M.S Pinafore.

Musical Director Oliver Rew graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2014 and was awarded the Lesley Hayes Award by Help Musicians UK to study Musical Directing at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. MD credits while training include: Anne of Green Gables (Unicorn Theatre); Busters (Bernie Grants Art Centre); First Lady Suite (Karamel Club); 3rd Year Musical Theatre Showcase (Phoenix Theatre). Other credits include: Paper Hearts (Ed Fringe 2016); Musical Theatre Scratch Night (Rich Mix); Live at the Tower (IdeaZeit); Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk (The Maltings, Ely); The Last Post (LTD Productions); UCAS, Anything Goes (Edinburgh Fringe); Summertime (Arts Theatre).

Vocal Coach Daniel Jarvis is very experienced with new musicals having earned his Post Graduate in Musical Direction from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2013. Since then Dan has worked extensively as MD on shows such as Hello Again at The Hope Theatre, Rent, I Sing! At the Drayton Arms, the NEXT UK showcases in Soho, The Velma Celli Show live at the Hippodrome & The Ivy, Various Pantomimes for Imagine Theatre and his Edinburgh Fringe successes The Outback Games and most recently this year Paper Hearts. He is also a composer and extremely talented pianist having been an assistant MD for many Mountview Shows, a rehearsal pianist, arranger and teacher.

Cast:
Jeff – Daniel Mack Shand
Hunter -Louie Westwood
Heidi – Chloe Hawkins
Susan – Malindi Freeman

Daniel (Jeff) has been on tour as Olaf in Frozen and as Danny in Dean Friedman’s musical Smelly Feet after a sold out run at the Leicester Square Theatre. He has played such roles as Alan in I Sing!, Malcolm in The Full Monty the Musical, Jamie in The Last 5 Years, Smokey in Damn Yankees and Abanazar, Peter Pan & Aladdin in various pantomimes. He was also a part of the new concept album by Dan & Laura Curtis for their musical version of Disney’s Ratatouille. And is set to play Beast in Beauty & The Beast at The Leatherhead Theatre this Christmas.

Louie (Hunter) is a graduate of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts where he played such roles as Roger DuBris in The Producers, and Captain Walker in The Who’s Tommy. He has also been on tour in Dean Friedman’s Smelly Feet as Pete after a sold out run at the Leicester Square Theatre and has been in new musicals such as Up From Paradise as Uriel, Charlie in I Sing!, and Magic Pete in the new musical Devilish. He has also played Widow Twankey in Aladdin and Ugly Step Sister in the adult panto Tinderella. Most recently he starred in the play Do You Have A Secret Crush? (Sleeping with Straight Men) at The Lost Theatre.

Malindi (Susan) started her career playing roles such as Cathy in The Last Five Years, Eliza in My Fair Lady and Olga in Zanna Don’t at the Bridewell Theatre. As well as musicals she is a big Noel Coward fan having played Amanda in Private Lives at the Quay Theatre and toured as Mrs Cratchet in A Christmas Carol. She also played the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz for pantomime and worked for Disney Pixar as an Elf at their live dream works experience. Most recently she portrayed Heidi in I Sing at The Drayton Arms Theatre.

Chloe (Heidi) is a recent graduate from Guildford School of Acting where she played such roles as Gertie in Oklahoma, Athena in Pandora, and Janice in Hands on a Hard Body. She has also played roles such as Desire in A Little Night Music and Seraphine in “If” the new musical at Waterloo East Theatre. Most recently she played the role of Maid Marian in Robin Hood for The Actors Company and also appeared in the new TV series Red Dwarf as Messalina.

SR Productions:

We started SR Productions one night after a dinner with friends talking about all the shows we would love to see on in London. Shows that are less mainstream and we felt needed to be performed and seen. The show that started our passion was I Sing! We loved the show, its music, characters and concept. We decided to contact the composers of the show telling them of our love for their musical and asked if they ever considered it being on in London.They in turn asked us if we fancied giving it a go. And so SR Productions was born. We have been in the industry as performers and creatives for over 10 years and being great theatre lovers we decided it was time to work hard at making our own company and to bring to life musicals that we felt needed the spotlight. A big passion of ours is to also bring forward and showcase new musical theatre performers to London audiences. We adore the London theatre scene and will continue to make our name as a fun company to work for who want to showcase new talent in exciting, professional and innovative productions.

British Theatre. 4 Stars
The original creators can be proud; I Sing! is a wonderful show with a wonderful cast and
deserves to find a home for longer.

London Theatre. 5 Stars
“I Sing!” thanks to a great combination of book, music, direction and actors, is a wonderful night of musical theatre in its purest and most awesome form.

Remote Goat. 4 Stars
The sheer enthusiasm of the actors, who really stepped into the shoes of their characters
had the audience on their feet applauding by the end.

Tickets:

Tickets are currently on sale through the Waterloo East Theatre website at
www.waterlooeast.co.uk they are £20 full price and £18 concessions, with previews at £14.