Posts by James

Jack And The Beanstalk – Extravaganza Productions

Musical Director for Jack And The Beanstalk, Extravaganza Productions, Middlesbrough Theatre, 2014-2015

It was a joy to return to Extravaganza Productions as musical director again this year, working with some friendly familiar, and new faces. With a very talented, fun cast & crew, making the job very enjoyable all around, especially with the very talented comic, Scott Gallagher (Simple Simon) who always does a grand job of including the band into the show, with lots of interaction, making everybody feel a part of what’s going on. This really encourages the band to go for it and have some fun, rather than being locked away deep within the orchestra pit, never to be seen. The whole company had a blast and this really showed in the performances. As an added bonus, I managed to do a little gig with John Altman (“Nasty Nick”) in town after a show one night, this was a lot of fun and caused a little bit of a riot!

The show featured John Altman (known from EastEnders) as Fleshcreep.

Also starring,
Will Breckin as Jack Durden
Scott Gallagher as Simple Simon
Hannah Marie Kilminster as Princess Rosalinde
Danny Posthill as Dame Dotty Durden
Shelley Anne Rivers as Fairy Vegetable
Terry Ashe as King Ethelred
Peter Goode as Ombadar


 Click here to read the review.

Aladdin – Shone Productions

Musical Supervisor for Aladdin, Shone Productions, Rotherham Civic Theatre 2014-2015

This was a great show, with a great cast and creative team. The band for this particular show consisted of only, Drums, Guitar and Keyboard. The rest of the orchestra was put onto a click track, allowing the band to play-a-long to enhance the overall sound, providing a whole new dimension to the audiences experience. Backing vocals were also arranged and recorded to enhance the performance, and were provided as a separate layer, allowing the sound engineer to retain control of the mix. Below is a compilation of some of the music used in this show. Below are examples of rehearsal tracks used in the various pantomimes I’ve produced for, which include all instruments of the band/orchestra, as a reference to how the finished article should sound. Enjoy!


The show featured, Ricky K as Aladdin, Mark Labbett as Abanazar, Alexandra Hans as Princess Jasmine & Mark Hudson as Widow Twankey. Click here to read the review.

 

Cinderella – Shone Productions

Musical Supervisor for Cinderella, Shone Productions, Middleton Arena 2014.

This was a great show, with a great cast and creative team. The band for this particular show consisted of only, Drums, Guitar and Keyboard. The rest of the orchestra was put onto a click track, allowing the band to play-a-long to enhance the overall sound, providing a whole new dimension to the audiences experience. Backing vocals were also arranged and recorded to enhance the performance, and were provided as a separate layer, allowing the sound engineer to retain control of the mix. Below is a compilation of some of the music used in this show. Below are examples of rehearsal tracks used in the various pantomimes I’ve produced for, which include all instruments of the band/orchestra, as a reference to how the finished article should sound. Enjoy!


The show featured “Same Difference” Sean Smith, as Prince Charming & Sarah Smith, as Fairy Godmother, Hazel Pude (Byker Grove) as Cinderella and “Rollo” as Buttons.

Bazaar And Rummage by Sue Townsend

In July 2014, I was composer/musical director for this comedy, that’s typically a straight play, however the production company ‘Less Is More’ wanted to add some music, as they felt it would really add to the piece, and it certainly did. The whole team were a delight to work with, and it was such a pleasure to hear my compositions and harmonies sung by such talented singers/actors.

The show is based in a church, so rather than being stuck out the way in a pit, where musicians traditionally seem to end up in theatre, I was promoted to the part of a piano playing vicar on stage! So not only did I get to hear wonderful singers perform my work, I got to be apart of it with them on stage, whilst wearing a vicar dress! Find the official review here.

BAZAR

“What initially started as a working relationship developed in to a partnership as James became a part of the production itself. Not only in a physical sense but also in the music created specifically for the show. Working to a remit that was no easy task, James developed new music that not only set the tone of the era but helped develop the characters and in turn really gave the actors a chance to move their performances to something far more natural and organic through his tunes.” – David Tuffnell – Producer & Director