Tynemouth Operatic Society and The Playhouse, Whitley Bay has scored a first. It has just been announced that they have been given the rights to perform Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical ASPECTS OF LOVE using a new definitive script.
Directors Lesley Crawford and Christopher Carr said, “We realised we were one of the first non-professional companies to perform the show but as the months have progressed Lord Lloyd Webber’s Company have kept sending us different copies of the script. It turns out that over the years they have watched various tours and staging and Lord Lloyd Webber has taken the best ideas from them all and removed things he wasn’t so fond of in the original London show to create this new definitive script”.
Although ASPECTS OF LOVE has been performed by non-professionals in Australia and America, everyone until now has used an older copy of the script from 1996. The Really Useful Group, who oversee Lord Lloyd Webbers work, have even gone so far as to suggest the 2013 staging of the show is re-titled as ASPECTS OF LOVE : PREMIERE NEW VERSION.
Musical Director for the production, Andrew Clarence said, “The show has been performed once with only two pianos and the old script, we are the first to present the new script with the full orchestral score. Because we have some new music in the show and several scenes added as well as some taken away, we have all been kept on our toes during pre-production, constantly directing and re-directing scenes as the script is sent to us”.
Chairman of Tynemouth Operatic Society, Hillary Reynolds told us, “Over the years we have had several northern premieres of musicals but this is the first time we have had the opportunity to present not just a national premiere but also the first production of the new script anywhere in the world. The icing on the cake is that we have an Andrew Lloyd Webber West End and Broadway show”. Owing to the fact that the show is new the Tynemouth Company has had to commission a new stage set which is being constructed in Newport, South Wales. Director Christopher Carr added, “Because we have 26 settings and 40 set changes we are creating projections which will move the show forward without having to stop for complicated changes of scenery”.
With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lyrics by Don Black (Song and Dance and Sunset Boulevard) and Charles Hart (Phantom of The Opera), ASPECTS OF LOVE opened in London back in 1989 at the Prince of Wales Theatre, where it ran for 1,325 performances. The original cast included Michael Ball. The first single released from the musical was “Love Changes Everything”, also sung by Ball. It was a success, peaking at number 2 and staying in the UK singles chart for 14 weeks, and has since become his signature song. The Broadway production, with the same creative team and many of the original London cast, opened in 1990 at the Broadhurst Theatre.
Based on David Garnett’s novel and spanning across 17 years (1947-1964), Aspects of Love tells a story of passion, love and loss across three generations of a family and their companions, set against the background of the cobbled streets of Paris to the mountains of the Pyrenees, Italy and Venice. It centres on Alex Dillingham, a young student travelling through France, who falls in love with the alluring actress Rose Vibert. As the pair embarks on a passionate affair, the unexpected arrival of Alex’s uncle changes their lives forever as they come to appreciate how love changes everything.
The Premiere opening night takes place on Tuesday 25th February 2014 and runs until Saturday 1st March 2014. Booking is now open for one of the theatrical events of the year at the Whitley Bay Playhouse Box Office. Call 0844 248 1588 or book online at www.playhousewhitleybay.co.uk. Alternatively call Tynemouth Operatic Society’s Booking Secretary, Jancey Glynn, on 0191 252 1827.