Help support brand new musical, Gentlemen

Gentlemen by Patrick Wilde, Steven Worbey and Kevin Farrell

 

We want to introduce our brand new stage musical to you – Gentlemen - which we have been developing over the past two years. We are excited that it represents a new voice in musical theatre with an important message as well as being very funny and great entertainment.

 

Gentlemen is now ready to be worked on actors in a rehearsal room, which is an exciting moment for any musical and we would like to invite you to join us as a Supporter of the workshop that we have planned for January/February 2022 in London.

 

We need to raise £21,000 in donations to pay for all the costs associated with the workshop – fees for the artists and creative team, rehearsal room hire, travel and accommodation and all the other associated expenses. These costs are modest by comparison to some other workshops for stage musicals. A workshop on Broadway can cost over $250,000! We intend to work in a rehearsal room for a week with actors and musicians culminating in a private sharing of excerpts from Gentlemen to a private invited audience of its Supporters and selected theatre industry professionals. You could be there!

 

We should stress that, at this stage, we are just seeking donations and not investment and that any donation that you might be able to make confers no ownership of or participation in the stage musical property known as Gentlemen. We naturally believe that the workshop will be a catalyst for getting Gentlemen to the stage and this is sure to open up investment opportunities in due course. Supporters who join us on this journey will be offered first refusal of any investment opportunities.

 

The last eighteen months have been devastating for theatre and the arts. As we see theatres re-opening we are convinced there will be a huge market for new shows that are big and bold and entertaining. We hope you will consider joining us on the exciting journey.

 

What follows is a brief synopsis of Gentlemen.

 

1988. The world of yuppies and Filofaxes; of increasing bigotry and the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer. There’s no such thing as society, says Our Glorious Leader. But there is, of course, and this life affirming new musical comedy proves it. It conjures a world where love, courage, and redemption triumph against the odds and in the most unlikely places.

 

A beautiful public park has been sold to the highest bidder and the locals have gathered to protest. Amongst them is Joe, who has been the attendant at the park convenience for 30 years since he arrived from Jamaica. He’s supported by a myriad of fantastic gay characters, who have their own hysterical and poignant tales to tell and songs to sing of frolics in the park and in the convenience itself, harking back to a time when public spaces like these were the only places gay men could meet each other.

 

With a highly evocative original score, transporting us back to a time that was sound-tracked by Hi-NRG dance numbers and power ballads, this tale is anything but sordid. Set against a political background, this is anything but a political piece. It’s a poignant and funny take on what people can achieve if they put aside their differences and care for each other.

 

Ultimately, it’s about love triumphing over hate.

 

 

Pictured here at the writing stage in July 2021:

 

MATTHEW REEVE (Musical Director)

PATRICK WILDE (Writer)

KEVIN FARRELL (Composer/lyricist)

STEVEN WORBEY(Composer/Lyricist)

 

We have appointed John Stalker Productions Limited to take charge of organising the workshop and looking after the finances and budget. John is a veteran theatre producer with a long list of credits to his name. In recent years he has focused exclusively on producing musicals. He will deal with collecting any donations that are made for the workshop of Gentlemen.

 

We are hoping to hold the workshop in January/February 2022 in London and those that make donations will be invited to the presentation/performance at the end of the workshop process.

 

 

Patrick trained as an actor at The Webber Douglas Academy, and pursued tandem careers as a director and actor. He set up The Wild Justice Company, originally to present his first authored full-length play, What’s Wrong with Angry? This age of consent drama began at a small fringe theatre in London, but following rave reviews moved from there to the Oval House, then BAC and eventually to a successful run at The Arts in Leicester Square. It has since played in Edinburgh, Manchester, Oxford, Germany, Los Angeles, Chicago, Mexico City and San Francisco.

On the back of this success Patrick was commissioned to write the film version, Get Real, which went on to win several major awards, including both jury and audience prizes at The Dinard Film Festival, The Sydney Mardi Gras Film Award and the audience prize at the Edinburgh Film Festival. It was also selected to play at The Sundance Film Festival.

He became one of the most sought-after writers on British TV, and alongside regular writing for such staples as Casualty, EastEnders, Monarch of The Glen, Family Affairs, Holby City, The

 

Bill and Peak Practice he was also part of the writing team on more ground-breaking shows such as City Central, As If and most notably, This Life.

Patrick subsequently wrote the feature film Things To Do Before You’re Thirty and the stage play, You Couldn’t Make It Up which played in Edinburgh and London. His short film, A Quiet Courage, was an official selection for the Hollywood Shorts in Los Angeles.

He was asked by Sir Tim Rice to rework the book to his musical Blondel, which he also directed. He has written the books for new musicals The Confession Room and Exposure, and developed the musical Scott Mills: The Musical for the BBC.

More recently he wrote for the Outlaws-To-In-laws project which played at The King’s Head and collated The Band Plays On Festival at Greenwich Theatre. Meanwhile his first play, What’s Wrong With Angry? will play this year for the second time in Mexico and in Cambridge.

He is currently developing a TV series, Out In The Army, based on James Wharton’s autobiography, as well as Steven Fry’s novel, Making History, for screen.

 

 

Steven Worbey and Kevin Farrell met whilst studying at the Royal College of Music where Steven studied piano performance and Kevin studied composition. They teamed up in 2003, launching their career at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and have since performed in prestigious UK concert Halls including the Royal Festival Hall, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall and The Edinburgh Playhouse. They’ve performed at many theatres and festivals including the Cheltenham Music Festival, Buxton International Festival, Grassington Arts Festival, Isle of Wight Festival and they one of very few acts to get two successive Five Star Scotsman reviews at the Edinburgh Festival. Now internationally acclaimed concert pianists and Steinway artists they've entertained all over the globe with their sparky comedy and sensational piano-playing. They are regulars on Radio and television including BBC Radio’s Friday Night is Music Night, BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, BBC Radio 4’s Front Row and BBC2’s The Culture Show. They have performed live on ITV’s This Morning and in 2019 completed a sell-out twenty-four-date concert tour of South Africa. In March 2018 they performed under the baton of renowned conductor Barry Wordsworth performing Carnival of the Animals with the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra at the Brighton Dome.

Their work is diverse: As actors in a two-month sell-out run of the Canadian smash-hit play, Two Pianos, Four Hands at Vienna’s English Theatre, The Kings Theatre, Edinburgh and The Perth Theatre to performing in shows with the late Mickey Rooney at the Arcada Theatre in Chicago. They have composed and arranged a popular dance track and have performed in South Korea, Portugal, Austria, Canada, USA, Australia and Japan. Worbey and Farrell are privileged to have been invited to perform on the maiden voyage of all three of Cunard’s famous ocean liners including the famous Queen Mary 2. They have published many of their arrangements, composed a piano concerto and their own set of Paganini variations Deviations on a Caprice. They recently recorded and filmed their album CD/DVD at Henry Wood Hall in London, are working on a dance track of Albeniz’s Leyenda with producer James Hurr. Currently they are composing a set of variations on John Lennon’s Imagine which will be premiered at the London’s Cadogan Hall on 10th October 2021.

 

 

Matthew is a musical director, orchestrator and composer. He read music as an undergraduate and postgraduate at King’s College London.

 

Recent: Grease (Trondheim Spektrum; DNB Arena, Stavanger; & Chateau Neuf, Oslo, Norway), Don’t T ell Ma Ma, Cabaret, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Sweet Charity (The MAC, Belfast), The Wizard Of Oz, Flashdance (Chateau Neuf, Oslo, Norway), Villages: A Song Cycle (Southwark Playhouse & The Other Palace), Den Hvite Dame (Fredriksten Festning,Halden,Norway),The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole(Aged133⁄4),The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (The MAC, Belfast & Irish Tour), TheBreak:ANewMusical(ArtsTheatre,London&PickNMixFestival,TheMAC,Belfast),Live At The Tower (The Tower of London), Annie Get Your Gun, Tinseltown, Hunchback The Musical( Theatre At The Mill, Newtown abbey), Molly Wobbly (Lyric Theatre, Belfast, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Leicester Square Theatre & The Phoenix Artist Club), Hansel and Grettel (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Jack Frost’s Frozen Christmas, Santa Claus The Musical (Pavilion Theatre, Worthing), Fred & Georgie (LineUp Festival, Greenwich Theatre), Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (The Black Box, Belfast), One Man: Crisis On The A446 (Pentameter).

 

Composing:RSCSnapshots (The Dell Gardens, Stratford-Upon-Avon), The Importance Of Being Earnest (The MAC, Belfast), Romeo and Juliet (Roman Theatre of Verulamium, St. Albans & Minack Theatre), The 39 Steps, The Colleen Bawn (Lyric Theatre, Belfast),Playhouse Creatures, The Nose, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Lady Windermere’s Fan (The MAC, Belfast & Irish Tour), The Tempest, Twelfth Night (Minack Theatre).

 

Pantomime: Dick Whittington, Snow White, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty (Winner ‘Panto of the year 2016’, Great British Pantomime Awards), Jack and the Beanstalk (Towngate Theatre, Basildon), Aladdin (Marina Theatre, Lowestoft), Dick Whittington, Cinderella (Milton Keynes Theatre), Aladdin (The Landor).

 

Dramaschoolandyouthprojects:Paperboy (BYMT,Lyric Theatre, Belfast),Bugsy Malone,Fame,The Wiz, Footloose, Guys and Dolls, Billy E lliot R egional S howcase (ATG, Milton Keynes Theatre), Oliver!, Into The Woods (ATG, Edinburgh Playhouse), Guys and Dolls (ATG, Regent Theatre, Stoke-On-Trent), Our House (Mountview, Bernie Grant Arts Centre), Company, Hair (Mountview, The Karamel Club), Dying For It, Marat/Sade (Mountview, The Pleasance Islington), Emma, The Fix (Mountview, The Albany), The American Clock (Mountview, Jacksons Lane & The New Players), SteppingOut, TheVisit,Sweet Charity (Northampton College), Yerma, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Assassins, Cabaret (North Oxfordshire College),Florathe Red Menace(Tresham Institute),Henry V,A Little Night Music,Nine,Sweet Charity (King’s College London), The School for Scandal, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,The Burston School Strike, The Wizard of Oz, The Oresteia Trilogy, The Jungle Book, West Side Story (Stantonbury Campus).

 

Recordings: La Oss Skinne I Fred (Oslo Fagottkor with Kuuk, Christmas Single), Den Hvite Dame (Original Cast EP), T insel town (Original Cast EP), H ansel and Grettel (15th Anniversary Live Cast Recording), Molly Wobbly’s T it F actory (Original Cast Recording), Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens (Northern Irish Cast).

 

Television: Proms In Your Garden (BBC NI), S enkveld, A ll På Grensen, God Morgen N orge (TV2), Lindmo (NRK TV).

 

Forthcoming: Breadboy (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Beauty and the Beast (Towngate Theatre, Basildon) and Mother Courage (Bruiser Theatre Company).

 

ABOUT JOHN STALKER PRODUCTIONS LTD:

 

John formed his own theatre production company, John Stalker Productions Limited, in 2011 following a 29-year career leading major UK theatres, which include The Duke’s in Lancaster, Liverpool Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Edinburgh’s Kings and Festival Theatres. He has produced shows across the UK, in London and internationally. Highlights include The King and I, High Society, Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma!, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and The Addams Family (also Singapore) and Doctor Dolittle for Music and Lyrics Ltd UK Tours; The Hard Man (Scottish tour); The Snowman (Birmingham, London, and UK tour); The Secret Garden for Edinburgh and Toronto; The Importance of Being Earnest for Birmingham, London, and Toronto; The Corstorphine Road Nativity for Edinburgh; Hamlet for Birmingham, UK Tour, and Elsinore in Denmark; The Pajama Game for Birmingham, Toronto and London; and Once on This Island for Birmingham and London.

 

In 2011, John also created Music and Lyrics Limited, a Consortium of the UK’s largest independent number one presenting venues, dedicated to the presentation of musical theatre in all its forms. John is a Member and former Vice President of the Theatrical Management Association (now UK Theatre), the industry-led body representing professional theatre outside London. He is also a former Board Member of the International Society for Performing Arts. John is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts and a member of the League of Independent Producers.