Working with Music Promoters Kennedy Street Enterprises, we co-promoted a 13 date concert tour ending up the Hampton Court Palace Festival for West End star Kerry Ellis and Brian May who produced Kerry’s concept album ANTHEMS.
The show toured with Brian’s rock band and played to packed houses all over the country
(1992)
This remarkable ‘new musical’ goes down in musical theatre history as one of the most extraordinary shows ever written and presented to a paying audience. 29 different composers and lyricist set about writing a book musical based on the legend of Daedelus, Icarus, the Minatour and the maze. The book was stitched together by Stephen Clarke and the 19 songwriting teams were encouraged to write in a style which they felt fitted the 8 minutes of plot they had been given rather than to attempt to homogenize a style as a whole. The Production was made even more bizarre by the fact that the writers included all those who had been students of Stephen Sondheim on the inaugural visiting professorship sponsored by Cameron Mackintosh. Participating writers included Goerge Stiles and Anthony Drewe, Howard Goodall, Kit Hesketh Harvey and James McConnell, Charles Hart, Ed Hardy, Eric Woolfson, Stephen Keeling and Shaun Mckenna. The performance ran for one night at the Shaw Theatre and was attended by Stephen Sondheim and Cameron Mackintosh. The cast album is available from Dress Circle.
By Lyn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty based on an original story by Rosa Guy (1995)
Kenny produced this magical musical while on the staff at Imagination. The Production was initially mounted at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre co-directed by Gwenda Hughes and David Toguri and choreographed by David Toguri. The show transferred into the Peacock Theatre (then the Royalty) which a fantastic cast which included Lorna Brown, Sharon D Clarke, Clive Rowe, PP Arnold, Shezwe Powell, Johnny Worthy, Trevor Michael Georges, Mark Vincent and Anthony Corriette. The show was enthusiastically received by a mix race audience and won the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Best Musical’ as well as receiving nominations in the categories of Best Director, Best Choreographer and Best Supporting Actor. The cast album is available from Dress Circle.
By Stephen Keeling, Shaun Mckenna & Steve Dexter (1997)
Based on the book Marion’s Wall by Jack Finney, the stage production was a labour of love for it’s authors. Keeling and Dexter started working on it during Keelings year at Oxford University under the visiting professorship of Stephen Sondheim. Kenny fell in love with the show at a workshop and resolved that it would be the first musical he mounted with his newly established production company. First staged at the Salisbury Playhouse with a cast that included Summer Rognlie in the title role, Mark McGann, Kevin Colson and Angela Richards. Graham Bickley and Lynda Baron replaced McGann and Richards for the West End transfer a year later. The show received excellent reviews but Kenny didn’t have the financial backing to nurse the show past its first couple of months.
By George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (2001)
Julia McKenzie directed the Olivier Award Winning production of HONK at the National Theatre in 2000 and Kenny picked up the touring rights and re-mounted a production which Julia directed starring Norman Pace, Tracie Bennett and Clive Rowe. This original musical written by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe is based on the Hans Christian Anderson novel ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and was much enjoyed by regional audiences and has also become a firm favourite of amateur companies up and down the land.
By Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black & Charles Hart (2007/08)
This excellent touring production of perhaps Lloyd Webbers most challenging piece has been expertly brought to the stage by Director Nikolai Foster and Designer Rob Jones. At it’s opening in Newcastle, Lloyd Webber declared the it the finest production of the musical he had seen. A tremendous cast starring David Essex as George, Shona Lindsay as Rose, Matt Rawle as Alex, Poppy Tierney as Guilietta and Rachel Lynes as Jenny played to sold out houses all over the country. Tim Rogers has replaced Matt Rawle for the Spring tour and James Graeme has replaced David Essex for the last ten weeks.
By John Dempsey and Dana Rowe based on the novel by John Updike (2008/09)
When three desperate housewives in mid-town America wish for the man of their dreams they get more than they bargain for. All hell breaks loose when he appears. This big new touring production stars Wet Wet Wet front man Marti Pellow as the devlish Daryl Van Horne in a production directed by Nikolai Foster. Excellent support from I Witches, Ria Jones, Rebecca Thornhill and Poppy Tierney together with Rachel Izen and James Graeme playing Felicia and Clyde Gabriel.
(2012)
Leonard Bernstein’s WONDERFUL TOWN starring Connie Fisher, Michael Xavier and Lucy Van Gasse embarks on a Spring tour starting with three weeks at the Lowry Theatre in a co-production with The Royal Exchange Theatre, The Hallé Orchestra, The Lowry and Lee Menzies Ltd.
Go to www.wonderfultown.co.uk for more details.