Cirencester’s Barn Theatre has unveiled another star-studded line-up for the second concert in the venue’s new virtual series showcasing the work of Britain’s musical theatre composers.
Celebrating the work of Scottish musical theatre composer and singer/songwriter Finn Anderson, the concert will be released on 23 May 2020 at 7.30pm BST on the venue’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter channels.
Hosted by Barn Theatre producer Jamie Chapman Dixon, The Barn Theatre Presents: The Music of Finn Anderson will offer an insight into the work of the composer who recently took up a year-long residency at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre and The Lowry as this year’s recipient of The Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer scheme.
Anderson wrote the music for Islander, the musical which won Musical Theatre Review’s Best Musical Award at last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe (conceived and directed by Amy Draper, with a book by Stewart Melton).
The co-creator of award-nominated musicals including Streets, and Alba, Anderson’s work-in-development, Anderson previously collaborated with the Barn Theatre on the venue’s world premiere of Alan Pollock’s re-imagining of A Christmas Carol.
The concert line up consists of: Christina Bianco (Funny Girl, Forbidden Broadway), Joanne Clifton (Flashdance, The Rocky Horror Show), Niki Evans, Claire-Marie Hall (The Grinning Man, The Wicker Husband), Matt Henry (Kinky Boots, The Lion King), Danielle Hope (The Wizard of Oz, Rock of Ages), Rebecca Jayne-Davies (Daddy Long Legs, Jersey Boys), Brienne Keller (Spring Awakening, Ouro Verde), Emmanuel Kojo (The Girl From the North Country, Oklahoma!), Nicholas McLean (Avenue Q, Wicked), Oliver Ormson (The Book of Mormon, The Addams Family) and first year drama student Ella Young.
One of the highlights of the concert is likely to be a duet featuring Olivier Award winner Henry and Young who has recently been attracting attention for her internet performance of ‘Defying Gravity’ from Wicked.
Loserville composer Elliot Davis will take centre stage in the third concert on 6 June 2020. Further details and the star line-up will be announced at a later date.
The concert series is the latest element to be added to the Barn Theatre’s Behind The Barn Door live streaming service which was launched in March in response to the theatre closedown. The service includes a full recording of the venue’s critically-acclaimed 2019 Built By Barn production of William Shakespeare’s Henry V directed by Hal Chambers.
Chambers has joined Aaron Sidwell and the Barn Theatre to co-produce the Bard From The Barn series of the Bard’s classic monologues re-imagined to reflect the present-day lockdown. Airing weekdays at 5pm, the series features performances from over 30 performers including Tricia Adele-Turner (Dear Evan Hansen), Max Hutchinson (The Woman in Black) and Jasper Cartwright (War Horse). Concert performers Claire-Marie Hall (The Grinning Man, The Wicker Husband) and Rebecca Jayne-Davies (Daddy Long Legs, Jersey Boys) have also been added to the cast.
A registered charity facing a loss of £250,000, the Barn Theatre has launched the SAVE OUR BARN campaign to raise funds to ensure the venue is able to re-open when lockdown restrictions are lifted. Supporters can donate via barntheatre.org.uk.
Launched in 2018, the ambitious project to create a major producing house at the heart of the development of Cirencester’s Grade II listed Ingleside House attracted support from leading Broadway director Jerry Mitchell and actors James Dreyfus, Matthew Kelly, Heida Reed and Daisy May Cooper.
In just two years the Barn Theatre has gained national recognition for producing 12 Built By Barn shows attracting over 80,000 theatregoers and winning The Stage’s Best Fringe Theatre of the Year Award 2019.
With strong links to the local community already well established the theatre has worked extensively with charities including Cirencester Housing for Young People and Age UK Gloucestershire.
Angela Thomas
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