Music Review: Standing at the Sky’s Edge – Original Live Cast Recording

Standing at the Sky’s Edge – Original Live Cast Recording (Pink Moon Records Ltd).

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Starting its life at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre in 2019, Standing at the Sky’s Edge is following in the footsteps of other Crucible-born smash hits that have since taken the West End by storm, including Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Life of Pi, both of which began their rise to success on the stage of the south Yorkshire playhouse.

Following its opening run, Standing at the Sky’s Edge enjoyed a second season at the Crucible, post-pandemic, in December 2022, before transferring to London’s Olivier Theatre in early 2023. This particular new home must have been a lucky omen as the show then went on to win Best New Musical and Best Original Score and New Orchestrations at the 2023 Olivier Awards. A West End season at the Gillian Lynne Theatre begins on 8 February 2024.

The storyline of the show follows three generations of residents in the same high-rise housing estate in Sheffield, their stories intertwined by playwright Chris Bush who simultaneously draws the parallels in their situations while highlighting their unique experiences and challenges. Befittingly of the varied time periods and social contexts, Richard Hawley’s music also reflects a range of musical genres, encompassing upbeat folk-style numbers as much as slower lamenting ballads, and lots more in between. Without also seeing the stage production that accompanies the songs, this can feel a little disjointed as a soundtrack due to its refusal to keep to one consistent theme. However, when understood in the context of the different narratives highlighted it is evident that this is likely to be exactly what the discordance of genres is intended to demonstrate.

Although Standing at the Sky’s Edge is undoubtedly a piece of musical theatre, not least by sheer definition of the term, it has a very different feel to the shiny-happy, jazz-hands, big-ensemble-dance-number pieces that typically spring to mind on hearing that phrase. The lyrical style is far more conversational between characters and many of the songs are also interspersed with sections of dialogue; the music serves as a tool to support and enhance character development on many occasions, rather than simply providing token snapshot opportunities for a dance break within the momentum of the plot.

It is easy to see how this production has scooped up a string of successful runs and a plethora of awards in the relatively short time since its inception, deservedly earning specific recognition for the score alongside the production as a whole. Still generating a hubbub of excitement around new cast announcements and approaching its second London run, this is a show that’s not just standing at the edge but has taken the leap and is confidently soaring.

Sorcha Exworthy