Wednesday 11 April 2018

Liverpool and the opening week of Liver Birds Flying Home The Musical is here at last!

Well, after 3 and half years of working and dreaming and scheming and plotting and collaborating, we are here at last, at the brilliant The Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool.

http://www.royalcourtliverpool.co.uk/whats-on/liver-birds-flying-home/

Tickets are on sale and I am writing from the stalls as we light and tech the first act. We have a dress rehearsal scheduled for tomorrow night with an invited local audience and by then we have to be ready and up and shining like the star we hope our baby, this musical, will be.



George, James and the Royal Court's artistic team are our producers and all are in the theatre milling about with our fabulous director Benji Sperring

Benji and Mark in tech Royal Court Liverpool
who can find a joke in a can of tuna, and the writers, Mike Lindup, George Seaton and I.

Mike Lindup and I arriving in Liverpool
George Seaton and I Royal Court foyer
We have a superb movement and choreographer, Lucie Pankhurst, who has done wonders with how all the musical numbers look. And

Our set and design looks amazing thanks to Mark Walters, and though some of it will not be in till opening night, we are all on fire with how everything looks. Here's our first view of the stunning set.

Mark Walters has done us proud with this set.
But I'm getting ahead. We are in Liverpool. One of the greatest cities on earth. Home of the Mersey Sound, seagulls squawking overhead, water lapping and the ferry crossing to Birkenhead over the water there on the glorious Wirral peninsula. I took a run to the Mersey on my first morning here, for the joy. Even in the rain, it was beautiful.

The beloved Liver Birds

With Liverpool's most famous, in the rain beneath the Liver Birds.

Even in the rain, beautiful.
So all our fingers and toes are crossed and there'll be more from George, Mike, James, Benji, Lucie, Mark, Nic, the cast, the band, the crew and our beautiful stage and assistant stage managers, and I as the week progresses. I'm writing about it all for next week's New Statesman diary too.

Going places in a tuktuk at Spice Thai Liverpool with producer James Seabright
So watch this space as Barb's bouquet goes towards opening night! Love to all, everywhere, from Liverpool!