Many moons ago, I decided to finally put pen to paper and outline my vision for a musical. It was to span a 21 year time period, starting circa 1926 to 1947. And I called it The Musical Box.
I later approached another artist and we worked on the project for a few years. I co-wrote some of the songs and even worked on some of the musical arrangements. However, he wrote and composed the music, also writing the bulk of the songs. He also did a great job of putting the actual Book together.
The opening Prologue to the musical
I wanted it to be all-embracing, yet not too overpowering or convoluted. I also had the idea of it having a classical base, that would underpin the whole musical. So world-renowned pieces from the likes of Saint-Saëns, Mozart, Holst, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Hayden and Chopin, had to be cleverly weaved into the story. But I also wanted jazz, opera and more modern pieces, too. It was quite the undertaking.
Two lead characters would drive the story, as we followed them in both their musical aspirations and their tangled love lives. Al, a tall and handsome man, had always dreamed of becoming a musical composer, and the love of his life, Ashley, a beautiful and rebellious young woman, had always envisioned herself as a prima ballerina.
The opening of Act One
But our story starts down in Cape Town, South Africa in 1926, where racial apartheid was very much in full swing. So, as a young mixed-race man and a young white woman, their problems were only just beginning.
We follow them on their balletic and musical journey, as they next find themselves in America — in the bustling city that never sleeps — New York. Whilst they strive to hone their artistic skills, their relationship takes a turn for the worst, as passion, desire and the unseen hand of manipulation turns their world upside down.
Overcoming all adversities, they finally make their way over to England, so they can fulfil their lifetime’s dream of performing together at The Royal Albert Hall.
The opening of Act Two
As you can see the musical is in two Acts. Personally I wanted to just have a standard-length musical, but my co-writer at the time was keen to push for a three-Act musical. So a compromise was made and we stuck with two. However, I am sure when a producer picks it up, it will be stripped down to its bare minimum and they will stick to the standard and most workable format.
Anyone who is interested in getting in touch for more information on the musical, or to listen to any of the various songs, feel free to contact me.
Additional thanks to Jesse Reuben Wilson, at Beyond Media for the actual book design and to the array of superb vocalists that have sung on all of the demos. We were even fortunate enough to have some singers who had performed in top West End musical theatres such as The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables.
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We created over 25 songs during our collaboration, so there are many to choose from.
The songs we created for the musical really do range quite a bit, from gentle ballads, to jazz, to playful musical-theatre tracks and then to operatic-style power-ballads. Some of the tracks even contain scene elements and sound effects to help convey what is happening at the time on stage. To be honest, some of the songs are rather out of context if you’ve never seen them in the musical, so they will probably not come across as the sort of thing you would listen to on the radio.
I currently do not have access to the files that contain the names of some of the incredible singers that you can hear on the songs, so forgive that I have not mentioned them for now.
The few songs I have added below, however, are just basic demos and would eventually be produced properly. One day I’ll add some more…
The first song is called Lullaby and was sung by the incredible opera singer: David Sorrentino.
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The next song is called Serenade. I suggested that we turn it into a duet for the musical, but unfortunately, as I have mentioned, I cannot find the names of the two artists anywhere. So when I do I will add them. Otherwise, if anybody knows them, do let me know, so I can acknowledge them.
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This next song is called Human Soul, and is curiously sad in its telling. It sits in the middle of the musical. A long time ago, I happened to be around someone’s house, a guy called Niki Lanik, while he was tinkering about on his piano and liked the melody he had created so much that I began writing a song around it. I took my ideas back to my writing partner and between us, we created another song. In fact, this song would not go amiss being played today, to all our so-called “world leaders”, considering what is happening around the planet…
There are two version of the song here, the first is a link to the live video recording of the talented West End London performer Jonathan Dudley, singing and acting to it on stage, and the second is just a demo recording.
👉🏻 Live video recording of Human Soul being sung at an Arts Festival, by Jonathan Dudley 👈🏻
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This track is called The Fixer, and also has the prison scene leading up the song being sung. It is playful in places but still nicely sung.
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This is next song is called Burn, Burn Burn, and is one of the jazz scenes that was wonderfully sung by a multitalented artist Rebecca Grant.
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The Joy of Creation, is a multi-vocal song that encompasses all that the musical represents.
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And finally, for now, I thought I would add a song that never really made it into our basic musical draft, but I like it all the same. It is called Falling. I came up with the basic melody many years before when I was working inside someone’s garden cabin at Christmas, surrounded by thick falling snow. And as inspiration struck, I wrote the lyrics upon the unfinished walls as I worked out the song. Anyway, once again, I got with my co-writer at the time, and we finished off another demo track. I then approached an amazing rock singer that I knew called Luke Simons, and he kindly lent his voice to the song. Enjoy…