Edward Seckerson meets Laura Pitt-Pulford & Danielle de Niese

For this Musicals Meets Podcast, Editor Sarah Kirkup meets Marlow and Moss, the talented writing duo behind global sensation SIX. Following in that musical’s footsteps was always going to be a challenge, but last summer they workshopped Why Am I So Single? at the Lilian Bayliss Theatre. Following two friends, who just happen to be writing a musical, as they enjoy a prosecco-fuelled evening, the two-act show was positively received by audiences. It was subsequently finessed and sculpted into the final version premiering in the West End this summer.  

At the press launch at Soho’s Boulevard Theatre on Valentine’s Day, Marlow and Moss – along with some special guests – performed a selection of songs from the show. They speak to Musicals magazine’s Editor about the writing process, the musical styles they have drawn upon, and how their friendship has remained very much intact. 

Why Am I So Single? opens at the Garrick Theatre 27 August and the run is currently scheduled to continue through to 13 February, 2025 

The musical excerpts from Why Am I So Single? – ‘8 Dates’ and ‘Just In Case’ – were recorded at the launch event on 14 February at the Boulevard Theatre in Soho.

The opening and closing musical excerpts featured in this podcast are from the Overture to Gypsy (film version), taken from Jule Styne’s ‘Overtures Vol 2’, courtesy of JAY Records 

Edward Seckerson meets Evelyn Hoskins, forever associated with bringing Carrie White in from the cold in the invigorating 2015 Southwark Playhouse production of the ill-fated musical Carrie. They also talk Spring Awakening - which marked Hoskins’s stage debut and is back for an original cast reunion; the loveable Dawn in Waitress where she shared the stage with the composer Sara Bareilles; and the stranger-than-fiction alchemy of 42 Balloons soon to be seen at the Lowry in Manchester.

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For this Musicals Meets Podcast, Sarah Kirkup talks to Sarah Crompton, one of Britain’s most respected writers and broadcasters, about the new production of Hadestown which has just premiered at the Lyric Theatre in the West End. Crompton is a huge fan of the show, having previously seen the UK production at the National Theatre and reviewing it favourably for WhatsOnStage. She recently wrote a fascinating feature on the new West End production for the current issue of Musicals magazine. 

Blending modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz, the music for Hadestown is written by the acclaimed Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell. Mitchell originated Hadestown as an indie theatre project and acclaimed album before transforming the show into a genre-defying new musical alongside Tony Award-winning director Rachel Chavkin. 

How has the show been reinvented this time around? What aspects work particularly well, and which performers stand out? The two Sarahs meet to discuss the production in detail. 

EDWARD SECKERSON meets OLIVER TOMPSETT at London’s Wonderville Bar & Café to chat over his ongoing journey from The Who’s Tommy (title role) at Arts Ed and a veritable portfolio of rock/pop shows – Our House, Rock of Ages, We Will Rock You – to more legit fare like Fiyero in Wicked and his winning turn as Will Shakespeare in & Juliet. As we speak, he is preparing to launch a new show Wild About You (with a score by Broadway’s Carole King, Chilina Kennedy) at London’s Theatre, Royal Drury Lane, with a jaw-dropping cast including Eric McCormack and Rachel Tucker.

Edward Seckerson drops in on Jenna Russell during the run of Richard Taylor/Rachel Wagstaff's Flowers for Mrs Harris at London’s Riverside Studios. They compare notes on the show and on other movers and shakers who’ve been instrumental in pushing the envelope on musical theatre including Sondheim (with whom Olivier Award-winning Jenna enjoyed several career-defining encounters), Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), and Jason Robert Brown (Bridges of Madison County).

Recorded backstage at London’s Riverside Studios in October 2023.

The opening and closing musical excerpts featured in this podcast are from the Overture to Gypsy (film version), taken from Jule Styne’s ‘Overtures Vol 2’, courtesy of JAY Records.

For more details on Musicals magazine, please visit MusicalsMagazine.com

Jamie Muscato - the original Jason "J.D." Dean in the now cult hit Heathers and currently the lovelorn Christian in Moulin Rouge - sits down with Edward Seckerson to talk Once, Bend It Like Beckham, and being Kelsey Grammer’s younger self in Big Fish.

Recorded backstage at London’s Piccadilly Theatre in August 2023.

The opening and closing musical excerpts featured in this podcast are from the Overture to Gypsy (film version), taken from Jule Styne’s ‘Overtures Vol 2’, courtesy of JAY Records.

For more details on Musicals magazine, please visit MusicalsMagazine.com

In this episode of the Musicals Podcast Edward Seckerson drops in on the two leading ladies of the current revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love - Laura Pitt-Pulford and Danielle de Niese - to compare notes on two fascinating women and re-evaluate the show itself 34 years on from its premiere. It’s two hours before curtain up and Michael Ball’s ears must have been burning…

Recorded backstage at London’s Lyric Theatre in June 2023.

The opening and closing musical excerpts featured in this podcast are from the Overture to Gypsy (film version), taken from Jule Styne’s ‘Overtures Vol 2’, courtesy of JAY Records.

For more details on Musicals magazine, please visit MusicalsMagazine.com

In this episode of the Musicals Podcast Edward Seckerson talks to the multi-award-winning Jamie Parker (The History Boys, Harry Potter - The Cursed Child) about his current project The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a new musical by Jethro Compton and Darren Clark, and swinging like Sinatra with conductor John Wilson.

Recorded backstage at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant in May 2023.

The opening and closing musical excerpts featured in this podcast are from the Overture to Gypsy (film version), taken from Jule Styne’s ‘Overtures Vol 2’, courtesy of JAY Records.

For more details on Musicals magazine, please visit MusicalsMagazine.com