Voice of the Musical

25. 9.23 I'm so very excited to bring you an interview with one of the most hard-working and successful writers around. Composer/lyricist for If/Then, High Fidelity, Bring it On, Almost Famous and of course the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal, Tom was in London for rehearsals for the UK premiere of NtN, and generously gave […]

4.8.23 In this episode I talk to the very talented and long-established writing partners Jake Brunger and Pippa Clearer about their work, which includes The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, and The Great British Bake Off Musical, which made a smash in the West End earlier this year. We talk about community, critics, and the […]

Something a little different for this episode – a roving report on day two of BEAM 2023, the industry showcase featuring extracts from a host of new musicals. This year BEAM took place at the Oxford Playhouse, and I spoke to a number of participants, organisers and presenters about their experience. Some of the audio […]

19.5.22 Here's an interview with the fantastic Darren Clark, who at the time of writing is about to open The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Southwark Playhouse. We talk about education in Music Theatre, finding your community, and the importance of establishing a brand. We also discuss Darren's fabulous initiative for new music […]

5.4.20 Hey there – here’s an interview with the wonderful Nathan Tysen, one half of Tysen and Miller, and lyricist of Tuck Everlasting, The Burnt Part Boys and Amélie. Music played on this episode includes tracks from the original recordings of Amélie and Fugitive Songs, and Lady of the Sea from Nigel Richards’s album A Shining Truth. Miller […]

A chat in the time of coronavirus with one of the most knowledgeable and erudite voices in British musical theatre, Jeremy Sams. A director, translator, composer, lyricist, librettist and playwright, Jeremy has worked throughout the entire landscape of straight theatre, musicals and opera. He’s also a dear friend and mentor, and I’m thrilled to be […]

Hi there! A “new” interview, recorded in February 2013 (!), lost and recently rediscovered, with the lovely and supremely talented Jeff Blumenkrantz. If you don’t know the wonderful Jeff Blumenkrantz Songbook Podcast, seek it out immediately. It was great to come back to this interview and remind myself of Jeff’s grace and wisdom. Please leave […]

Voice of the Musical returns after a long delay! It returns however, with a lovely interview with the honey-voiced Scott Frankel, who with his writing partner Michael Korie has been responsible for some of the most rich and sophisticated Broadway scores of recent times. I met Scott on the eve of the European première of […]

Born in 1928, Charles Strouse composed some of the classic musicals of 60’s and 70’s, Bye Bye Birdie, Applause and of course, Annie, which at the time of writing is previewing in a James Lapine revival at the Palace Theatre on Broadway. He is also the author of several film scores, including Bonnie and Clyde, […]

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful summer. I can’t tell you how excited I am to present this episode to you. I spoke to Adam Guettel while he was in London performing an evening of his songs, with Musical Director Kimberly Grigsby (Spring Awakening, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark). It’s fair to say that […]

The fifth and final part of our video podcast looking at the anatomy of ‘Wait a Bit’, from Stiles and Drewe’s Just So.

The fourth part of our video podcast looking at the anatomy of ‘Wait a Bit’, from Stiles and Drewe’s Just So.

The third part of our video podcast looking at the anatomy of ‘Wait a Bit’, from Stiles and Drewe’s Just So.

The second part of our video podcast looking at the anatomy of ‘Wait a Bit’, from Stiles and Drewe’s Just So.

The award-winning songwriting team George Stiles and Anthony Drewe have been writing musicals for over twenty years. Their second musical, Just So, is based on the Rudyard Kipling stories, and features one of my favourite numbers, Wait a Bit. In this, the first VotM video podcast, George and Anthony talk about how the song came […]

For our first video podcast, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe kindly agreed to discuss the evolution of the beautiful ballad ‘Wait a Bit’, from Just So The Musical. Here’s a short teaser – watch this space for the full interview.

Comedian Tim Minchin won a Perrier Award for Best Newcomer, before touring with a symphony orchestra and fronting the inaugural BBC Comedy Prom. The RSC paired him up with Dennis Kelly to write Matilda the Musical, which recently broke Olivier Award history by scooping seven titles. I went to meet Tim in his studio, and […]

Perhaps the our most venerable British writer, Sandy Wilson began composing for the West End in the late 1940’s. The intimate and delightful pastiche show The Boy Friend became a runaway hit. I speak to Sandy about post-war optimism, Julie Andrews, and whether luck really exists.  

Coming soon – our interview with Tim Minchin, composer of hit musical ‘Matilda’. (Warning: it’s a little bit sweary)  

One half of acclaimed British songwriting team Stiles and Drewe, George has been composing musicals since he and Anthony met in 1983. This interview is a real treat, not least because we meet George at the piano, from where he gives us many wonderful musical illustrations, charting the evolution of style from Tutankhamun to Betty […]

In this interview, we talk to Charles Hart, the lyricist of the most successful entertainment of all time, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. I spoke to Charles shortly after the Royal Albert Hall extravaganza celebrating Phantom’s twenty-fifth anniversary. Click this link to see George Orwell’s rules for effective writing, cited in the interview. […]

Lend Me a Tenor is a terrific new musical that started life in Utah, and ended up on the stage of the Gielgud Theatre this summer. We trace its journey, and that of its creative team, Peter Sham and Brad Carroll, and along the way we learn about what makes a good collaboration, the transition from […]

My first interview is with the incredibly versatile songwriter Richard Stilgoe, who wrote the lyrics to mega-hit Starlight Express, and additional lyrics for Phantom of the Opera and Cats. He talks here about university comedy with John Cleese, his amazing charity the Orpheus Centre, and coming second to the Beatles in a rock competition. I […]