Chris O’Hara and I have written a musical adaptation of "How Green was my Valley". The libretto and the music composition are entirely our own work. The story, set at the end of the 19 th century, is faithful to the character time and place of the Welsh mining communities of that era. The music, in a contemporary style but with references to music of the ‘valleys’, is a mixture of ‘stand alone’ songs and through composed music that drives the narrative forward. The production is written in English but rooted in Welsh idioms. It explores universal themes of love, loss and injustice and celebrates the strength and support of community and the church, inspired by my upbringing and family experiences in the Valleys mining industry. We have consulted a number of people in theatre and Opera, namely Michael McCarthy ( Music Theatre Wales), Graeme Farrow, (Wales Millennium Centre), Wyn Davies, (MD, New Zealand Opera), Donald Maxwell (WNO), Nigel Hook (set designer for The Play that Goes wrong) and others. All have liked the work and have encouraged us to try and progress the piece to production. Graeme Farrow has told us that he would be delighted to present it at the Wales Millennium Centre. A vocal workshop of some of the music was carried out at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in February 2019 under the direction of Donald Maxwell which was successful. This is a new musical production and the Libretto and piano /vocal score is complete. Heloise Davies (Arts Council England, Midlands), after hearing the music etc has suggested we produce a narrated concert version performed locally in The Buxton Opera House as a community project. Therefore we have decided that the next step we take, before proceeding to a full production, is to stage a concert production to assess audience response. Because the music is original and therefore unknown we have rewritten the Libretto as a narrative along with some semi-staging designed to put the music in the context of the story. This of course presents other problems but will enable us to experiment and a learning experience confirming existing staging proposals. It will also present some challenges to individual performers, the male voice choir and the children in delivering the whole storyline. Most of the lyrics are in English but there is some in Welsh, and will presents a linguistic and emotional context in delivery. Chapel-en-le-Frith Male voice choir have agreed to take part and already started rehearsals, along with some local well known artists, including Clare O’Neil, professional Opera singer, and the Mad Hatters, a local Music Theatre group based in Buxton available to boys and girls of ages 5 to18 years. It is our intention to use some post graduate students in lead roles and some have already agreed to take part. This production is intended to appeal to musical theatre lovers of all ages. It is possibly the first Traditional Welsh Musical and presents an opportunity to children who are interested in the performing arts and a different challenge to the Male Voice choir in that they will be part of the action. It is intended to be a community-based project involving local people who will have the opportunity to work alongside some professionals. It is essential that the cast work together to present and support the emotions demanded by the storyline. Whereas the Buxton Opera House organization will advertise the show in their production booklet and on the internet, we intend to involve social media in making the public aware along with local radio. Oliver Savile, (Lead roles in Wicked, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera in the West End and The Last Ship in San Francisco), was born in Buxton and has agreed to perform and we will use his West End experiences and success to publicise on radio by interviewing him professionally by C Sykes (ex BBC). We intend to conduct open rehearsals at our Methodist Church which we hope church members will come and see for free. We have booked the Buxton Opera House for the narrated performance for Sunday 20th November 2022 and are now actively seeking our audience hoping to fill the Theatre. More information and background on the production can be found on our website
howgreenwasmyvalley.com