Pure Imagination, The Songs of Leslie Bricusse - St James Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
PURE Imagination, The Songs of Leslie Bricusse, directed by Tony nominated Christopher Renshaw, will receive its world première at St. James Theatre (Main House), where it runs for a 4-week season – from Thursday, September 24 to Saturday, October 17, 2015.
Pure Imagination celebrates the songs of Leslie Bricusse, one of the most prolific and well loved film and musical theatre songwriters of our time.
Whether writing alone or forming magical partnerships with the likes of Anthony Newley, Henry Mancini, John Williams and John Barry, double Oscar and Grammy Award winner Leslie Bricusse’s music has touched us all.
He has composed over 1,000 songs and written the book, music and/or lyrics for more than 40 musical films and plays over a 60-year career. This heartwarming and uplifting show includes such favourites as What Kind Of Fool Am I, If I Ruled The World, Talk To The Animals, Feeling Good, Goldfinger and many, many more.
Leslie Bricusse has been nominated for 10 Oscars, nine Grammys and four Tonys and won eight Ivor Novello Awards in an illustrious career. His composing started as a student at Cambridge, where he co-authored, directed and performed in his first two musical shows, Out of the Blue and Lady at the Wheel, both of which transferred to London’s West End.
He spent the first year of his professional life writing another musical, The Boy on the Corner and the screenplay and score of his first motion picture, Charley Moon, which won him his first Ivor Novello Award. His later stage musicals include Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, Pickwick, Harvey, The Good Old Bad Old Days, Goodbye Mr Chips, Henry’s Wives, Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes, Jekyll and Hyde, Noah’s Ark, Sammy, Cyrano de Bergerac Kennedy, Victor/Victoria and It’s a Dog’s Life!
Christopher Renshaw (Director) began his career in the 1970s directing opera at Glyndebourne and the Royal Opera House. His acclaimed production of The King and I began in Australia, and was mounted on Broadway and in the West End. Another production of The King and I opened on Broadway starring Donna Murphy (she won the Best Actress Tony Award) and Lou Diamond Phillips to rave reviews. Renshaw received the 1996 Drama Desk Award as well as Tony and Outer Critics’ Circle nominations for his direction, and the revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival.
In 2002, he directed the world premiere of Taboo, using the music of Boy George, in London. It later transferred to Broadway and was revived in London in 2012, when it was co-produced by Danielle Tarento. His production of The Gipsy King’s Zorro has been seen in London, Amsterdam, Moscow, Tokyo and Paris. After opening at The Alliance Theatre, Atlanta last year, it is now on its way to Broadway.
We Will Rock You ran at the Dominion Theatre for 12 years.
Pure Imagination is presented by Danielle Tarento (also Casting Director), who was named Best Producer at the 2012 Off West End Awards and nominated Producer of the Year at the 2015 Stage awards. Her production of Titanic at Southwark Playhouse won Best Off West End Production at the 2014 Whatsonstage Awards and Best Musical Production at the 2014 Off West End Awards.
She has also produced Gods And Monsters, Dogfight, Victor/Victoria, Mack & Mabel, Parade, Company and Three Sisters (Southwark Playhouse); The Grand Tour (Finborough Theatre); Taboo (Brixton Clubhouse); The Pitchfork Disney (Arcola Theatre); Burlesque, Drowning On Dry Land (Jermyn Street Theatre); and Noël And Gertie (Cockpit Theatre). She is co-founder of the Menier Chocolate Factory.
Pure Imagination has musical direction, orchestrations and vocal/dance arrangements by Michael England. Casting has still to be announced.
Tickets: from £15 – available from the box office on 0844 264 2140 or online at www.stjamestheatre.co.uk/.
Times: Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm; Wedneday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm.
Also at St James Theatre: McQueen, a journey into the visionary imagination and dark dream world of Alexander McQueen (until June 27); Songs for a New World, with the unforgettable songs of Jason Robert Brown (July 22 to August 8); and Stardust Road, a toe-tapping journey through Hoagy Carmichael’s masterful musical score (October 27 to November 21, 2015).