Watch members of the cast in rehearsal for our production of Jesus Christ Superstar, to be performed at the Haymarket from 13 - 17 May 2014.
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From his vantage point in the Heathrow control tower, he’s responsible for the safe movement of hundreds of aircraft as they take off and land at one of the world’s busiest airports. But the pressure of Paul Morris’s day job as an air traffic controller doesn’t compare to the challenge that awaits him on the stage of Basingstoke’s Haymarket Theatre.
“I’m wearing 3 inch gold platform shoes and a Saturday Night Fever-style purple and gold suit, while singing and dancing a big camp production number,” explains Paul. “The last time I performed on stage was in a panto back home in Liverpool when I was 10. And I’ve never had to learn a dance number before!”
But 34-year-old Paul has one big advantage as he prepares for his role as King Herod in BATS’ forthcoming production of the Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar.
“My wife Julie is the dance captain, so she’s giving me some one-on-one tuition,” he smiles. “On the way home from rehearsals she’s often telling me where I went wrong and what I need to improve!”
BATS audiences may remember Julie as the lead, Reno Sweeney, in their 2012 musical “Anything Goes”. “I was operating the lighting for that show,” says Paul. This time round the roles are reversed. Julie is pregnant with the couple’s first child so won’t be on stage for JCS. “So she’s doing the lighting instead – I’m relying on her to make me look good!”
Paul may feel trepidation about his dancing debut, but he’s no slouch when it comes to belting out a song. “On holiday I’m always the first to volunteer for the karaoke.” And what’s his party piece? “Usually an 80’s classic or ‘I Am The One and Only’ by Chesney Hawkes!”
‘King Herod’s Song’ is a very different kind of showstopper – and one Paul can’t wait to perform. “The rest of the songs in the show are pretty intense. With my song, the whole cast can let rip and really go for it. It’s going to be fantastic with a full live orchestra!”
Six peformances of Jesus Christ Superstar run from Tues 13th - Sat 17th May 2014 at the Haymarket, Basingstoke.
As ‘Jamie Sinatra’ he’s a familiar face in the pubs, clubs and casinos of the Thames Valley, entertaining audiences with his Rat Pack tribute act. But now Jamie Trick, the real man behind the microphone, is preparing to take on a very different persona – that of Jesus Christ in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar.
“When I heard Basingstoke Amateur Theatrical Society was going to stage JCS I knew I had to be in it,” says Jamie. “I’ve been absolutely obsessed with the show since I saw the DVD of the West End production when I was 14. It’s such an honour to finally play my dream role.”
In fact you could say Jamie’s life has been building up to this performance. The actor who played Jesus in that London production was the brother of Jamie’s friend Michael. Jamie also worked backstage on the touring version of the musical when he was at university.
“But a big moment for me was performing Jesus’s song 'Gethsemane' at a charity night at the Grand Theatre in my home city, Swansea,” says Jamie. “It’s such a powerful song. It demands so much vocally and emotionally.” Indeed, Basingstoke audiences are in for a treat - his performance of the song creates goosebumps.
Jamie juggles singing with running his own recruitment company for social workers. He’s also a dad to two-year-old daughter Eva with wife Charis. But his biggest challenge hasn’t been managing his time, or even losing a bit more weight before appearing topless on stage.
“Put simply, how do you portray the Son of God?” asks Jamie, himself a Christian. “He isn’t just any other character. I’ve been reading Biblical texts and studying other productions. Our director Ray Jeffery has very clear ideas too. It’s been a fantastic experience. The entire cast are so committed to making this a truly stunning show.”
Six peformances of Jesus Christ Superstar run from Tues 13th - Sat 17th May 2014 at the Haymarket, Basingstoke.
Peter Francis has a lot of sympathy with Captain Von Trapp, the character he plays in The Sound of Music. While the Captain has to deal with seven unruly children, Peter has a menagerie of ducks, geese, goats and 40 alpacas at his farm in Up Nately.
"They keep me busy," laughs the father-of-two, whose own two children are at university. "But there's no way I wanted to miss the chance to be in The Sound of Music."
In fact, it was the first musical Peter ever saw: "My parents took me to the film when I was about five years old, and I was completely entranced. I remember wanting to be Rolf, the post boy, who sings 'Sixteen Going On Seventeen.'"
That was in 1966, and Peter admits he's rather long-in-the-tooth to be Rolf now. Instead, he takes on the role of the stern patriarch played by Christopher Plummer in the film, who falls in love with Maria, the children's governess. In the BATS production, Laura Newborough has the Julie Andrews role.
"I'm six foot three and Laura is...slightly shorter!" smiles Peter. "But love triumphs, despite the height difference!"
Working with two teams of seven children is challenging. "Usually I get the gist of my lines first, paraphrase a fair bit in rehearsal and gradually work towards getting the words right. You can't do that with children. They're waiting for their exact cue! It's keeping me on my toes!"
'The Sound of Music' is the BATS debut for Peter and his real-life partner Joy, who plays one of the nuns. They met through amateur dramatics.
"I'm most looking toward to hearing the reaction of the audience to those wonderful songs," says Peter. "'Edelweiss', 'Climb Every Mountain', 'My Favourite Things' - they mean so much to people. It's going to be a great show."
The Sound of Music run from Wed 13th – Sat 23rd November at The Haymarket.
She prefers posh parties to puppet shows. She gets a love rival sacked from her job. Worst of all, she doesn't like children. No wonder Baroness Elsa Schraeder is the one character fans of The Sound of Music love to hate!
"But I think she's just misunderstood," laughs Kirsty Kingham, the real-life mum-of-two who's playing the role of the Baroness in Basingstoke Amateur Theatrical Society's production of the evergreen musical. "Look at it this way. She meets the handsome widower Captain Von Trapp, she brings some fun back into his life and they get engaged."
"Then this nun Maria comes along and teaches his annoying children how to sing. The Captain falls completely in love with her and the Baroness can't compete. I think the audience should feel sorry for her, actually!"
The Baroness may resent the way Maria brings music into the Von Trapp household, but Kirsty herself has a beautiful soprano voice, as heard in her previous BATS lead roles, Marion Paroo in The Music Man (2008) and Grace Farrell in Annie (2006). Elsewhere she's played Eliza in My Fair Lady and Nancy in Oliver!
Kirsty also loves working with children - she runs the choir at her daughters' school and is training to be a teacher at the University of Winchester.
But in The Sound of Music, Kirsty enjoys playing the diva. She exchanges some wonderfully barbed dialogue with Laura Newborough, who plays Maria, and performs two witty songs, "How Can Love Survive?" and "No Way To Stop It."
"I can really put my stamp on them because they aren't as iconic as songs like "Do-Re-Mi" or "My Favourite Things", she enthuses. "And it's just an absolute delight to be singing the wonderful music of Rodgers and Hammerstein. I hope you enjoy hearing it as much as we enjoy performing it." The Sound of Music run from Wed 13th – Sat 23rd November at The Haymarket, including two Saturday matinées and two Sunday matinées on 17 November.
