A brand new musical is to be premiered a Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn … with a score of new retro-style songs.
Set in a Shropshire hostelry, ‘MANBand’ tells the story of four pub regulars who missed out on show-biz limelight in their youth and who now plan to give stardom one last try. Far too old to be a Boy Band, they form a Man Band! But can they do it? Or will arguments and alcohol get in the way?
The story is the brainwave of veteran Shropshire actor and writer Tim Baker … with 20 songs written by Shrewsbury husband and wife team Pete and Jo Hanlon, who spent 12 years with a professional function band.
The new songs are in the style of their musical heroes such as The Four Seasons, Bonnie Tyler, Smokie, The Police, Tina Turner, Fleetwood Mac and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. “They are numbers,” says Pete, “those acts might have recorded if they’d been written at the time … including a comedy song about Morecambe and Wise.”
“It’s a story, “says Tim, “about how you can live your dreams no matter how old you are. There should be no barriers to creativity”. The average age of the lead actors is over 70, with younger actors featuring in flashback scenes. The result is a feel-good comedy with an edge of social realism that celebrates the idiosyncrasies of so-called ‘maturity’.
Director Beverley Baker has put together a team of 25 performers for the show “ranging from experienced Shakespearian actors (letting their hair down) to bright young starlets”.
The Three Tuns Brewery at Bishop’s Castle have backed the project by producing barrels of MANBand Pale Ale which will be finding its way into local pubs. Meanwhile, ‘MANBand’ have been serenading drinkers on a musical pub crawl around Shrewsbury. “We’ve been bowled over by the response”, says Beverley. “People really like the songs.”
‘MANBand The Musical’ is at Theatre Severn from 10th to 12th October where The Walker Studio is being converted into a pub for the occasion.
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