Song & Dance to return to London's West-End?

Claire Sweeney has said this evening in a TV interview that the upcoming tour of "Tell Me on a Sunday" is being mounted with the view to continuing into a West-End production of "Song and Dance" next year.

For those who do not know, "Song and Dance is a musical comprising two acts, one told entirely in "Song" and one entirely in "Dance", tied together by a love story.

The first part is Tell Me On A Sunday, with lyrics by Don Black and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, about a young British woman's romantic misadventures in New York City and Hollywood. A one-woman tour-de-force written specifically for Marti Webb, it was presented at the Sydmonton Festival in the summer of 1979, subsequently recorded, and was aired as a one-hour television special by the BBC the following January.

The second part is a ballet choreographed to Variations, composed by Lloyd Webber for his cellist brother Julian, which is based on the A Minor Caprice No. 24 by Paganini. It was recorded in 1978, and nearly became incorporated into Cats. (The opening sequence was utilized as the theme music for London Weekend Television's South Bank Show). Producer Cameron Mackintosh proposed the two pieces be combined under the umbrella title Song and Dance to acknowledge the primary aspect of each act"

I'd love to see the show in its entirety live, but I hate the revisions for the latest incarnation of Tell Me on a Sunday with Denise Van Outen. I absolutely hate Speed Dating, Haven in the Sky and Somewhere Someplace Sometime.

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I actually do like TMOAS - but I just don't welcome yet another ALW revival on the West End.

As for the DVO show and the recording , it is the worst recorded version of the show I've heard and Miss Van O is appalling on it LOL - she literally murders Unexpected Song, she does not have the vocal prowess to tackle it. POL, take a listen to Bernie singing it on the OBC cast album - way beyond awesome!

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"I'd love to see the show in its entirety live, but I hate the revisions for the latest incarnation of Tell Me on a Sunday with Denise Van Outen. I absolutely hate Speed Dating, Haven in the Sky and Somewhere Someplace Sometime."

This production is going back to the original Marti Webb piece, with the addition of one new song written by ALW. Speed Dating etc. will be absent.

"Song and dance! Song and dance!"

To the tune of Superstar ^^

Seriously though, what says it'll be in Db? xD

Updated On: 6/30/10 at 06:49 PM

Phantom - You really need to hear the original Marti Webb and the Bernadette Peters recordings. Unexpected Song is fabulous on the Bernadette recording (except the last note) and I also enjoy The Last Man in My Life, the song it replaced (in terms of placement in the show, but it was known as When You Want to Fall in Love and sung at the end of the second act) on the Marti Webb recording. I like Denise, but the new recording is the worst of the lot. The Sarah Brightman recording represents a version that was the transition between the original London production and Broadway. Sarah sings it okay, but her acting is wooden and empty. She pretty much offers only the notes and the lyrics without any hint of character.

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Bernadette Peters singing the TMOAS score - or singing just about anything - is a masterclass in musical theatre singing. Every nuance in phrasing, every vocal inflection is there for a reason and she interprets a lyric better than any singer I've ever heard and is one of the few singers, male or female, who I think has total truth in every performance. When I hear her sing I FEEL what the character feels. There are very few singers I can say that about.

And I have to disagree with Mama - Bernie's last note on Unexpected Song is mindblowing.

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I generally like Bernadette Peters but I’m really not a fan of the Broadway Song & Dance album – the orchestra sound ropey, Ms Peters sounds ill (which I believe she was), her accent is distractingly appalling and the production of the album as a whole is sub-standard. Having said that, it’s worth buying for the final scene which is just amazing.

Sorry, mama - I meant Mister Matt. My ancient eyes are failing me lol.

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Just had a look at buying 'Tell Me ON A Sunday' on Amazon;

They have the Denise Van Outen version there for £5.51
The Marti Webb version for £49.99 (used)
Song and Dance (2005), Don't know who the female star is? £14:99
Song and Dance (US import,1999) Bernadette Peter's £7.99

POL - if you can get the OBC one for £7.99, that's a fantastic bargain - snap it up!
The DVO one I would say is overpriced by about £5.50.

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Who's lined up for the Wayne Sleep "Dance" part if they do revive ir; always my fave part of the show