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Tim Rice backs new British musical TESS - press release

12/1/2016

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​LEGENDARY lyricist Sir Tim Rice has put ​his considerable support behind the new British musical TESS.

The wordsmith behind some of the world's best-loved musicals - including Evita, Joseph, Chess and From Here to Eternity - praised material from the new show as “very well crafted” and “very professional in all departments”.

The giant of musical theatre was commenting on
tracks released by composer Michael Blore and lyricist Michael Davies as part of their drive to bring TESS to the stage. Now, as Rice astutely points out: 
“What you really need is a producer.”
Sir Tim Rice

Legendary lyricist Sir Tim Rice
Rice’s pedigree is unmatched in the world of musicals. From his early partnership with Andrew Lloyd Webber, which produced global successes including Jesus Christ Superstar, he has gone on to work with pop luminaries such as Sir Elton John and Benny and Bjorn from Abba.
 
He described TESS as “based on a very strong story and the songs I have heard [are] very well crafted”, adding: “I wish you all the very best.”
Almost two years in the making, TESS is a sumptuous new adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Three demo tracks are already available for free online at tessthemusical.com and the writers have announced that studio time has been scheduled in 2016 to record a full album version of the show.
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Press release for TESS - The Album

8/12/2015

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New British musical TESS gets its first album recording starting Spring 2016.

The show, based on Thomas Hardy’s much-loved novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, is no stranger to the studio having already had three songs produced using talent from the West End stage.

​“It’s a dream come true”, says composer Michael Blore. “After years of planning, the entire show is going to be heard for the very first time. It’s hard to sum up how
​I feel, but thrilled is about right!”

Michael Blore
TESS - The Musical
TESS composer Michael Blore​ back in the studio in 2016

TESS tells the devastating story of Tess Durbeyfield, daughter of a poor villager who fatefully discovers that they may be related to the ancient aristocratic d’Urberville family. As she is sent to seek respectability with her new-found relatives, Tess embarks on an emotional and dramatic journey that will lead her to love, loss and ultimate tragedy.
TESS brings together Hardy’s iconic tale with Blore’s majestic score and an evocative libretto from the pen of award-winning playwright Michael Davies. Fully sung-through, in the manner of Les Miserables or Phantom of the Opera, it offers ​a bold and highly expressive retelling of this ever-popular, much-loved story.
 
“We are taking a path well-worn by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Produce an album before staging the show,” says Blore. “We just hope that formula works as well for us as it did for him. That would be the ultimate dream”.
 
You can find more information about the show, as well as follow the latest news on this recording project, at www.tessthemusical.com 
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TESS - The Conversation

12/8/2015

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TESS creators Michael Blore and Michael Davies give an interview to theatre reviewer Caroline Hanks-Farmer of carnstheatrepassion.com
 
“My ears pricked up at the thought of supporting some new writing and a new project”, says Hanks-Farmer. “I was there like a shot!”

In a wide-ranging conversation, the 2 Michaels - Blore and Davies – discuss the background to their working together and why they chose “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” as a project. 
Caroline Hanks-Farmer
Caroline Hanks-Farmer
Theatre reviewer with
​a passion for new writing
As Davies quips, “I think Jupiter may have been in conjunction with Uranus”.

​For the full interview, please go to www.carnstheatrepassion.com​
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TESS talks on the BBC

17/6/2015

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In an exclusive interview with BBC Radio,
TESS creators Michael Blore and Michael Davies
​discuss their new British musical theatre venture.

 
“There’s no point in writing something if it isn’t going to be performed”, says lyricist and award-winning playwright Davies talking about a writing project that has lasted two years. “Built in to the process has been this thought in the back of our mind of how practical is this, how could somebody put this on a stage, what would they need, what are the resources that are going to be required to do it".

Michael Davies & Michael Blore
The 2 Michaels - 
Davies and Blore

TESS creators Michael Davies and Michael Blore
give their first ever interview

Based on Thomas Hardy’s much-loved novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, TESS tell the devastating story of a poor village girl embarking on an emotional and dramatic journey that will lead to love, loss and ultimate tragedy.
 
“It was one of those stories that just stayed with me”, explains composer Blore who first read the novel as a teenager. “And I think that’s what gives it a chance (of success), because the best musicals are always about the story”. As Davies states, “it’s one of those stories that just kind of sticks in the public’s consciousness”.
 With a majestic, classically romantic score and an evocative libretto, “the idea now”, says Davies, “is to get the support and try to get people on board and if they like it to spread the word”.
 
The 2 Michaels talk to BBC Radio Northampton presenter John Griff. For more details about the show, please go to
www.tessthemusical.com
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Forward>>
    Tess The Musical logo

    ​MORE NEWS

    ​BACK IN THE STUDIO
    ​SELL-OUT WORKSHOP SHOWS
    NEW LONDON SHOWCASE

    BANBURY LITERARY FESTIVAL
    ​​
    TESS WEST END SHOWCASE 
    DUET GETS LONDON OUTING
    ​ELAINE PAIGE ON SUNDAY

    1ST WHAT'S ON STAGE ARTICLE
    FIRST SONG PERFORMANCE
    BBC HOST SINGS ON ALBUM
    LEADING LADY UNVEILED

    BROADWAY STAR JOINS ALBUM
    TESS SCOOPS WEST END STAR
    LATEST STAR ANNOUNCED
    WEST END STAR SIGNS UP 
    CASTING NOTICE
    CASTING GROBY & TRINGHAM
    CASTING THE DAIRYMAIDS
    FIRST CASTING FOR ALBUM
    TIM RICE BACKS TESS
    TESS ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT
    IN CONVERSATION WITH CTP
    TESS ON THE BBC


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