Viewing: Cabarets - View all posts

Last night, we were honoured to be part of 'On Hope: A Digital Song Cycle', masterminded by Matt Powell and Victoria Saxton.

It was a gargantuan undertaking - you can read a bit more about the project in this Playbill article.

They did a truly incredible job putting this show together - some of it was in the details, like the beautifully filmed transitions between the songs that really gave a feel of theatrical magic!

It was so inspiring to see all the songwriters coming together from around the globe to make this possible. (Bartek Podkowa, who responsible for the technical wizardry, did a phenomenal job.)

And there's another bonus to an online concert... even if you missed the original show, you can catch it now!

Our song 'Thank Goodness' is around 1'06".

https://youtu.be/qUorKl8mKOk

Part two is next week, we'll be tuning in and hope you can join us!

(If you want to support the project, which the organisers heartily deserve, you can do so here: http://www.mptheatricals.co.uk/donate.)

Both members of Barlow & Smith were kept busy with individual projects in the summer of 2016, but we had a fabulous experience reviving our 'Dream Queen' material with Janie Dee!  

When Janie said she might perform one of our songs at the Queen's 90th Birthday celebration at Theatre Royal Haymarket, we honestly couldn't believe it. In fact, we were so shocked, we didn't announce it until a few days before the event because we couldn't comprehend it was actually happening!  

When Janie entered the stage dressed in full Elizabethan regalia to sing 'Private Delight', we had goosebumps. It was a huge thrill to attend the event in the first place (featuring an eye-watering list of stars, including Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Derek Jacobi, Wayne Sleep, Emma Thompson, and Rob Brydon to name a few!). To see our song performed so brilliantly by Janie in this company was a highlight of our work to date.  (Below - excited before the show!)

Shortly after this amazing experience, Janie revived the 'Dream Queen' cabaret at the Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk. It was fantastic to see this work take on another life with some familiar faces in the band and new guests. 

The summer had a few other firsts - we collaborated with Janie on another cabaret project at the St James Studio, creating an original song 'Never Knowingly Undersold' for the AGM of the John Lewis Theatre Society (and had a great deal of fun making up rhymes based on their slogan). We also created our first-ever commission for ukulele. That's right, ukulele. :-) 

After this summer, we're even more excited to be jumping back in with both feet writing this Autumn, and look forward to sharing more plans soon. Watch this space!

If you've been following us on social media, you may have seen the videos we've been posting live performances from our cabaret at the Pheasantry, as part of our #12DaysofBarlowandSmith countdown to Christmas!  We've been featuring some songs from the album alongside some brand new work - like this brand new number "My Christmas Coffee Cup".



There's only four days left, so look us up on Twitter or Facebook if you want to see all of our #12DaysofBarlowandSmith tracks!  You can also check them all out on our video page.  Merry Christmas!!!

We're delighted to be able to give you a look behind the scenes in the studio for Christmas in the City, and share a little bit about the recording process.  We had an absolute blast in the Cowshed Studio with our incredible team, and are grateful to Eulanda Shead Photography for putting together this fantastic film.



Additionally, we're so pleased to be able to start sharing with you some of our tracks from our recent cabaret at the Pheasantry!  We were lucky to receive a warm review from the Musical Theatre Review (click here if you fancy a read), and now even if you couldn't make it to the show, through the magic of the internet, we are bringing the show to you!

The first song we're sharing is our brand new Hanukkah song 'The Festival of Lights', just in time for the last night of celebrations!  And starting tomorrow, we'll be kicking off '12 Days of Barlow & Smith', sharing an original song each day leading up to Christmas.  Keep an eye on our social media or video page to see them all.



(Thanks to Chipped Productions for the recordings and especially the quick turnaround - what a champ!)