Sydmonton Festival
Encyclopedia
The Sydmonton Festival is a summer arts festival presented in a deconsecrated
16th century chapel
on the grounds of Sydmonton Court, Andrew Lloyd Webber
's Hampshire
estate. Its purpose is to introduce new works to a private audience of individuals connected with theatre, television, and film in order to determine their future potential and viable commercialism.
Among the Lloyd Webber projects to receive their first public performances at the festival are Evita, Variations, Tell Me on a Sunday
, Cats
, Starlight Express
, Aspects of Love
, The Phantom of the Opera
, Sunset Boulevard
, Whistle Down the Wind
, By Jeeves
, The Beautiful Game
, The Woman in White
, The Likes of Us
, and Love Never Dies. His Cricket
received its second performance here.
Other projects to debut here include Nunc Dimittis, Masquerade, and Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
by Rod Argent
, Cafe Puccini by Robin Ray
, Girlfriends by Howard Goodall
and Richard Curtis
, Love Songs by Charles Hart
, La Bête
by David Hirson, Yosopv by Kit Hesketh-Harvey
and James McConnel, and Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressman Taylor
.
Deconsecration
Deconsecration is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The same act when performed by a member of a differing religion may be considered a curse by some religions and not a complete removal of the...
16th century chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
on the grounds of Sydmonton Court, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
estate. Its purpose is to introduce new works to a private audience of individuals connected with theatre, television, and film in order to determine their future potential and viable commercialism.
Among the Lloyd Webber projects to receive their first public performances at the festival are Evita, Variations, Tell Me on a Sunday
Tell Me On A Sunday
Tell Me on a Sunday is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black. A one-act song cycle, it tells the story of an ordinary English girl from Muswell Hill, who journeys to the United States in search of love...
, Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
, Starlight Express
Starlight Express
Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...
, Aspects of Love
Aspects of Love
Aspects of Love is a musical/chamber opera with a book and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart. It is famous for the song "Love Changes Everything."...
, The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
, Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard (musical)
Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the...
, Whistle Down the Wind
Whistle Down the Wind (musical)
Whistle Down the Wind is a musical based on the 1961 film Whistle Down the Wind with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Jim Steinman, known for his work with Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler.-Stage Premiere:...
, By Jeeves
By Jeeves
By Jeeves, originally Jeeves, is a 1975/1996 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn, based on the novels of P. G. Wodehouse....
, The Beautiful Game
The Beautiful Game
The phrase "The Beautiful Game" is a synonym for Association Football. The origin or individual who coined the phrase is unknown and it is difficult to verify. Football commentator Stuart Hall is the only individual to have claimed to have created "The Beautiful Game"...
, The Woman in White
The Woman in White (musical)
The Woman in White is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel with a book by Charlotte Jones, based on the novel The Woman in White written by Wilkie Collins...
, The Likes of Us
The Likes of Us
The Likes of Us is a musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The original book was by Leslie Thomas. It is based on the true story of Thomas John Barnardo, a philanthropist who founded homes for destitute children...
, and Love Never Dies. His Cricket
Cricket (musical)
Cricket, also called Cricket , is a short musical written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It was commissioned for Queen Elizabeth's 60th birthday celebration, and was first performed at Windsor Castle on 18 June 1986....
received its second performance here.
Other projects to debut here include Nunc Dimittis, Masquerade, and Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day is an English carol usually attributed as 'traditional'; its first written appearance is in William B. Sandys' Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern of 1833...
by Rod Argent
Rod Argent
Rod Argent is an English rock musician and a founding member of the 1960s English pop group The Zombies and the 1970s band Argent....
, Cafe Puccini by Robin Ray
Robin Ray
Robin Ray was an English actor, musician and broadcaster, the son of comedian Ted Ray and the brother of actor Andrew Ray.-Career:...
, Girlfriends by Howard Goodall
Howard Goodall
210px|thumb|Howard Goodall at St. John the Baptist Church in Devon, United Kingdom, May 2009Howard Lindsay Goodall CBE is a British composer of musicals, choral music and music for television...
and Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
, Love Songs by Charles Hart
Charles Hart (lyricist)
Charles Hart is a British lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for re-writing the lyrics to, and contributing to the book of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical The Phantom of the Opera. He also co-wrote the lyrics to Lloyd Webber's 1989 musical Aspects of Love...
, La Bête
La Bête
La Bête is a comedy by American playwright, David Hirson. Written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, the Molière-inspired story, set in 17th century France, pits dignified, stuffy Elomire, the head of the royal court-sponsored theatre troupe, against the foppish, frivolous street entertainer...
by David Hirson, Yosopv by Kit Hesketh-Harvey
Kit Hesketh-Harvey
Christopher John "Kit" Hesketh Harvey is a British musical comic performer, translator, composer and scriptwriter.Born in Nyasaland , he was educated as senior chorister at Canterbury Cathedral and then Tonbridge School in Kent before moving on as a choral scholar under John Rutter to Clare...
and James McConnel, and Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressman Taylor
Kathrine Taylor
Kathrine Kressmann Taylor or Kressmann Taylor was an American author, known mostly for her Address Unknown , a novel written as a series of letters between a Jewish art dealer, living in San Francisco, and his business partner, who had returned to Germany in 1932...
.