Magnum Opus Broadcasting and acclaimed music and radio producer Steve Levine are the recipients four New York Festival Radio Awards presented at the Storytellers Gala virtual ceremony on Tuesday 26 April 2022 for their work on BBC World Service’s U.Me: The Musical about and recorded during the global pandemic.
Including the highest honour of a Grand Award in the Craft category for Best Original Music, U.Me: the Musical was one of the big winners on the night.
In addition to the Grand Award, the critically acclaimed production was also awarded the Gold award for Best Music Special in the Entertainment category, Gold award for Best Sound in the Craft category and another Gold award for Best Original Music in the Craft category. The unique radio musical was also a finalist for best Narration in the Craft category and a special documentary ‘In The Studio – The Making Of U.Me: The Musical’ was finalist in the Documentary category for Culture & The Arts.
Premiering on BBC World Service on 12 May 2021, U.Me: The Musical was created, recorded and produced during the Covid-19 global pandemic respecting the isolation of the musicians and performers who were all recorded remotely.
Steve Levine added: “I think it’s one of the hardest projects I’ve ever been involved in as a music producer. On a normal record you maybe have 20 to 40 tracks for the band, but on something like this, on certain tracks, we’re into 300 to 400 tracks, because all the musicians recorded at home. It was quite a mammoth task. Some had quite good studio set ups, others you could hear dogs barking in the background.”
U.Me: The Musical is an international love story, based around two young people on opposite sides of the world who meet online during the pandemic and make a true connection, with the glorious accompaniment of the BBC Philharmonic, emotional performances by lead actors Anoushka Lucas and Martin Sarreal, brilliantly witty and heart-warming music and lyrics by Theo Jamieson and a special guest narration by Stephen Fry.
U.Me: The Musical is now available to listen to and watch via BBC Sounds and bbcworldservice.com/musical.
