Award winning producers Andy and Wendy Barnes from Global Musicals (Six, The Choir of Man, Pieces of String, Lift) together with Kevin McCollum from Alchemation (In The Heights, Avenue Q, Rent, Mrs Doubtfire, The Notebook) announce a series of staged concert performances of new musical 42 Balloons by Jack Godfrey, currently in development through their sister company Perfect Pitch, an entity dedicated exclusively to creating, developing and promoting new contemporary British musicals.
The concerts will be staged at the Vaudeville Theatre, currently home to West End musical SIX, on Monday 14 November at 7.30pm, Monday 21 November at 7.30pm and Monday 28 November at 2.30pm.
42 Balloons has been in development with Perfect Pitch for the last three years and a number of music and choreography workshops have taken place during that time along with the recordings of a few of the songs, one of which – 42 Balloons and a Lawnchair – was released in 2021 on Perfect Pitch’s Rise:Up YouTube channel.
The staged performances are the culmination of this development and a chance for an audience to see the full show for the first time.
42 Balloons has been written by Jack Godfrey whose other works include This is a Love Story (Dundee Rep) and Babies (YMT:UK). The concerts are directed by Ellie Coote, who also serves as dramaturg, with choreography by Alexzandra Sarmiento, orchestrations and musical supervision by Joe Beighton, sound design by Paul Gatehouse and scenic and costume design by Libby Todd. Flynn Sturgeon will be the musical director with casting by Pearson Casting.
The cast will include Jordan Broatch, Madeline Charlemagne, Eloise Davies, Evelyn Hoskins, Melissa Jacques, Lemuel Knights, Garry Lee, Charlie McCullagh, Laura Dawn Pyatt, Travis Ross, Dillon Scott-Lewis, and Amelia Walker.
The 2nd of July 1982. Larry Walters, a truck driver, flies sixteen thousand feet above Los Angeles, using a lawn chair and 42 helium-filled weather balloons.
No, seriously.
42 BALLOONS tells the story of how Larry, with the help of his girlfriend Carol, defied gravity and FAA airspace regulations to make his lifelong dream a reality.
Inspired by a highly improbable true story, and featuring an original 80s-pop-inspired score, 42 BALLOONS is an exhilarating new musical about stupid dreams and doing whatever it takes to achieve them.
Tickets will be priced at £25 through the whole house.
Andy and Wendy Barnes said, “It is always a nerve-wracking moment when you put a brand-new musical in front of an audience for the first time, but 42 Balloons is one of the most exciting new musicals we have ever add the pleasure to develop and produce. It’s an inspiring story about real people that offers an insight into how far someone will go to achieve their ambitions and what happens if it’s not what you expected it to be, and Jack’s original music takes you right back to the 80’s when the show is set.”
