British composer and musical theatre performer Matthew Harvey announces the cast for his debut album, Whatever Happens Next, streaming on September 30. The first track of the album “The Road – From “Now Or Never”” is now available to stream.
The album, supported by charity Help Musicians, features original songs from 5 new musicals by Matthew Harvey including the critically acclaimed Now Or Never, which was live-streamed in one single take from The Barn Theatre during the pandemic, and Reveries, a new musical supported by the MGC Futures Bursary which Matthew was awarded in 2022.
Whatever Happens Next features Eloise Davies (SpongeBob Squarepants, Be More Chill, Bonnie & Clyde), Hadley Fraser (Les Miserables, City of Angels, 2:22 A Ghost Story), Ahmed Hamad (The Colour Purple, The Addams Family, Rumi), Tyrone Huntley (Jesus Christ Superstar, Hello Dolly!), Irvine Iqbal (Rumi, Broken Wings), Alexia Khadime (Wicked, The Prince of Egypt, The Book of Mormon), Emma Kingston (The Band’s Visit, The Last 5 Years, Fiddler On The Roof, Heathers), Nicholas McLean (Kinky Boots, Wicked, The Book of Mormon), Sharon Rose (Sylvia, Hamilton), Katie Shearman (The Sound of Music, Evita) and Courtney Stapleton (Beauty and The Beast, Six, Dear Evan Hansen).
Matthew Harvey, composer said: “Having the opportunity to record Whatever Happens Next has been life-changing for me. It’s never been more difficult to get your work out there and without the generous support of Help Musicians and the MGC Futures Bursary I could never have made this happen. With this album out in the world I’m hoping I can get my music in front of the right people and, one day, see these songs come to life on a stage.”
Matthew Harvey continues: “I chose this selection of songs because I want Whatever Happens Next to represent me as composer, so that anyone who listens to it feels like they’ve got to know me and the type of musicals I want to write; there’s a real range of styles sung by some truly incredible voices on there. I hope there’s something for everyone.”
Harvey has also released a video of Sharon Rose performing “One Two Three” from the debut musical theatre album. The song is from a musical called Reveries that he is co-writing with Ryan Carter (Ain’t Too Proud) – the two previously collaborated on the song cycle ‘Now or Never’, which the first single of the album The Road originates from.
He wrote the song during his bursary time from the MGC Futures Bursary and said of the song,
“The MGC Futures Bursary allowed me to dedicate time to write the score for Reveries. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity and support to focus on this music and this story. I remember scribbling down some lyrics for the song while I was in the process of applying for the bursary, so hearing Sharon perform it for the first time was a real full circle moment for me. My co-writer Ryan Carter and I are really excited about Reveries and I’m hoping having this music out there in the world might create an opportunity for the production to find a life onstage.”
More information can be found at https://matthewharveymusic.com/
