Peleus and Thetis are dead - The Post Mortem

As the memory of Olympus the Musical fades just a few comments on the show.

For the cast and crew it was an experience which will never been forgotten.

The show was seen by audiences in excess of 2500 at the Minack and Ashcroft Theatres

It defied tradition for a completely unknown show by making a profit of £5000 which was shared between CODA and Croydon Stagers

It made the BBC television 6 o'clock news

It had very good reviews - which are posted on the web site

The original cast album was produced and  is available from Dress Circle in London.

Excerpts from the show can be watched online in the drama section of Croydon TV

As for me, I'm already in rehearsals for my next musical I Hate Musicals co-written with Gee Rook and due to have its world premiere at the end of November 2012. To visit the blog for the show visit the I Hate Musicals blog

Different Songs To Sing

The Olympus fund raising Karaoke in the Spread Eagle in Croydon went well with a number of cast members singing different songs from the types of songs in Olympus. Well done to everyone who attended. For me the highlight was Neil O'Gorman's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream"  which reduced most of us to tears (of laughter)

Olympus Cast Album Prototype

The "Olympus The Musical - A Race Against Time" prototype CD,  featuring  16 songs from the show, arrived yesterday and is sounding and looking great, and should be available by next week end, ready for the opening of the show. Another piece of the jigsaw falling into place....

And we still have enough songs not yet recorded to produce another CD - but not at the moment!!!

13 Days to Go

Time continues to rush by - I'm getting close to finishing off the band parts - just in time to check them before the production starts. I'm told the set construction is going well, costumes are being produced by the minute, and the push to sell tickets before the Olympus box office closes at the weekend seems to be resulting in more hits on the web site - 2,200 by 10pm  - yet another record - though it could still be the cast looking at their own photographs instead of learning their words - we'll find out soon enough

Publicity, Publicity Publicity

Less than two weeks to go and it's time for the final push on publicity to help drive up ticket sales. We were tweeted by Telegraph London yesterday, retweeted (sounds like Jonathon Ross running away) by Fairfield Halls and with further retweets reached over 3,500 twitter users. We had another good day on the Olympus web site with 1500 hits - a new record for the site - though it may just have been the cast admiring their photograph at the Questors Theatre!

Every Picture Tells A Story

Avril  Jones has produced a great photograph of Olympus at the RSC Showcase at the Questors Theatre in London. To see it please visit the home page on www.Olympusthemusical.co.uk

ACT 2 Run Through achieved

We had a good rehearsal tonight where we ran the whole of act 2 of Olympus in 1 hour 3 minutes and which we should be able to reduce to between 50 to 55 minutes by the time the show goes up. Also there has been more positive feedback from the Questors RSC showcase performance, where members of the RSC thought that our production was excellent and that they will be coming to watch the show at the Ashcroft.

One Challenge Completed

Yesterday was certainly a busy day - the whole cast of the Questors version of Olympus managed to be at the Theatre on time for 10am, we set some of the show, ran a full rehearsal and ran out of time at 12 when the next group took over the Theatre, Having transferred to another room we tidied up music and choreography, and prepared to do another rehearsed run through of the show, only to find out that we had to vacate the room to allow another group to rehearse.

Despite this, we managed a very successful run of the showcase show which was very well received by the audience, and gave us further belief that we could have a really great show when we go to the Ashcroft Theatre  in two weeks time. Onwards and upwards!

The First Test of the Games

And now we head off to the RSC Showcase at the Questors Theatre in London to stage an abbreviated performance of Olympus. May the Gods be with us!

Dressed to Kill

The costumes for the production are a mixture of ones hired from History in the Making, and a number which are being made especially for Olympus. It seems that every day a new set of Handmaiden or Goddess or Elena's pupils' costumes are brought to the door by the wonderful ladies who are busy making them. The amount of effort going into this production is incredible and all the pieces of the jigsaw continue to be pieced together bit by bit. Well done to everyone who is working so hard to make this production a success

A Race Against Time

Another day gone - another few pieces of the jigsaw fall into place - the Olympus web site has been seeing in excess of 1000 hits a day - the Olympus polo shirts / hoodies / fleeces for the cast and crew have now arrived, and we now have a feature  on the home page of the Olympus web site to allow tickets for the Ashcroft Theatre to be purchased using Paypal

21 Days To Go

Life which has been manic for the past two months is becoming even more manic now. The Olympus Original Cast Album has been recorded and mixed, and now I have the mastered version - which sounds great - working on the art work for the cover at the moment. The choreography was looking excellent on Monday and tonight we are rehearsing the version to be performed in the RSC showcase on Sunday at the Questors Theatre. The band parts are progressing well, many of the costumes arrive today, we have a new Olympus promotional animation, and the set building is going well. If you've got your tickets for the show we look forward to seeing you - if you haven't got them get them now

A Successful Read Through

The initial read through of the show was well attended and seemed to be very successful - The hard work begins now

Rehearsals Start on Sunday

So at last rehearsals are about to begin - Sunday at 2pm at Royal Russell for children and 3pm for adults - where the set and costume information will be on show - and the web site has just had a major reorganisation in readiness for the sudden increase in information about the show.  

The Countdown Timer is Running

As the World Premier of Olympus draws closer and with full rehearsals starting on 26th February the web site has just had a bit of a reorganisation, the addition of a Countdown Timer on the home page, and the Rehearsals Page now dedicated to information about rehearsals and schedules.

This page will be a handy reference point for members of cast who can't find their rehearsal schedules and for information on any last minute changes to times and venues of rehearsals (due to snow, bad weather etc - particularly relevant as I look out of my window today)

And for any of you who are not aware - Good Company's show - The Drowsy Chaperone - is being produced this week at the Barn Theatre Oxted - don't miss it!!!

The Countdown Continues

We have now completed 4 informal music rehearsals which have proved to be very successful, and today have announced that the main cast parts have been finalised, with Neil O'Gorman taking over the part of Dimitry and James Caldwell playing Nestor.

Another date to be added to the diary is the RSC showcase at the Questors Theatre in London on 22nd April