Le monde des musicals

The Night of your life… London's club-land. Suddenly what was wrong seems right…

Dave, young, sexy and fresh from Ireland, falls for beautiful, ambitious Shell and streetwise drug dealer Mile End Lee. Billie Tricks, seventies rock icon and now hostess of a glitzy London nightclub, is there when they need to turn to "mother". Meanwhile the outrageous Bob Saunders, pop manager extraordinaire, has his own plans for Dave. As fame and fortune beckon, Dave quickly learns that things aren't always as straightforward as then seem

The story is narrated by retired rock icon and actress Billie Trix (Frances Barber), who otherwise has a fairly small part in the story. The opening number, "My Night", is sung by Billie and the rest of the cast, and is used to introduce the characters.

Shell Christian (Stacey Roca), is going to see her estranged father, Vic Christian (David Burt), for the first time in years. Vic, who is gay, left Shell and her mother during her childhood, and now runs a successful gay club in London. Meanwhile, Straight Dave (Paul Keating), who has just arrived from Ireland, is working as a bartender at Vic's club, although his ambition is to be a dancer at the club. After seeing and speaking to her father, Shell meets Dave, and they immediately fall in love.

Record producer Bob Saunders (Paul Broughton) is a friend of Billie Trix and a regular at Vic's club. He sees Dave dancing and decides he wants to sign him for a boy band he is forming. He makes an offer to Dave, who has no interest in signing; however, Saunders continues to pressure Dave into working for him.

Dave meets and falls in love with drug dealer Mile End Lee (Tom Walker), who deals at Vic's club. Shell is devastated when she discovers that Dave is gay, although part of her has suspected it all along. Meanwhile, Vic discovers Lee dealing drugs in his club and confiscates the drugs. Lee is worried he will be killed for losing the drugs.

At this point, everyone gets high on ketamine - Shell is still upset about Dave, Lee is worried about being killed, Dave is frustrated that Lee has withdrawn from him, and Billie, a habitual user, needs no excuse. Unfortunately, Lee has a drug overdose and dies. At Lee's funeral, Dave sings a song, "For All of Us".

A few months later, Dave is apparently back on the road to success and sings "Positive role model" to end the show on a high.

1 Closer to heaven est un musical abordant de manière centrale l'homosexualité.

Towards the end of 1999 The Really Useful Group, Andrew Lloyds Webber's company, agreed to finance a workshop. A full cast, director, choreographer and designer worked on the show and rehearsed it for three weeks, culminating in three private performances in North London at the end of May 2000 which went very well. "Actually it was astonishingly accomplished", says Neil. "The idea of a workshop is to see what worked and what didn't work. It was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm".
The musical which was originally going to be called 'Nightlife', is set against the backdrop of London's clubland. It features 15 new tracks, including 'Friendly Fire' which the Boys played at the London Savoy Theatre in 1997, and few tracks from 'Nightlife'.

Several songs had been written for the musical but were not used. These include 'The Only One' and 'For Your Own Good' from the 'Nightlife' album and also the unreleased songs, 'Tall Thin Men', 'A Little Black Dress', 'Home' and 'You've Got To Start Somewhere'. The three versions of 'Closer To Heaven' in the show each have different lyrics.

"My Night" - Billie Trix & Cast
"Closer to Heaven" - Shell & Vic
"Something Special" - Straight Dave
"Positive Role Model" (instrumental)
"Closer to Heaven" - Shell & Dave
"In Denial" - Vic & Shell
"Call Me Old Fashioned" - Bob Saunders
"Nine Out of Ten" - Shell & Straight Dave
"It's just my little tribute to Caligula, darling!" - Billie Trix (featured in rehearsal scene)
"Hedonism (instrumental)"
"Friendly Fire" - Billie Trix
"In Denial" - Straight Dave & Shell
"Something' Special (reprise) - Straight Dave
"Shameless" - Vile Celebrities
"Vampires" - Vic
"Closer to Heaven" - Straight Dave & Mile End Lee
"Out of my System" - Shell with Billie Trix, Flynn & Trannies
"K-Hole (instrumental - featuring an excerpt of "Run, girl, run!" - Billie Trix)"
"For All of Us" - Straight Dave
"Closer to Heaven" - Straight Dave
"Positive Role Model" - Straight Dave
"My Night" - The Cast

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Closer to heaven

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Closer to heaven

Most of the songs that appeared in Closer to Heaven were specifically written for the musical because Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe did not want to produce a "jukebox musical" in the vein of Mamma Mia! or We Will Rock You. Several of the musical's songs were pre-released on the Pet Shop Boys' 1999 album Nightlife, including "Closer to Heaven", "In Denial", and "Vampires". Nightlife was recorded whilst they were writing Closer to Heaven and originally more of the album's tracks appeared in the musical. The oldest song is "Shameless", which originally appeared as the B-side to "Go West" in 1993.