Mark Pentleton » musicals

281/365 Songs: Take that look off your face – Tell me on a Sunday

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:46:04 +0000

Today’s song comes from the one-woman show Tell me on a Sunday written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black. I’ve played two other songs from this show: Unexpected Song and Tell me on a Sunday itself, and I thought that this well-known song from the show would suit my 365songs project. It was released as a single by Marti Webb in 1980.

262/365 Songs: In my life – Les Misérables

admin — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 21:05:50 +0000

I recently played the beautiful song A little fall of rain from Les Misérables when Amy mentioned she’d performed it as an audition song. Another song which I’ve not yet played from Les Mis is In My Life, so that’s today’s song. It marks the moment in the show where Valjean realises his daughter has grown up, but he resolutely refuses to tell her anything about his past life or about her mother.

247/365 Songs: Tonight – West Side Story

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:27:35 +0000

This song, from the Bernstein/Sondheim musical West Side Story was first published in 1956. In the musical it follows Tony’s solo, Maria (which I played in June) and in the song both Tony and Maria profess their love for each other. You may also be interested in my version of Somewhere from back in February.

237/365 Songs: No matter what – Whistle down the wind

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:27:41 +0000

This song comes from the 1996 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Whistle down the wind. A pop version was released by Boyzone in the same year and reached #1 in the UK and Ireland.

226/365 Songs: All I know/The Day has come – Martin Guerre

admin — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 08:06:14 +0000

Today’s song comes from the musical Martin Guerre, written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil of Les Misérables fame. Based on the real-life historical figure Martin Guerre, the musical was first produced in London in 1996. The young Martin Guerre is forced into an arranged marriage with Bertrande in order to produce a Catholic heir in the anti-Protestant town of Artigat. Martin goes off to fight against the Protestant Huguenots, and befriends Arnaud du Thil. When Martin is wounded and appears to die in battle, Arnaud returns to Artigat to tell Bertrande. He is mistaken for Martin and decides to go along with the story. Bertrande realises he is not Martin, but as she begins to develop feelings for the imposter Arnaud, she does not reveal his deception. Arnaud’s true identity is revealed by the supposed village idiot, and in the ensuing trial the key witness is the real Martin who returns from battle.

The song All I know is a tender Bertrande/Arnaud duet from the original version of the musical. In the 1998 version of the musical it was reworked into The Day has come which features the whole cast, very similar to the song One Day More from Les Misérables. I actually prefer the original version, and it’s this version I’ve based my performance on today!

217/365 Songs: Heaven help my heart – Chess

admin — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:49:36 +0000

Today’s song is taken from the musical Chess. When Benny and Björn were writing the musical, Björn would add lyrics to Benny’s music to help give the song more rhythm and meaning. They then sent their “demos” to Tim Rice who wrote the final version of the lyrics. Heaven help my heart was actually recorded in full by Agnetha Fältskog of Abba as Every Good Man, but none of these original lyrics were used in the final version.

215/365 Songs: Too much in love to care – Sunset Boulevard

admin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 05:26:13 +0000

Today it’s the final song in my Sunset Boulevard ‘trio’: Too much in love to care, sung by Joe, the struggling screenwriter and Betty, the script editor. I hope you’ve enjoyed these songs from Sunset Boulevard!

213/365 Songs: With one look – Sunset Boulevard

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:00:47 +0000

Today I’m playing the first of a trio of songs from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard based on the 1950 film of the same name. With one look is sung by the principal character in response to the comment “you used to be big”. Norma Desmond states, “I am big – it’s the pictures that got small”.

197/365 Songs: Bui doi – Miss Saigon

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:41:47 +0000

I’m running a bit late with today’s song after almost two weeks of timely publication, but that’s because we’re just back from a family holiday in France and Belgium and the past two weeks’ songs were all preloaded! Fortunately, everything went according to plan and I hope you’ve all enjoyed the recent songs. It was good to get home, and good to get back to my piano. In my first ‘live’ recording for a couple of weeks I decided to do the powerful song Bui Doi from the musical Miss Saigon which describes the offspring of Vietnamese mothers and American soldiers as “the dust of life”, lamenting the horrific fate experienced by these innocent children. Here’s a video of Peter Polycarpou singing the song from a performance on Wogan in 1989.

179/365 Songs: I know where I’ve been – Hairspray

admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 06:23:58 +0000

Last week I attended the end-of-term production of Hairspray at St Matthew’s Academy in Saltcoats. It was a brilliant performance and the entire cast and backstage crew did a fantastic job. A special mention goes to my nephew Ciaran and his cousins Amy and James who were all great on stage! I decided that the song performed by Motormouth in the show best fitted my 365songs project, so today’s song is the soulful I know where I’ve been.

176/365 Songs: Someone else’s story – Chess

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:10:34 +0000

Today’s song is the beautiful Someone else’s story from Chess. It was not in the original concept version of the musical when it was first released, but added to later versions and has now become one of the best-loved songs from the show.

169/365 Songs: Climb Ev’ry Mountain – The Sound of Music

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:09:41 +0000

All this week my friend and former colleague Joan Herald has been starring as Mother Abbess in Mearns Castle’s production of The Sound of Music. I would love to have seen the production but my trip to Denmark this week has made that impossible. I’m sure that Joan did an amazing job, and indeed that the students also performed brilliantly in the production. Climb Ev’ry Mountain is the big number from the end of the first act of the musical, and it’s reprised in the second act. Joan, I hope you enjoy my version!

168/365 Songs: Wonderful Copenhagen – Danny Kaye

admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:05:10 +0000

I’ve spent the last five days in Denmark working at the annual Apple Teacher Institute in Svendborg in the south of the island of Fyn. I thought therefore that I should really play something with a Danish theme, although this song isn’t really the most authentic option! It comes from the 1952 musical film about the life and work of Hans Christian Andersen (which, as I’ve found out this week is pronounced in Danish more like “ho say annesen”!) with Danny Kaye in the title role.

165/365 Songs: Close Every Door – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:47:20 +0000

Today’s song comes from the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. First performed as a 15-minute “pop-cantata” in 1968, the show has grown into a full-length West End and Broadway production featuring performers such as Jason Donovan, Philip Schofield and Donny Osmond.

158/365 Songs: Maria – West Side Story

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:23:14 +0000

This song from the Bernstein/Sondheim musical West Side Story, was first published in 1956. It marks the moment when the character Tony discovers the name of the girl with whom he has just fallen in love. Just to make sure he doesn’t forget it, he repeats the name 29 times in the song!

143/365 Songs: Summertime – Porgy and Bess

admin — Sun, 23 May 2010 13:29:13 +0000

I hope I’m not tempting fate by playing this song too early in the summer! This weekend we’ve had beautiful weather and it really feels like summer has arrived. I’ve recorded Gershwin’s Summertime from the musical Porgy and Bess, written in 1936 and, as I’ve just found out today, based on a Ukrainian folk melody which Gershwin had heard in New York!

124/365 Songs: You must love me – Evita

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:04:21 +0000

This song was specially written for the film version of the musical Evita and was performed by Madonna in the film in the role of Eva Perón as she realises that her husband, Juan, has loved her all along. It’s a beautiful song and I hope I’ve done it justice.

118/365 Songs: Last Night of the World – Miss Saigon

admin — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:46:28 +0000

I’m making better time today! This song is one of the big ballads from the musical Miss Saigon. Perhaps I should have got my friend and Apple colleague Joe Moretti to provide the “solo saxophone” bit, but it wasn’t possible this time round. I hope you enjoy today’s performance.

104/365 Songs: Här har du mig igen (Kristina från Duvemåla)

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:01:34 +0000

Today I’m marking the première of the musical Kristina in the Royal Albert Hall with the final song in our Kristina series, and it’s one of the pieces from the show which combines a number of themes heard previously. At this stage Kristina has lost her child and her husband is a stranger to her. Kristina longs for her husband and is convinced that she should be together. He resists her until she uses the words she used to pledge her love so many years before (apologies for my poor translation!):

Jag hör ditt hjärtas jämna slag
Mitt huvud mot ditt bröst
i nattens timmar
Vi ska va tillsammans
när dag läggs till dag
För dit du går går också jag

“I hear the steady beat of your heart,
my head against your chest in the night hours.
We shall be together every day
For wherever you go I will go too.”

102/365 Songs: Du måste finnas – Kristina från Duvemåla

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 08:27:30 +0000

All musicals need an “eleven o’clock number”, the song which is a turning point towards the end of the second act. There’s no doubt that Du måste finnas is exactly that! Kristina has miscarried and she sits alone under the stars contemplating all the bad things which have happened to her. For the first time in her life she wonders if God really exists: “Now that I need more than ever my God to be near me, do you hear when I call? Are you there after all?” This is a wonderful song – there’s a great montage video on YouTube combining images from the Swedish (non-musical) film and the English language recording performed by Helen Sjöholm. If you prefer the original Swedish, this live performance version also has English subtitles.

101/365 Songs: Ett Herrans Underverk – Kristina från Duvemåla

admin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 07:13:05 +0000

I’m continuing the series of songs from Kristina från Duvemåla today (more information here). In a work full of tender moments, this song represents one of the most tender. Ulrika is a changed woman since her arrival in Minnesota. Back in Sweden her reputation meant that no man would consider marrying her, but in America she is spoiled for choice. She accepts the proposal of Reverend Jackson and in this song, Ett Herrans Underverk (A Miracle of the Lord), Kristina and Ulrika contemplate how their relationship has gone from one of hatred to close friendship given the struggles they have gone through together. Kristina wishes Ulrika many years of happy marriage.

100/365 Songs: Hemma – Kristina från Duvemåla

admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 08:05:49 +0000

This week I’m doing a series of songs from the Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvæus musical Kristina which premières next week at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Today we’re at the hundredth song of the 365songs project, and I’ve recorded the song Hemma (Home). By this time, Kristina and Karl Oskar have arrived in America. Kristina is sitting resting in Battery Park, quite overwhelmed by the journey and the family’s new life. She wonders when she’ll be able to call somewhere “home” again. I think this song really shows Benny’s folk roots as it’s very much in the style of a Scandinavian folk melody. (YouTube link from the Minnesota concert a few years ago – Swedish with English subtitles).

99/365 Songs: Stanna – Kristina från Duvemåla

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:51:24 +0000

Next Wednesday evening in the Royal Albert Hall the UK première of the concert version of Benny and Björn’s musical Kristina will take place. As I explained in a previous post when I performed Guldet Blev till Sand, the epic musical is based on Vilhelm Moberg’s series of books, Utvandrarserien, which tell the story of one family’s migration from Småland to Minnesota. In many ways it’s a Swedish Les Misérables!

I’ve loved the music from Kristina since I first heard it fifteen years ago, and I’ve decided to do a little series on 365songs over the next week in which I’ll record a few songs from the show. Today I’ve chosen to begin with Stanna (Stay). During the journey from Sweden to the New World, the title character Kristina who is pregnant with her fifth child has fallen ill to scurvy. Her husband, Karl Oskar, sits with her throughout the night. (YouTube link from the Minnesota concert a few years ago – Swedish with English subtitles).

98/365 Songs: Anthem – Chess

admin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 07:27:10 +0000

I just heard last night that the musical Chess is coming to the Edinburgh Playhouse in September so I thought I’d do something from Chess for today’s song. Anthem is the powerful hymn-like song which is the first act finale from the show. In this song Anatoly Sergievsky (”The Russian”) sings “my land’s only borders lie around my heart”.

90/365 Songs: Don’t cry for me, Argentina – Evita

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 08:25:08 +0000

Today’s song is the most famous song from the 1978 musical Evita, performed by the Eva Perón character, traditionally from the Casa Rosada, the seat of the government in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It has been covered by many artists, perhaps most famously by Madonna in the 1996 film version of the musical.

86/365 Songs: I don’t know how to love him – Jesus Christ Superstar

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 08:24:22 +0000

I don’t know how to love him features in the 1970 musical Jesus Christ Superstar and is sung by Mary Magdalene. It first appeared with different lyrics in 1967 as Kansas morning, but it was rewritten for the musical, and the rights for the song were purchased for £50! I hope you enjoy today’s performance.

83/365 Songs: I know him so well – Chess

admin — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:07:44 +0000

Today’s song is the famous duet from the musical Chess, first performed by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson on the concept album for the show back in 1985. It was number one in the UK for four weeks at the time.

78/365 Songs: I have a dream – Abba

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:51:28 +0000

Thanks for the nice comments this week on the songs I’ve been playing – it’s great to know that people are enjoying my music! Back to Abba today with the song I have a dream. It first appeared on the 1979 Voulez-vous album and is one of the Abba songs which everyone knows. I’ve decided to play this in A flat rather than B flat. I’m not quite sure why – just to be different probably!

72/365 Songs: Till I hear you sing – Love Never Dies

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:09:56 +0000

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest musical Love Never Dies opened this week. I bought the soundtrack yesterday and I think this is the strongest song from what I’ve heard so far. I think it’s a bit reminiscent of With One Look from Sunset Boulevard, and the vocal by Ramin Karimloo is very good (YouTube link). There will be more songs from Love Never Dies over the next few weeks.

70/365 Songs: Send in the clowns – A Little Night Music

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:48:02 +0000

This beautiful song by Steven Sondheim first featured in his 1973 musical A Little Night Music. There’s actually a Swedish link to this song too: the first time I heard it was on the solo album Ensam by Annifrid Lyngstad (Frida from Abba) when she sang Var är min clown (YouTube link) and it turns out that Sondheim’s musical was based on the Ingmar Bergman film Sommarnattens leende (Tales of a Summer Night)! I’ve always played this quite ‘loosely’ with a fair bit of rubato. I hope you enjoy it!

67/365 Songs: Empty chairs at empty tables – Les Misérables

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:11:48 +0000

The previous songs from Les Misérables which I’ve included in my 365songs selection (I dreamed a dream, On my own and Bring him home) seem to have gone down very well, and there are plenty more to come! Today’s song, Empty chairs at empty tables, is sung by Marius about his friends who have not returned from the barricades. This song was suggested by Cara and I hope she enjoys it!

57/365 Songs: Bring him home – Les Misérables

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:27:31 +0000

Running a bit late today – sorry! Today I’ve had the official launch of the Euroquiz in East Dunbartonshire Council and I’ve been away all day since early this morning until late tonight. Anyway, today’s song is the beautiful Bring him home from Les Misérables. I hope you enjoy it!

365 Songs: Lift the wings – Riverdance

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:48:43 +0000

Today’s song is a bit different: Lift the wings is from the full stage version of Riverdance, first performed at Dublin’s Point Theatre in 1995, following the successful Riverdance interval act at the previous year’s Eurovision Song Contest. As a song, Lift the wings is not particularly well-known, but I’ve always really liked it and it was definitely one of the high points of the show for me. I’m afraid I don’t have the Uilleann pipes or flutes to accompany the piece, but hope you enjoy it nonetheless! If you’d like to see a performance of the original from Radio City Music Hall, here’s the YouTube link.

365 Songs: Memory – Cats

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:12:34 +0000

Today’s song was one of the most-requested songs when I used to play in hotels and restaurants. It’s Memory from the 1981 musical Cats and was sung by Grizabella, the former ‘glamour cat’, who is singing of her glorious past. Hope you enjoy it!

365 Songs: All I ask of you – Phantom of the Opera

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:30:38 +0000

Keeping the romantic songs for Valentine’s week, today I’ve recorded the love duet All I ask of you from Phantom. In the song which comes at the end of the first act of the musical, Raoul promises to protect Christine, unaware that the Phantom is listening in.

365 Songs: True love – High Society

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:14:22 +0000

A very romantic song today, and make sure you click on the links which will help to illustrate my story! True Love was first sung by Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in the 1956 musical film High Society. The last time I heard this song performed was at the Benny Anderssons Orkester concert last summer in Stockholm when it was song by the wonderful Tommy Körberg and probably my all-time favourite female singer, Helen Sjöholm. It was one of the last songs sung on a beautiful summer evening on the stage at Skansen, looking out over the Stockholm archipelago. The wonderful thing about this concert was that it was performed by a group of friends – Benny Andersson and his band – and the atmosphere was fantastic. As Tommy and Helen sang True Love, couples waltzed around the dance floor, and mums and dads danced with their children in their arms. As the song ended, several hot air balloons sailed over Skansen. What a fantastic evening…

Here’s Bing and Grace from the film, and unfortunately I couldn’t find any footage from Skansen last year, so here’s a 2002 performance of Tommy and Helen singing at Galejan.

365 Songs: Seasons of Love – Rent

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:02:05 +0000

How do you measure a year? In daylights, in midnights, in sunsets or in cups of coffee? This is probably the best known song from the musical Rent, and was one of the many songs we used to do with the choir when I taught at Mearns Castle. It probably needs a bit more than just piano – if Stevie Wonder had been available he’d have done the harmonica solo, but he was busy when I recorded this song!

365 Songs: Somewhere – West Side Story

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:55:26 +0000

This beautiful song written by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim is my favourite song from West Side Story, and indeed one of my favourite songs of all time! In addition to featuring on the cast recordings of many productions of the show, Somewhere has been recorded by artists ranging from Johnny Mathis to Josh Groban and Barbara Streisand to Kylie Minogue! The main theme of the song is actually taken from Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto – and I didn’t realise that until I researched today’s blurb!

365 Songs: Another suitcase in another hall – Evita

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:14:22 +0000

Today’s song comes from the musical Evita. In the stage version of the show, it’s sung by Juan Perón’s mistress as she is pushed out by his future wife Eva Perón. In the film version it was sung by Eva herself and focused on the end of her relationship with Agustín Magaldi. I guess Madonna didn’t want any other female soloist stealing her spotlight…

365 Songs: Sun and Moon – Miss Saigon

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:40:24 +0000

So, our second song of February is from the Schönberg/Boublil musical Miss Saigon. The song is a duet by the characters Chris and Kim as they pledge their love for each other. I’m not sure if it works, but I’ve tried to give the song a bit of a far eastern flavour by using lots of fifths (around 1:30-1:40, then again around 2:00). Let me know what you think!

365 Songs – I dreamed a dream – Les Misérables

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:53:53 +0000

Today’s song is another favourite from Les Misérables, I dreamed a dream. It has been recorded in 21 languages and covered by many artists including Aretha Franklin, Hayley Westenra and most recently Susan Boyle who performed it on last year’s Britain’s Got Talent.

365 Songs – Tell me on a Sunday

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 14:33:25 +0000

Today’s song is by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black and was from the musical of the same name, first performed at the Sydmonton Festival in 1979 by Marti Webb. The one-act musical was included as the first part of the show Song and Dance in London’s West End in 1982.

365 Songs – Wishing you were somehow here again – Phantom of the Opera

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:50:23 +0000

Since I’m in London this week I thought I’d do something a bit theatrical, so here’s one of the lesser-known songs from Phantom of the Opera. If anyone is coming to this blog having been at one of my presentations this week, then you may want to find out more about 365songs here.

This evening I’m attending a dinner on the Silver Sturgeon, and along with my ADE colleague Joe Moretti on sax, I’m going to be providing some musical entertainment. I’ll try to record something and post it soon!

365 Songs: Guldet Blev till Sand – Kristina från Duvemåla

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:20:36 +0000

Sticking with the musicals theme from yesterday, Guldet Blev till Sand is one of many beautiful songs from the Swedish musical Kristina från Duvemåla, written by (my musical hero) Benny Andersson and with lyrics by Björn Ulvæus. The musical is based on the novels of Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg which tell of a Swedish family’s migration to America in the 19th century.

The musical was premiered in Malmö in 1995 and received a 10-minute standing ovation. Since then it’s been staged in Gothenburg, Stockholm and in Minneapolis. Last year an English version was staged in Carnegie Hall and a this version will be performed in the Royal Albert Hall on 14 April this year. Unfortunately I won’t be there (I’ll be Apple Teacher Instituting in Cheltenham…) but the English-language soundtrack apparently comes out a couple of days before the concert.

The song Guldet Blev till Sand (”The gold turned into sand”) is taken from the second act of the show. The family has moved to the New World and the character Robert has set out in search for gold with his friend Arvid. They end up lost in the desert and after drinking poisoned water, Arvid dies. Robert returns and explains to his sister-in-law Kristina what has happened. There’s a version on YouTube with English subtitles sung by Peter Jöback if you’re interested.

I better think of something a bit cheerier for tomorrow!

365 Songs: On my own – Les Misérables

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:21:33 +0000

There’s no particular reason for this one today. It’s the song On My Own from Les Misérables, sung by the character Éponine. The musical Les Misérables, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, was written in French by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil in 1980, but wasn’t staged in London until 1985 with English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer.