Interview Special: A West End Christmas in Glasgow & Falkirk
You can have yourself a merry West End Christmas this festive season by joining Kieran Brown, Jenny Douglas and friends at the Dobbie Hall, Larbert on 8th December and at 29, Royal Exchange Square in Glasgow on 15th December. We caught up with Kieran and Jenny to get in the Christmas spirit and hear all about the concerts.
How are the preparations coming along
for West End Christmas?
KB: All great so far! I’m just putting together the set-list and liaising
with my MD Niall Bailey about rehearsals etc. I learned a lot from doing it
last year and I’m trying to finalise who my guests will be as well as what they
will be singing.
JD: I emailed Kieran the other day about song choices etc and it’s coming
along nicely. The best thing you can do is get all of the main decisions done
early as the panto can take over and you find yourself eat breathing at
sleeping the show so there isn't but time to do much else, it's going to be a
cracking show!
What’s the biggest
challenge when choosing songs for the set-list?
KB: Well as it’s a Christmas
theme, trying to keep it Christmassy without repeating all the usual songs that
people hear when they go into all the shops! I have tried as best I can to
balance songs people may know with festive songs they won’t and I’m pretty
confident we’ve managed that.
JD: For me I love contemporary comedy songs and finding such songs which are
still appropriate for such a vast audience is tricky [laughs] I'm a bit naughty!
Also, I agree with Kieran finding Christmas songs that are not overplayed is
difficult but I reckon we have nailed it! There are so many beautiful songs out
there it's more process of elimination.
Do you have a festive favourite that
you’ll be performing?
KB:
Looking forward to
one the duets I will sing with Jenny, and I love a song called Christmas Eve
written by a friend of mine, which I will perform with a gorgeous choir!
JD: Yes! I adore the song Have yourself a merry little Christmas who doesn't!? That's one of
the classics that I love.
You’re
performing in Aladdin at the same time, what’re you looking
forward to about bringing West End Christmas back to Glasgow and to Falkirk for
the first time?
KB:
The reaction and feedback last year was so overwhelmingly positive,
and there really is nothing similar in either location. I’m particularly
excited about the Falkirk show as it’s my home town and already loads of people
I haven’t seen in years have booked to come along! I will also be joined by a
choir from my old High School, Larbert High, led by my old singing teacher Mrs
Wardrop so it’s a bit surreal but incredibly exciting.
JD: I'm super excited! A West End Christmas last year was my first cabaret that I that I'd
performed in so it's very special to me and such a lovely thing to be asked to
do. Christmas cabarets are perfect for bringing people together during the
festive season.
Regional
theatre has grown considerably in the last few years; do you particularly enjoy
bringing musical theatre to a home audience?
KB: It
will be the first time I have done it but the response when I announced the gig
tells me that there really is a desire to have more of this kind of thing
regionally. It’s definitely got me thinking about trying to bring more stuff
home, and opening up the musical theatre world to areas that may not get a lot
of it unless they go to Glasgow or Edinburgh.
JD: Being on home soil in itself is a wonderful
thing for me but the pride and joy of bringing shows to Scotland is an amazing
feeling! I hope that the appreciation of Scottish theatre continues to thrive.
What's the one thing that you would
like the audience to take away at the end of your concert?
KB: Well first and foremost,
I want to fill them all with Christmas spirit. We are saturated with Christmas
from the middle of the year thanks to shops and supermarkets ramming it down
our throats. By the time December comes, most people are sick of it.
Last year the show was credited with
bringing a bit of Christmas spirit back to a lot of people so I hope to repeat
that. I would also like to introduce people to new writing and inspire them to
pay attention not only to the big hitter shows (Wicked, Les Mis etc) but open
their minds to paying more attention to smaller, less known pieces.
JD: I want anyone who comes to see a West End Christmas to leave warm
hearted having had a great laugh and geared up to celebrate their festivities.
For tickets and more information about a West End Christmas visit http://www.westendchristmas.ticketsource.co.uk/
