Musical has me hooked on Hawley

FIVE minutes listening to the actress Faith Omole sing the Richard Hawley song Coles Corner had me hooked on the Sheffield-born songwriter.

Twenty or so of his numbers are featured in Standing At The Sky’s Edge, a new musical with a book by Chris Bush that begins tonight at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. It’s directed by Robert Hastie, the theatre’s artistic chief.

Ms Omole and Adam Hugill play a Romeo and Juliet-esque couple in the show set in Sheffield’s iconic but brutalist ‘streets in the sky’ Park Hill estate. As the pair rehearsed with choreographer Lynne Page, Hastie explained that the show is set in three timelines, from the Sixties to one that starts in 2016, and features the disparate residents of one flat.

Hawley allowed Hastie, along with musical supervisor Tom Deering and musical director Will Stuart, to ‘pick up those songs and pull them apart’. Omole, a graduate of the Royal

Central School of Speech and Drama plays a Liberian refugee. Hastie explained Omole is singing about how she’s imagining life with her boyfriend.

‘They have to make a decision about whether to stay or go.’

Hastie said Standing At The Sky’s Edge ‘feels more like a play and a gig happening at the same time’. That view is exemplified in Ben Stones’s set design which is on different levels like an apartment block.

Hastie cast a mix of musical theatre leading lights, such as Alex Young (who was in the Sheffield Showboat a few seasons back), and actors such as Omole who can also sing.

‘I’ve sung in church since I was a little kid,’ said Omole. This is her first musical, though she has sung occasionally in plays.

She said her storyline is about ‘two young people with big dreams who fall madly in love with each other’.

The show has been developed at Sheffield over several years with the involvement of Rupert Lord, the agent and producer.

I’m looking forward to seeing the show in Sheffield; visiting Coles Corner, and going for a proper look at Park Hill, now a listed building gone private.

As someone in rehearsals said: ‘It doesn’t belong to the people any more.’

Maybe it does now.