Nelly - A Folk Musical
Nelly – A Folk Musical, at St Mary’s Guildhall, Coventry, on Saturday 7 September 2024. Matinee 2pm; evening show 7.30pm.
Preview
Twenty years on from his published biography, Coventry-born writer Graham Hopkins gets his Nelly - A Folk Musical onto the stage!
It is the story of a remarkable woman in a fascinating time – the king restored to the throne, plague, Great Fire, plots … a colourful story – funny and moving – punctuated by 15 belting songs.
Hopkins brought together some of the folk world’s best songwriters (and persuaded this bunch of socially-conscious troubadours to write songs about a king and his mistress!)
We have songs written by Jo Freya, Robb Johnson (“An English original”, The Guardian), Reg Meuross (“one of the finest singer-songwriters this country has produced” BBC Radio 2), Lucy Ward (“impressive and original”, The Guardian), Boff Whalley (ex-Chumbawamba), and Dave Wilson (Winter Wilson - “Special” RnR Magazine).
As Robb Johnson (who will also be performing at most venues) says: “It’s both seriously moving & seriously funny”. Rob Peach (playing all the male roles) agrees: and says we can expect “laughs and a fantastically told story.” Finally, our Nelly – Coventry’s own Emily Jane Brooks ( a D-Day Darling – a finalist in Britain’s Got Talent) – a strikingly talented redhead – just like Nelly: “I loved the script straight away with its mix of history, humour and heart and I just loved the idea of a score rooted in folk music…there’s a fabulous original score, a lot of laughs, and witty popular culture references!”
The production has already had excellent local coverage given the family side-story.
Graham’s brother Ian has feature in the media because of his quest to fend off terminal cancer in order to see the play for the first time. He had been too ill on the play’s two previous tours.
Nelly - A Folk Musical. Photo courtesy of Graham Hopkins.
Ian is fighting against and campaigning for better awareness of oesophagus cancer (which he has) and which also took their older brother Mark in December 2002.
Graham explains: The matinees and evening show are both dedicated to my wonderful brothers: my older brother Mark (who as a patron of Nelly loved it to bits) and younger brother Ian –whose determination to remain cheerful and beat away terminal cancer in order to see the play today is nothing short of inspirational.
“We have two special songs – dedicated to my brothers – which will be performed before the show begins,” says Graham. “First will be ‘Blue Sky Forever’ for Mark written shortly after he died. The music reference in the song relates to our somewhat different tastes. Going into Cov city centre (“town”) separately in 1977, Graham and Mark came home with singles (kids – ask your parents). Mark came home with ‘When’ by Showaddywaddy; Graham came home with ‘Pretty Vacant’ by The Sex Pistols. Kind of says it all.
“Ian’s song ‘Private Ian Hopkins’ will be second tribute song. It relates to his interest, love and obsession with the Second World War. As a child he always loved playing with his toy soldiers – and that innocent joy has never left him. His knowledge of the war is second to none and is world class! Indeed, when diagnosed with cancer Graham suggested he call his cancer “Rommel” and we’d be “Monty” out to defeat him. Both tribute songs were written by Robb Johnson.
“All the Hopkins boys were born in Coventry, and for our sins (and there must be many) have always supported the Sky Blues – Graham remains a season-ticket holder – the eternal optimist. So, they have always had a shared family history of misery and despair! But that just makes the good moments all the more magical – in footy and life.
“So, the performances on 7 September are dedicated to Ian – who is determined to win his battle against terminal cancer; and to Mark – who lost his.”
Suitable for 12 + … some adult themes and fruity language!
A trailer for the show (using footage from development performances): https://www.dothewritething.co.uk/nelly
Comments