ADC Theatre set to stage two musicals next month
Two musicals, including a brand new show written in lockdown, are set to be performed at the ADC Theatre next month.
No Cash Left on the Premises Overnight is a musical comedy about three bungling crooks who try to steal the crown jewels. The show’s producer Millie Yule promises it is “full of energy and fresh, funky tunes”.
Lyricist Joe Venable, 25, from Impington, described how he found the inspiration and motivation to write the show during lockdown.
“Just as Shakespeare wrote King Lear the last time there was a plague, we wrote No Cash Left on the Premises Overnight during lockdown,” he said. “Are we saying King Lear and our show are equally good? Of course not – but give Shakespeare a break, he had three kids to look after.”
The new show features a cast of five (who socially distance on-stage throughout) and a live pianist blended with computer-cued backing tracks.
Director Louise Dai, 21, said: “Bringing a show together in this time has been a challenge – we’ve had to come up with some creative workarounds to the distancing problem especially.
“But on the whole it’s been amazing to see people come together and refuse to let Covid put a dampener on our creative spark!”
Another team of students will be putting on a production of the hit musical Ordinary Days, which depicts the lives of four New Yorkers finding each other through life and the city. This show will be both live on stage in front of a small audience and available to watch online.
It tells the story of an unlikely friendship formed by an uptight student and an eccentric artist over a lost notebook and a lack of purpose. Meanwhile, a dysfunctional couple struggle to make ends meet as one wants to start afresh and the other desperately clings on to the past. Their lives intertwine through a vibrant and exciting score while the audience is taken on an adventure of self-discovery by each character.
For director Amber De Ruyt, the show has been a lifeline over the last few weeks, particularly while she was self-isolating.
“This production could not be more well-timed,” she said. “The story is about finding a sense of belonging in a world that can seem overwhelmingly out of your control, something that our audiences need now more than ever. It’s filled with great songs and our cast is beyond incredible, so this is really not one to miss.”
Ordinary Days is a beautiful and exciting musical being performed to a socially distanced audience and broadcast live at the ADC Theatre at 7.45pm from November 3-7.
For tickets, visit adctheatre.com/whats-on/musical/ordinary-days.
No Cash Left on the Premises runs as a livestream-only production from November 11-14 at 11pm. Tickets can be found online at adctheatre.com/cash.
