| Sydmonton Festival | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Musical theater |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Location(s) | Sydmonton Court, Hampshire |
| Inaugurated | 1975 |
| Patron(s) | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
The Sydmonton Festival is a summer arts festival presented in a deconsecrated 16th century chapel on the grounds of Sydmonton Court, the country estate of Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is in Hampshire, located approximately 85 kilometres southwest of London, and was established in September 1975. [1] Its purpose is to introduce new works to a private audience of individuals connected with theatre, television, and film in order to determine their future potential and viable commercialism. [2]
Deconsecration, also called secularization, is the act of removing a religious blessing from something that had been previously consecrated by a minister or priest of that religion. The practice is usually performed on churches to be rendered to non-religious (secular) use or demolished.
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small, and is distinguished from a church. The term has several senses. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type of these. Secondly, a chapel is a place of worship, sometimes non-denominational, that is part of a building or complex with some other main purpose, such as a school, college, hospital, palace or large aristocratic house, castle, barracks, prison, funeral home, cemetery, airport, or a military or commercial ship. Thirdly, chapels are small places of worship, built as satellite sites by a church or monastery, for example in remote areas; these are often called a chapel of ease. A feature of all these types is that often no clergy were permanently resident or specifically attached to the chapel. Finally, for historical reasons, chapel is also often the term used for independent or nonconformist places of worship in Great Britain—outside the established church, even where in practice they operate as a parish church.
Sydmonton Court is a large country house in Hampshire, England. Built and developed over successive centuries, it is surrounded by a 5,000 acre estate, in the parish of Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green. It has been listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England since 1984, and St Mary's church within the estate is also Grade II* listed.
Among the Lloyd Webber projects to receive their first public performances at the festival are Evita , Variations , Tell Me on a Sunday , Cats , Starlight Express , Aspects of Love , The Phantom of the Opera , Sunset Boulevard , Whistle Down the Wind , By Jeeves , The Beautiful Game , The Woman in White , The Likes of Us , and Love Never Dies . His Cricket received its second performance here.
Evita is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics and book by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and eventual death.
Variations is a classical and rock fusion album. The music was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and performed by his younger brother, the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber.
Tell Me on a Sunday is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black. A one-woman show, it has been performed by a number of female singers/actors, most notably Marti Webb. A one-act song cycle, it tells the story of an ordinary English girl from Muswell Hill, who journeys to the United States in search of love. Her romantic misadventures begin in New York City, lead her to Hollywood, and eventually take her back to Manhattan.
Other projects to debut here include Nunc Dimittis, Masquerade, and Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day by Rod Argent, Cafe Puccini by Robin Ray, Girlfriends by Howard Goodall and Richard Curtis, Love Songs by Charles Hart, La Bête by David Hirson, Yosopv by Kit Hesketh-Harvey and James McConnel, and Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressman Taylor.
"Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" is an English carol usually attributed as "traditional"; its first written appearance is in William B. Sandys' Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern of 1833. However it is almost certainly of a much earlier date. The archaic language of the lyrics and the line "to see the legend of my play" hint at origins in the Medieval mystery play, which focused on the representation of Bible stories as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song. It is most well known in John Gardner's adaptation, but numerous other composers have made original settings of it or arranged the traditional tune, including Gustav Holst, Igor Stravinsky, David Willcocks, John Rutter, Ronald Corp, Philip Stopford, Andrew Carter, Jamie W. Hall and Jack Gibbons. The verses of the hymn progress through the story of Jesus told in his own voice. An innovative feature of the telling is that Jesus' life is repeatedly characterized as a dance. This device was later used in the modern hymn "Lord of the Dance".
Rodney Terence "Rod" Argent is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the founder and keyboardist of the English rock band the Zombies, and went on to form the band Argent after the first break-up of the Zombies.
Robin Ray was an English broadcaster, actor, and musician.
