| I Should Be So Lucky | |
|---|---|
 Promotional Poster for Original Tour | |
| Music | Stock Aitken Waterman |
| Lyrics | Stock Aitken Waterman |
| Book | Debbie Isitt |
| Basis | The music of Stock Aitken Waterman |
| Premiere | 1 November 2023: Manchester Opera House |
| Productions | 2023/24 UK tour |
I Should Be So Lucky is a British jukebox musical written by Debbie Isitt, which uses the music of the pop writing team Stock Aitken Waterman.
The show is written and directed by the creator of the Nativity! franchise, Debbie Isitt, choreographed by Jason Gilkison, the creative director of Strictly Come Dancing, and features orchestrations and musical direction from George Dyer, who has previously collaborated with Isitt on Nativity! The Musical . [1] The show also features set and costume design from Tom Rogers, light design from Howard Hudson and Ben Harrison serves as the sound designer. The musical is being produced by Ambassador Theatre Group and Gavin Kalin Productions. [2]
The original story for the show was devised by Isitt. [3] It follows a young couple, Ella and Nathan, who are madly in love. They are about to take the next step in their relationship, marriage. That is, until it all goes wrong. [4]
I Should Be So Lucky makes use of the back catalogue of songs written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. Before the full soundtrack was known, WhatsOnStage said the small selection of these songs that were going to be in the show would include "no less than ten number one singles." More specifically, the titular song "I Should Be So Lucky", "Never Gonna Give You Up", "Love in the First Degree" and "Especially for You" were the first to be announced. [3]
The world premiere production is planned to open with a residency at the Manchester Opera House on 1 November 2023. This will be followed by a UK & Ireland tour that will begin at the Wales Millennium Centre, followed by Theatre Royal, Plymouth, the Grand Theatre, Leeds and finally at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton. According to the initial announcement, this tour was due to close on 27 January 2024 but more dates were subsequently added extending the tour to 11 May 2024. [5] These further dates included stops at The New Wimbledon Theatre, The New Theatre, Oxford, Kings Theatre, Glasgow, Hull New Theatre, The Milton Keynes Theatre, The Southend Cliffs Pavilion, The New Victoria Theatre, Woking, Churchill Theatre, Bromley, The Alexandra, Birmingham, The Bristol Hippodrome, The Liverpool Empire, Sunderland Empire Theatre, His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, and finally the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin.
Cast by Anne Vosser, the original cast for the show was announced on 18 July after an official press launch at Manchester's Lawn Club in the same city as the show's premiere. [6]
It was also announced that Kylie Minogue, the singer of "I Should Be So Lucky", would appear in a "specially created digital character." [8] [9]
Bananarama are an English pop group formed in London in 1980. The group, originally a trio, consisted of friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Their success on both pop and dance charts saw them listed in the Guinness World Records for achieving the world's highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 32 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
Michael Stock is an English songwriter, record producer, musician, and member of the songwriting and production trio Stock Aitken Waterman. He has been responsible for over a hundred top-40 hits in the UK, including 16 Number One's and is recognised as one of the most successful songwriters of all time by the Guinness World Records. As part of Stock Aitken Waterman in the 1980s and 90s, he holds the UK record of 11 number one records with different acts. In the UK Singles Chart he has written 54 top-ten hits including 7 number ones.
Stock Aitken Waterman are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through to the early-1990s. SAW is considered one of the most successful songwriting and producing partnerships of all time, scoring more than 100 UK top-40 hits, selling over 500 million records and earning an estimated £60 million in royalties.
Richard Paul Astley is an English singer. He gained fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, releasing the 1987 album Whenever You Need Somebody, which sold 15 million copies worldwide. His debut single "Never Gonna Give You Up" was a No. 1 hit in 25 countries, winning the 1988 Brit Award for Best British Single. His 1988 single "Together Forever" became his second song to top the US Billboard Hot 100 and was one of his eight songs to reach the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart. The title track, "Whenever You Need Somebody", was also a No. 1 hit.
Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWE) is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by British pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL, is most famous for being the home of hit record producers Stock Aitken Waterman.
"I Should Be So Lucky" is a 1987 song performed by Australian singer and songwriter Kylie Minogue from her debut studio album, Kylie (1988). Released on 29 December 1987 by Mushroom Records and PWL Records, the song became a worldwide breakthrough hit. The image of Minogue on the front cover of the single was shot by David Levine. The song was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman for Minogue, whom went on to produce Minogue's initial four studio albums.
"Turn It into Love" is a single released by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. It was taken from her debut studio album Kylie (1988). The single was released in December 1988 in Japan only. The B-side was a new song "Made in Heaven", which also served as the B-side to both "Je ne sais pas pourquoi" and "It's No Secret" in other international territories.
"Never Too Late" is a song written and produced by British production team Stock, Aitken and Waterman for Australian singer Kylie Minogue's second studio album, Enjoy Yourself (1989). Released on 23 October 1989, the song peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart, number one in Ireland, and number 14 in Australia. It was later rerecorded for Minogue's orchestral compilation album, The Abbey Road Sessions, in 2012. Writer Mike Stock says he deliberately composed the song with "old fashioned" lyrical themes, imagining it the style of a 1920s number.
"Got to Be Certain" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her debut studio album, Kylie (1988). Written and produced by English songwriting and record production trio Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), the song was released as the second single from Kylie in most territories outside Australia, and was released on 2 May 1988 in Australia and the United Kingdom. In Australia, "Got to Be Certain" was Minogue's third single release. "Got to Be Certain" was a commercial success, peaking at number one in Minogue's native Australia and number two on the UK Singles Chart.
"What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)" is a song recorded by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, released as the lead single from her first greatest hits album Greatest Hits (1992). The song was written by Mike Stock, Minogue and Pete Waterman, and produced by Stock and Waterman.
This is a summary of 1988 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Debbie Isitt is an English comic writer, film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist and performer.
The Hit Factory: The Best of Stock Aitken Waterman Vol 2 is a compilation album released in November 1988 by Fanfare Records and PWL Records. It is an album featuring hits produced by British production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, who were at their peak at the time of the album's release.
The Hit Factory: The Best of Stock Aitken Waterman is a compilation album released in 1987 by Stylus Records in association with PWL Records. The collection brought together some the biggest hits by British production team Stock Aitken Waterman. It reached #18 in the UK Top 100 Album Chart and achieved a Gold BPI award.
The Hit Factory Volume 3 is a compilation album collecting the biggest hits of the award-winning British music production trio Stock Aitken Waterman during their most successful era. It was released by PWL Records in association with Fanfare Records in June 1989 and reached #3 in the compilation Top 20, achieving a Gold BPI award.
A Ton of Hits : The Very Best of Stock Aitken Waterman is a compilation album released in the UK in November 1990 bringing together the hits of Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) in a continuously sequenced mix. It was released by Chrysalis Records on their subsidiary label Dover Records and followed the previous "Best of Stock Aitken Waterman" collections; The Hit Factory: The Best of Stock Aitken Waterman, The Hit Factory Volume 2 and The Hit Factory Volume 3. The album reached #7 in the compilation Top 20. Notably absent from this release are Bananarama and Dead or Alive, presumably due to licensing issues, whilst including nine songs by Jason Donovan, and ten by Kylie Minogue.
The Hit Factory: Pete Waterman's Greatest Hits is a compilation album featuring music produced by Pete Waterman. It was released by Universal Music in 2000 and reached #3 in the UK compilation Top 20 chart, achieving a Gold BPI award.
Stock Aitken Waterman Gold is a compilation album released in 2005 by Sony BMG, PWL Records and EBUL.
Pete Waterman Presents The Hit Factory is a compilation album released in July 2012 collecting 39 hits produced by Pete Waterman. Included are a vast number of tracks that were written and produced by Waterman along with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken during their most successful period working as Stock Aitken Waterman, becoming among the most successful music producers of all-time.
George Dyer is a British musical director, supervisor and orchestrator.