A brand new version of the Tim Rice musical comedy Blondel, which follows the trials and triumphs of an ambitious minstrel in King Richard the Lionheart’s court, will get its London premiere at the Union Theatre from Wednesday 21 June – Saturday 15 July.
Blondel has lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Stephen Oliver. The book is by Tim Rice and Tom Williams, and additional music by Mathew Pritchard.
Tim Rice said:
“I’m delighted Blondel is returning to the stage. It was one of the most enjoyable projects of my career, and I’ve always felt Stephen Oliver’s wonderful music deserved a larger audience than it reached back in 1983 when the show first ran. I hope this new production at the terrific Union Theatre will please old fans and find some new ones.”
When King Richard announces that he’s off on a Middle East Crusade to give Saladin a piece of his mind (and sword), the struggling court musician Blondel is forced to stay behind to write songs in praise of the King’s evil – and ambitious – brother, Prince John. Worse still, Blondel is separated from his sweetheart Fiona, who has been press-ganged into the King’s official crusade dry cleaning dept. However when Richard is captured by the murky – and rather cunning – Duke of Austria (just before the interval), Blondel decides to embark upon a pan-European adventure to save his King, Fiona, and England. An irritable assassin, a proto-Robin-Hood and a quartet of monks all aid and/or hinder Blondel’s efforts to write himself both a place in history and love song to dedicate to Fiona.
Blondel premiered in the West End starring Paul Nicholas in 1983. It was the first musical Tim Rice wrote with a composer other than Andrew Lloyd Webber, following hits with Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita. Tim first had the idea for a show about the Crusades in the early days of his partnership with Andrew. They initially worked on it together, with the project titled Come Back Richard Your Country Needs You. That work was performed as an oratorio at the City of London School in 1969, and a single of the title song was recorded with Tim as lead vocalist. However their idea for a musical about the last seven days in the life of Jesus Christ took precedence. Then the idea for a musical about the Crusades sank into obscurity. Tim met Stephen Oliver, the distinguished classical and operatic composer, when they both served on a panel at the Sydney Arts Festival in 1977. In 1982 they began collaborating to bring the idea of a musical about King Richard into a reality. Now titled Blondel, the show centred around Richard’s minstrel, Blondel, who embarks on a quest to find his missing King.
Cast to be announced
Creative team: Director Sasha Regan. Choreographer Chris Whittaker. Musical Director Simon Holt. Designer Ryan Dawson Laight. Lighting Designer Iain Dennis. Music Co-ordinator Pete Hobbs. Assistant MD Oliver George Rew. Casting Adam Braham Casting.
Producers Aaron Rogers & Sasha Regan for Union Theatre, Donald Rice for Heartaches Limited
Tuesday – Saturday at 7.30pm
Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2.30pm
£25/£22.50 | £20 previews
book and lyrics by Tim Rice music by Stephen Oliver additional book by Tom Williams additional music Mathew Pritchard
Directed by: Sasha Regan
Union Theatre Old Union Arches, 229 Union Street, London SE1 0LR
