Musical by Pet Shop Boys
Closer to Heaven
is a
musical
by
Jonathan Harvey
and
Pet Shop Boys
. It was premiered in May 2001 at the
Arts Theatre
in
London
, opening to mixed reviews, and ran until 13 October 2001. A second production of
Closer to Heaven
was premiered in
Australia
in 2005. New off-West End productions premiered in London in 2015 and 2019.
A spin-off cabaret show, entitled
Musik: The Billie Trix Story
, opened in Edinburgh in 2019.
Plot
[
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]
The story is narrated by retired rock icon and actress Billie Trix (
Frances Barber
), who otherwise has a fairly small part in the story. The opening number, "My Night", is sung by Billie and the rest of the cast, and is used to introduce the characters.
Shell Christian (
Stacey Roca
), is going to see her estranged father, Vic Christian (
David Burt
), for the first time in years. Vic, who is gay, left Shell and her mother during her childhood, and now runs a successful gay club in London. Meanwhile, Straight Dave (
Paul Keating
), who has just arrived from Ireland, is working as a bartender at Vic's club, although his ambition is to be a dancer at the club. After seeing and speaking to her father, Shell meets Dave, and they immediately fall in love.
Record producer Bob Saunders (Paul Broughton) is a friend of Billie Trix and a regular at Vic's club. He sees Dave dancing and decides he wants to sign him for a boy band he is forming. He makes an offer to Dave, who has no interest in signing; however, Saunders continues to pressure Dave into working for him.
Dave meets and falls in love with drug dealer Mile End Lee (
Tom Walker
), who deals at Vic's club. Shell is devastated when she discovers that Dave is gay, although part of her has suspected it all along. Meanwhile, Vic discovers Lee dealing drugs in his club and confiscates the drugs. Lee is worried he will be killed for losing the drugs.
At this point, everyone gets high on
ketamine
? Shell is still upset about Dave; Lee is worried about being killed; Dave is frustrated that Lee has withdrawn from him; and Billie, a habitual user, needs no excuse. Lee has a drug overdose and dies. At Lee's funeral, Dave sings a song,
For All of Us
.
A few months later, Dave is apparently back on the road to success and sings
Positive role model
to end the show on a high (the 2015 and 2019 productions replaced
Positive Role Model
by
Vocal
as the closing song).
Music
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Most of the songs that appeared in
Closer to Heaven
were specifically written for the musical because
Neil Tennant
and
Chris Lowe
did not want to produce a "
jukebox musical
" in the vein of
Mamma Mia!
or
We Will Rock You
. Several of the musical's songs were pre-released on the Pet Shop Boys' 1999 album
Nightlife
, including
Closer to Heaven
,
In Denial
, and
Vampires
.
Nightlife
was recorded whilst they were writing
Closer to Heaven
and originally more of the album's tracks appeared in the musical. The oldest song is
Shameless
, which originally appeared as the B-side to "
Go West
" in 1993.
Songs
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]
- My Night
? Billie Trix & Cast
- Closer to Heaven
? Shell & Vic
- Something Special
? Straight Dave
- Positive Role Model
(instrumental)
- Closer to Heaven
? Shell & Dave
- In Denial
? Vic & Shell
- Call Me Old Fashioned
? Bob Saunders
- Nine Out of Ten
? Shell & Straight Dave
- It's Just My Little Tribute to Caligula, Darling!
? Billie Trix (featured in rehearsal scene)
- Hedonism (instrumental)
- Friendly Fire
? Billie Trix
- In Denial
? Straight Dave & Shell
- Something' Special
(reprise) ? Straight Dave
- Shameless
? Vile Celebrities
- Vampires
? Vic
- Closer to Heaven
? Straight Dave & Mile End Lee
- Out of my System
? Shell with Billie Trix, Flynn & Trannies
- K-Hole
(instrumental ? featuring an excerpt of
Run, girl, run!
? Billie Trix)
- For All of Us
? Straight Dave
- Closer to Heaven
? Straight Dave
- Positive Role Model
(replaced by
Vocal
in recent productions) ? Straight Dave
- My Night
(not reprised in recent productions) ? The Cast
Cast Album release
[
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]
An album,
Closer to Heaven (Original Cast Recording)
, was released in October 2001 and was produced by
Pet Shop Boys
and
Stephen Hague
. The album featured studio recorded version of songs from the musical.
It was planned to release
Positive role model
, as sung by Paul Keating, as a single before the album was released. Remixes by
Almighty
and
Fergie
were commissioned for use on the single, but plans were scrapped when the London production closed. These remixes remain unreleased, although the Almighty remix was available for a short time from the Pet Shop Boys' website and an edit of Fergie's remix appeared on dance compilation
Headliners:03
in 2001. The full-length version of
My Night
was also available for a short time from the Pet Shop Boys' website.
A limited edition single of
Run girl run
by Billie Trix, a song based on the iconic
Phan Th? Kim Phuc
photograph from the
Vietnam War
, was available during later performances. The two track CD featured two versions of the track, of which brief snippets could be heard in
K-Hole
. The versions featured were:
Run girl run (Original 1971 single version)
and
Run girl run (1981 post-apocalyptic nightmare mix
.
Run Girl Run
later appeared in the spin-off cabaret musical
Musik
in 2019.
Demo songs
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]
During the recording of the Pet Shop Boys'
Nightlife
album, there were many songs written for the musical that never made it to the final cut. Some of these songs have since been released as b-sides to Pet Shop Boys singles (for example the song "Nightlife" appeared as a b-side to "
Home and Dry
" in 2002) or been made available through the Pet Shop Boys' website, but many still remain unreleased. These songs include
Tall Thin Men
,
The Night Is The Time To Explore Who You Are
,
You've got to start somewhere
and
Little Black Dress
. The last of these,
Little Black Dress
has been covered by Pet Shop Boys covers band
West End Girls
and was released as a single in 2009.
[1]
Original London cast
[
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]
Other performances
[
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]
The original run of
Closer to Heaven
was from May 2001 to September 2001. This was extended to January 2002 because early performances were played to packed audiences. However, over the summer, audiences dwindled. In recent interviews, Neil Tennant has blamed this on poor marketing and bad press reviews. After the
11 September 2001 attacks
, the Arts Theatre was worried about the continual fall of audience numbers across London and wanted a big audience puller, so
Closer to Heaven
closed on 13 October 2001. It was replaced with
The Vagina Monologues
.
When
Closer to Heaven
opened in London, the Pet Shop Boys said that there was interest from production companies all over the world, including New York and Germany.
On 8 May 2006, Frances Barber joined Pet Shop Boys to perform "Friendly fire" at a concert for
BBC Radio 2
. This was recorded and later released as the Pet Shop Boys' live album
Concrete
.
Brisbane 2005
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]
In 2005, a short series of performances was produced by the
Brisbane Powerhouse
in Brisbane, Australia. The cast for the Australian production included:
- Billie Trix ?
Libby Munro
- Straight Dave ?
Regis Broadway
- Shell Christian ? Crystal Taylor
- Mile End Lee ? Joel Curtis
- Vic Christian ?
Chris Herden
- Bob Saunders ? Chris Maver
- Flynn ? David Dellit
- Billie's Babes ? Joel Curtis, Olympia Kwitowski, Sarshee Elliot, Brad Kendrick, Remi Broadway, Ellen Casey
In December 2005, Pet Shop Boys announced that this production would be moving to Sydney to coincide with the
Sydney Mardi Gras
; however, the production was cancelled due to time constraints.
Brighton 2009
[
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]
The amateur City Theatre Company in
Brighton
staged "Closer to Heaven" in September 2009 at the Sallis Benney Theatre. It had a 5-day run, 22 to 26 September.
[2]
Texas 2010
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]
The first US production was scheduled for 1 to 24 October 2010, by Uptown Players in Dallas, Texas.
[3]
The cast for this production includes:
- Billie Trix ? Morgana Shaw
- Straight Dave ? Evan Fuller
- Shell Christian ? Lee Wadley
- Mile End Lee ? Clayton Younkin
- Vic Christian ? Jason Kane
- Bob Saunders ? Coy Covington
- Flynn ? Mikey Abrams
London Revivals 2015
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A revival of the show took place at the
Union Theatre
in May 2015. Due to overwhelming popularity a second run happened in Autumn 2015.
This smaller scale production featured the 2012 song
Vocal
as the closing number instead of original closing numbers of "Positive Role Model" and the reprise of "My Night". An instrumental of "Positive Role Model" still features during a dance routine scene.
April to May 2015
[
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]
- Billie Trix ? Katie Meller
- Straight Dave ? Jared Thompson
- Shell Christian ? Amy Matthews
- Mile End Lee ? Connor Brabyn
- Vic Christian ? Craig Berry
- Bob Saunders ? Ken Christiansen
- Flynn ? Ben Kavanagh
[4]
October to November 2015
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]
- Billie Trix ? Katie Meller / Ben Kavanagh
[5]
- Straight Dave ? Alex Lodge
- Shell Christian ? Molly McGuire
- Mile End Lee ? Jonathan David Dudley
- Vic Christian ? David Habbin
- Bob Saunders ? Nic Kyle
- Flynn ? Ben Kavanagh / Daniel James Greenway
[6]
London Revival 2019
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]
A new production of the show took place at the 100-seat
Above the Stag Theatre
in London from July to August 2019. This
off-West End
production, directed by
Steven Dexter
, also featured
Vocal
as the closing song, and featured a new version of
Something Special
with altered lyrics written by
Neil Tennant
, sung by Mile End Lee. This production received generally positive reviews.
[7]
- Billie Trix ?
Adele Anderson
- Straight Dave ? Blake Patrick Anderson
- Shell Christian ? Maddy Banks
- Mile End Lee ? Mikulas Urbanek
- Vic Christian ? Christopher Howell
- Bob Saunders ?
Ian Hallard
- Flynn ? Aidan Harkins
- Billie's Babes ? Rhys Harding, Billie Hardy, Matthew Ives, Hollie Smith-Nelson
Musik: The Billie Trix Story
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In April 2019 it was announced that a spin-off cabaret show entitled
Musik
, written by Jonathan Harvey with four brand new songs written and produced by Pet Shop Boys, would premiere at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
in August 2019.
[8]
This new one-woman show produced by
Cahoots Theatre Company
explores the backstory of Billie Trix and stars Frances Barber who originated the role in the original London run of
Closer to Heaven
.
On 6 August 2019, an EP of the six songs from
Musik
was released to streaming services.
[9]
A London run of
Musik
ran from 5th February to 1st March 2020 at
Leicester Square Theatre
.
[10]
[11]
Stuart King, writing for
London Box Office
(12 February 2020) noted:
For an actress of 62, Ms Barber offers an energised masterclass worthy of a gal considerably junior in years. In a figure-hugging black bustier - and occasionally straddling a cocktail bar stool - she recounts Billie’s escapades through a non-stop, delusional, coke-fuelled, whiskey-swigging, garrulous ramble, in which she shares her life spent crisis-crossing the globe encountering everyone from Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol to the Dalai Llama and Jean-Paul Sartre. Her strutting, swaggering, ranting and dead-pan asides are only parked when she takes a turn at the microphone to sing the six songs provided by the
Pet Shop Boys
(who as co-writers, were sat a few rows in front of this reviewer on Press Night, and were clearly enjoying every moment).
[12]
References
[
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]
- ^
"Popjustice: 100% Solid Pop Music ? Popjustice"
.
Popjustice
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
City Theatre Co. poster
- ^
"Dallas Live Shows | Uptown Players | Dallas Live Performances, Theater, Plays, Broadway Shows"
.
www.uptownplayers.org
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
Hewis, Ben (8 April 2015).
"Exclusive: Cast announced for
Closer to Heaven
at the Union Theatre"
.
WhatsOnStage
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
Due to Katie Meller being ill, Ben Kavanagh stood in as understudy on several performances playing the role in
drag
.
https://twitter.com/BenEKavanagh/status/662712882073735168
- ^
Hewis, Ben (30 September 2015).
"Casting announced for
Closer to Heaven
at Union Theatre"
.
WhatsOnStage
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
"CTH reviews"
.
Pet Shop Boys
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
"MUSIK to premiere at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival"
.
Pet Shop Boys
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
"
"Musik" EP released today"
.
Pet Shop Boys
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
"Musik in London"
.
Pet Shop Boys
. Retrieved
23 August
2019
.
- ^
Eaves, Julian (16 February 2020).
"REVIEW: Musik, Leicester Square Theatre, London ?????"
.
British Theatre
. Retrieved
9 October
2022
.
- ^
King, Stuart (12 February 2020).
"Review: MUSIK at Leicester Square Theatre - Theatre News and Reviews"
.
London Box Office
. Retrieved
2 September
2020
.
External links
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Studio albums
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Compilation albums
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Remix albums
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Live albums
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Extended plays
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Singles
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Featured singles
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Other songs
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Video albums
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Soundtracks and scores
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Film, stage and television
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Tours and concerts
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Related articles
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