"WARHOL" is a brand new British musical in two
Acts by Steve Clayton and Trevor Midgley.
Featuring a cast of ten characters, and with eighteen original songs,
"WARHOL" is perfect for any Company and for any venue from Rep. to
the West End stage.
The action takes place in The Factory, Andy Warhol's famous studio
complex in New York City. In a boisterous two-hour show, we meet a rich
cross-section of the weird, eccentric, but ultimately very talented people
who were a part of this remarkable man's life. There is:
Edie Sedgwick; a beautiful young actress and the person that
Andy really wants to be,
Billy Name; Buddhist, black magician and manager of The
Factory,
Brigid Polk; the only person to give Andy unconditional love,
Gerard Malanga; Andy's light-hearted art assistant,
Ondine; a cruel, intellectual "person about The Factory",
Julia Warhola; Andy's mother. Humorous, mischievous, and shrewd
(like her son!),
Paul Morrissey; Andy's manager. Only interested in making films
and money,
Fred Hughes; The Factory's business brain, and
Valerie Solanas; the woman who - but that would be giving away
the plot!
And of course we have our central character, the enigmatic manipulative
genius, Andy Warhol himself.
"WARHOL" tells a funny, sad, highly emotional story. The
powerful score ensures the audience remain on the edge of their seats
throughout (e-mail Trevor Midgley to receive mp3 files to your computer or a free CD of the songs from the show).
If you need further information about "WARHOL", please feel free
to contact either of the writers. Speaking of whom -
Steve Clayton is a musician, painter and writer.
Originally from Rochdale, Lancashire, he now lives high in the Pennines on the "wrong" side of the Yorkshire / Lancashire border.
Steve first came to prominence as drummer, co-writer and a founder-member in the 1970s rock band "The Way We Live" (later re-named "Tractor"). After two successful albums for John Peel's Dandelion Records, and numerous singles for various other labels, Steve turned his attention to his other loves, painting and writing.
His latest endeavour, the critically-acclaimed novel "The Art Of Being Dead", was published by Bluemoose Books in 2008.
Of this, his first venture into musical theatre, Steve says "WARHOL is such an obvious project, I'm surprised no-one has thought of doing it before. Everything about the Factory scene is just so brilliantly theatrical".
Trevor Midgley has been actively involved in music for almost five decades.
After a number of years with The Raiders rock group in Leeds in the early '60s, Trevor became "Beau", the folk singer and twelve-string guitar specialist. Trevor and Steve first ran across each other in 1970 when Steve's band, The Way We Live, was brought in to provide the backing on "Creation", Beau's second album for Dandelion Records.
Trevor's later work includes "Dylan: Contraband", a book about Bob Dylan's bootleg CDs published by Desolation Row in 1998 and "Edge Of The Dark", a CD of previously unissued material released by Angel Air Records in 2009.
A prolific songwriter, Trevor has well over four hundred songs to his name. It wasn't surprising therefore that Steve called in his close friend of thirty years to write the songs when he came up with the idea for a musical on the life of Andy Warhol.
"It's been incredible working with such vivid and varied characters," says Trevor. "And the audience won't know whether to laugh or cry. Hopefully, they'll do both!"