Curtain goes up on mum Clare Lucy's new stage of her musical at Knaresborough's Frazer Theatre
Five years ago Clare Lucy asked musician friend Jim Lunt if he would arrange the orchestration for a song she had written.
The song was based on a personal tragedy, a miscarriage suffered by the Knaresborough mum.
“Hearing my lyrics come to life with music inspired me to tell the story," said Clare, "but I was never expecting to get as far as I have, for it to take this long or to have so much support.”
Within a year and with Arts Council funding, Clare and Jim had produced 14 more songs 10 of which were included in a concept album Dear friend, Who Am I, which is still available online (https://ditto.fm/dear-friend-who-am-i_57a46d69ef). The same year Clare wrote a first draft of the full-length script that would use the songs in a new musical. This first draft was demolished by an editor and rewritten several times until, a year later, local performers put on a performed script-read through at Knaresborough FEVA festival 2022.
Feedback from the read-through led to more editing and another year later an almost-a-one-woman version of the show – Mara's Story of Arabella – was taken to Edinburgh Fringe 2023 and also performed at Ripon Arts Hub the same year.
It's a tale about how someone deals with loss and love after a tragedy has derailed their life.
Feedback from Mara's Story, included an interest to hear the stories and viewpoints of the other characters, because of course Mara's Story was told from only Mara's viewpoint.
“It's been two years since then; one of those years was taken up with writing and arranging some new songs to tell the other characters’ stories and then devising and organising a performance to showcase them, which led to Arabella And Other Stories,” said Clare. Arabella and Other Stories is a showcase of Clare Lucy's original songs. “It's like an abridged musical,” said Clare.
“At just over an hour long, the audience will hear Mara's Story of Arabella, told through the viewpoints of her friends.”
As with all her projects leading up to this showcase, Clare is offering an entertaining evening of creativity but is also testing out new ideas, new designs and new dialogue. “This has and continues to be a labour of love,” said Clare. "It has already gone through five stages over five years and no doubt has several more to go, but I feel immensely honoured by the talented people in the local community who have supported me, joining this journey at various stages and I hope that many more people will join me, Mara, Arabella and all their friends on another stage of my musical creation.”
Arabella And Other Stories is on at the Frazer Theatre, Knaresborough, on Sunday November 2pm and 5pm.