Robert Gould is a graduate of the University of Wales, Swansea, a former teacher, a writer of history books for schools (The French Revolution and European Nationalism, 1848-71) and the librettist and lyricist of a number of musicals. Collaborating with composer Ty Kroll, he has written the book and lyrics for the musicals, Lovers, Alone and Vocalize!. Concerts of songs from Lovers and Vocalize! were presented at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (in March 2002 and April 2003) and Alone received its world premiere staging in Madison, Wisconsin in April 2003. He has co-written the book & lyrics(with Jimmy Granstrom) for The Dying Game, a musical that speaks for the victims of HIV/AIDS in Africa (with music by Filip von Uexkull, Ty Kroll & Tristan Bons) - which received a showcase production at the Greenwich Musical Futures season in 2005. He wrote lyrics for the Tim Prottey-Jones albums More With Every Line and Surrounded By The Sounds and is currently developing the musical Roundabout with songwriter Joe Sterling and the musicals Based On A True Story, Elephant Juice, Grace Notes, Flop and My Land's Shore with composer Christopher J. Orton.
 MORE WITH EVERY LINE - THE MUSIC OF TIM PROTTEY-JONES, An Album Of New Musical Theatre Songs With An All-star Cast, Set For Late 2010 Release
September 29, 2010
 Review: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, Theatre du Chatelet, Paris, February 20, 2010
February 22, 2010
It is not often that a production of a vintage piece of musical theatre overshadows the original production but that is precisely what happened during a magical new staging of the Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler musical A Little Night Music at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris last week. The musical was originally directed on Broadway in 1973 by the legendary Hal Prince and has been frequently staged at venues all over the world since then (most recently at the Menier Chocolate Factory, the Garrick Theatre on now on Broadway, directed by Trevor Nunn). But this incarnation, directed by Lee Blakely, is the most beautiful and stunning version of the show I have ever seen.
 REVIEW: THE FULL MONTY, New Players Theatre
December 5, 2009
Thom Sutherland's new production of the musical version of The Full Monty at the New Players Theatre looks set to be the hit of the holiday season in London. This scaled-down, intimate and inventively staged presentation pushes all the right buttons for an audience looking for a musical that is funny and entertaining without sacrificing its level of intelligence.
 Concert Of New Musical AFTER THE TURN At The Mixing Bowl, Birmingham on November 25
November 25, 2009
A concert of songs from the new musical After The Turn will be presented at the Mixing Bowl Theatre at the Custard Factory, Birmingham on Wednesday November 25, commencing at 7.30pm.
 REVIEW: A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, Union Theatre, Southwark, November 12, 2009
November 13, 2009
One of the potentially sublime qualities of fringe theatre productions is that they can reinforce the fact that it is not necessary to have the stage filled with epic-scale scenery or helicopters in order to present a great piece of musical theatre - provided that the piece in itself is dramatically and musically strong, the performances compelling and the direction cleverly inventive. All three of these elements are present in the current production of the musical A Man Of No Importance at Southwark's excellent fringe space, the Union Theatre.
 REVIEW: HOLLYWOOD GHOSTS, Jermyn Street Theatre, November 9
November 12, 2009
Leanne Masterton's intimate concert, Hollywood Ghosts, at the Jermyn Street theatre was an intriguing, informative and highly enjoyable evening. Firstly, the stories of the sadly almost unknown vocal stars of countless Hollywood musicals - Marni Nixon, Betty Wand, Carole Richards, India Addams, et al - were highly engaging. And, of course, the show was full of songs from some of the greatest of all movie musicals - The King and I, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, The Sound Of Music, Carmen Jones, etc.
Concert Of New Musical AFTER THE TURN At The Mixing Bowl, Birmingham on November 25
November 6, 2009
A concert of songs from the new musical After The Turn will be presented at the Mixing Bowl Theatre at the Custard Factory, Birmingham on Wednesday November 25, commencing at 7.30pm.
 REVIEW: THE HOT MIKADO, Aberystwyth Arts Centre
November 6, 2009
The Hot Mikado, currently being presented at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre as part of the UK tour of a Watermill Theatre-originated production, is certainly 'hot'.
 Edinburgh Award Winners Lead Take Note Theatre's London Transfer Season Of New Musicals
September 3, 2009
The London transfer of two 2009 Fringe award-winning shows has been announced as part of a four-week season in September of new British musical theatre direct from Edinburgh.
 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009: SUMMER IN THE FRINGE WITH GEORGE - A Retrospective Look At Musical Theatre @ George Square.
August 30, 2009
Set in the midst of an elegant Georgian garden square in Edinburgh, is Musical Theatre @ George Square.
 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009 - REVIEW: SIX WAYS, George Square 2, August 12
August 19, 2009
 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009 - REVIEW: WOLFBOY, George Square 4, August 15
August 19, 2009
Robert Gould checks out the new 'psycho-sexual musical thriller', Wolfboy and howls with delight at a genuine five star show.
 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009 - REVIEW: HAVE A NICE LIFE, George Square 2, August 13
August 13, 2009
Robert Gould finds Conor Mitchell and Matthew Hurt's new musical at the Edinburgh Fringe brilliantly therapeutic.
 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009 - REVIEW: OVER THE THRESHOLD, George Square 2, August 13
August 13, 2009
Robert Gould is not convinced that this new musical crosses the threshold into greatness.
 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009 - REVIEW: THE GREAT BRITISH SOAP OPERA, George Square 2, August 12
August 12, 2009
Robert Gould 'takes note' of the new Jake Brunger/Pippa Cleary musical that is wowing audiences at this year's Fringe.
 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009 - REVIEW: FALSETTOLAND, George Square 2, August 11
August 11, 2009
Selladoor theatre company welcomes audiences to Falsettoland at the Fringe and Robert Gould exaamines this festival of Finn.
 EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 2009 - REVIEW: CHAT! - A NEW BRITISH MUSICAL, George Square 2, August 11
August 11, 2009
Robert Gould logs in to the musical Chat Room to bring you up to speed with this new Fringe show by Take Note Theatre.
 REVIEW: COME FLY WITH ME, Wales Millennium Centre
August 7, 2009
Sixties cool, big band swing and quick-fire tongue-in-cheek humour - those are the ingredients that combine to make the hearty musical fare served up for three performances at the Wales Millennium Centre's intimate Weston Studio on August 6-7 - the world premiere of 'Come Fly With Me', a musical comedy by writers Lee Gilbert and Steve Coleman.
 'AFTER THE TURN' - The Road To Making A New Musical
August 6, 2009
The birth of a new musical involves a mixture of passion, inspiration, frustration, hard work, an element of luck and the coming together of a group of individuals who have the desire and will to make it work. All of those elements have been present in the early stages of the development of a brand new musical I've been fortunate to be involved with - a musical entitled 'After the Turn'.
 Review: Spend Spend Spend at the Watermill
July 21, 2009
Spend Spend Spend, a show that first hit the West End back in 1999 - with its tuneful score, hard-nosed but also raunchily humorous book and an emotional core that rings with human truth - is a much underrated gem of a musical. Now, in a newly forged 'actor-musician' production at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury, the gem sparkles and shines even brighter.
 "Sister Act, the Musical" makes Whoopi at the London Palladium
June 2, 2009
The opening number of Sister Act - the musical, which opened on June 2 at the London Palladium, is entitled ?Take Me To Heaven? - and that is precisely what this delightful new show does to its audience. It is divinely fresh, funny and fabulous.
 Review: Only Men Aloud open their UK tour on a high
April 26, 2009
A single figure appears at the back of the stage. A single voice begins to sing a Barry Manilow classic - exquisitely, soon to be joined by the other members of BBC's Last Choir Standing winners 'Only Men Aloud' and suddenly 'One Voice' explodes into an huge wall of sound as stunning vocals advance upon the ears of the audience. This opening number set the tone for the rest of what turned out to be a fantastic evening in the first 'Only Men Aloud' UK national tour, which opened on April 26 at the Swansea Grand Theatre.
 Review: The Thorn Birds, the musical - a tragic disaster in Swansea
April 22, 2009
The Thorn Birds - which began life as Colleen McCullough's multi-million copy best selling 1977 novel and went on to become one of the most successful TV mini-series of the 1980s - deals with the clash between passionate love and faithful duty to God. Anyone who finds the courage to go to see the new musical version by Ms. McCullough and German classical composer Gloria Bruni, currently in the early stages of its world premiere tour at the Swansea Grand Theatre, may well wonder that if God exists why would he allow such mindless nonsense to be presented to them.
 Review: Jet Set Go! at the Jermyn Street Theatre
April 6, 2009
Anyone who has ever experienced the joys - or woes - of transatlantic flying may wish to fasten their seat belts and head off to see a new musical that takes its audience on a flight from London to New York and back again. That is precisely the theatrical experience created by Jet Set Go! (currently playing to capacity audiences at the Jermyn Street Theatre). This 'cabin crew musical' is a sheer delight from take-off to landing.
 Review: Spring Awakening Transfers to the West End
April 6, 2009
In a time when the average musical theatre menu served in the West End consists of revived old musicals, bland and rather inconsequential new musicals or purely commercial vehicles with little originality of content and no original score - it is a breath of fresh air to have a musical theatre piece open at a West End house that is new, innovative, has a serious plot with layers of thought-provoking sub-text and also has an original, vibrant score. A breath of Spring air, in fact. The multi-Tony Award winning Spring Awakening, currently playing at the Novello Theatre (fresh from an 'out of town' triumph at the Lyric, Hammersmith) is one of the most exciting shows to hit the West End in years.
 Masterton Says 'Hello, Jerry!' on March 22
March 22, 2009
On March 22nd, cabaret artiste Leanne Masterton will bring her acclaimed one woman tribute to Jerry Herman, Hello Jerry!, to the intimate Basement in London's Leicester Square Theatre. The revue was last seen in London at the Jermyn Street Theatre in September 2007.
 Clwyd Theatre's musical Great Expectations Thrills
March 20, 2009
From the misty opening on the Essex marshes to the bittersweet denouement of Dickens' compelling story, Clwyd Theatr Cymru's new musical adaptation of Great Expectations charms, delights and grips its audience throughout. Faithfully yet innovatively adapted and directed by Tim Baker, cleverly enhanced by Mark Bailey's design and seamlessly woven together by a tuneful and atmospheric score of music and songs by Dyfan Jones, the production currently playing at Cardiff's Sherman Theatre during a nationwide tour is a truly thrilling theatrical experience.
Masterton Says 'Hello, Jerry!' on March 22
March 6, 2009
On March 22nd, cabaret artiste Leanne Masterton will bring her acclaimed one woman tribute to Jerry Herman, Hello Jerry!, to the intimate Basement in London's Leicester Square Theatre. The revue was last seen in London at the Jermyn Street Theatre in September 2007.
 'A Stage Kindly' showcase of new musicals in London
February 28, 2009
Following their sell-out debut performances last autumn, A Stage Kindly will present a new series of revues of new musical theatre writing at various venues in London and Brighton in March 2009. This new musical theatre initiative provides the opportunity for fresh new writing talent to introduce their work to the stage and gives musical theatre fans a chance to experience possible future hit shows before anyone else.
2009 Welsh Musical Theatre Young Singer Of The Year
February 23, 2009
At the Swansea Grand Theatre on Saturday February 21, the title of 2009 Principality Building Society Welsh Musical Theatre Young Singer Of The Year was awarded to Catherine Mort, a young singer from Swansea who is currently studying at the Guildford School of Acting. The result of the closely fought contest was announced by West End's The Sound Of Music star, Connie Fisher, who was herself the 2006 recipient of the award and who has generously given her time both this year and in 2008 to serve as one of the adjudicators for the contest. Also amongst the list of previous winners of the title are Craig Yates (now a member of BBC's Last Choir Standing winners Only Men Aloud), David Thaxton (the current Enjolras in London's Les Miserables) and Hayley Gallivan (who recently commenced playing the role of Martha in Spring Awakening at the Lyric, Hammersmith).
 Spring Awakens at the Lyric Hammersmith
February 17, 2009
It is a rare thing in musical theatre that a show comes along that is vibrant, funny, touching, thought provoking, edgy, relevant, timeless and thoroughly entertaining. Spring Awakening is just that kind of rare thing. The Lyric, Hammersmith is the current home of the UK premiere production of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's smash hit multi-Tony-Award-winning musical, vividly recreated from his original New York staging by director Michael Mayer.
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