Writer-director Matt Aston, left, and The Wedding Present’s David Gedge at the Recepetion: The Wedding Present Musical press night. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
WHEN York writer-director Matt Aston first suggested making a musical from The Wedding Present’s songs of love, loss and longing, Leeds songwriter David Gedge was intrigued.
“I’d never imagined my songs being used in a musical – I know nothing about the format and I’m not even sure I like it – but I loved how Mamma Mia! reimagined ABBA, and I’ve always been up for trying new things,” he said. “I’m excited to see how the show brings the songs to life in a new way.”
Performed by Aston’s cast of predominantly young actor-musicians and a community quintet of dancing waitresses, Reception: The Wedding Present Musical certainly does that.
And maybe we should not be surprised because Gedge already had expanded his template from trademark thrashing guitars to Cinerama’s more cinematic, French-infused pop and a BBC Big Band re-tooling of the Weddoes’ songs. The sudden burst of Rebecca Levy’s saxophone at one point is a nod to that reinvention.
Caught on camera: Rebecca Levy’s Estrella, left, Amara Latchford’s Sally and Zoe Allan’s Rachel in Reception: The Wedding Present Musical. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Can indie rock songs work in theatre? Aston was sure they could: “The BBC Big Band arrangements for the songs were astonishing, as different as you could possibly imagine but David’s lyrical and conversational storytelling still shone through,” he said. “His lyrics are cinematic, emotional and rich with story – they felt naturally theatrical.
“Then later seeing Wedding Present and Cinerama concerts backed with 16-piece orchestras and full choirs helped cement the thought that the songs could work perfectly in a musical.”
Reception is not a jukebox musical. Instead its structure and style is closer To Sunshine On Leith, Stephen Greenhorn’s 2007 show for the Dundee Rep Ensemble that interwove The Proclaimers’ rousing songs into the story of two young Scottish soldiers returning to their families in Edinburgh after serving in Afghanistan. A TMA Award for Best Musical and Dexter Fletcher’s 2013 film version followed. Reception has work to do to match that.
Just as Charlie and Craig Reid’s songs for The Proclaimers are full of acerbic wit, wry observation, lovelorn yearning and narrative detail, so too are Gedge’s arch, romantic yet often disappointed songs of love and loneliness, life’s high hopes and low blows, break-ups and breakdowns, chance and no chance.
When Harry met Rachel: Lawrence Hodgson-Mullings and Zoe Allan in Reception: The Wedding Present Musical. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
In the Weddoes’ 40th anniversary year, Matt Aston utilises both Wedding Present and Cinerama songs and a new Gedge composition, Hot Wheels, within his “coming-of-age story of love, friendship, growing up, regret and reconnection that heads back to the sticky dance floors and crimped hair of 1980s’ Leeds”.
That northern story begins at the end in 1990, the rivals at war in an ill-fated love triangle, before heading back to the innocence of 1985, the year when Leeds University mathematics student Gedge formed The Wedding Present.
That summer, a group of Leeds student friends is celebrating the dying embers of university days, with plans afoot, but life’s paths will meet cul de sacs, dead ends, U turns, bumps in the road, as Gedge’s songs know only too well.
Events entangle, unfold and entangle again at a graduation ceremony, funeral, wedding and reception over a span of five turbulent, formative and transformative years. “You should always keep in touch with your friends…or should you,” asks Aston, quoting a Wedding Present song title as he explores how we grow together and apart.
Zach Burns’ Joe and Hannah Nuttall’s Jane in Reception: The Wedding Present Musical. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
In creative consultant Gedge’s presence on press night, the audience have taken their seats either at Wedding Guest tables – each delineated with the cover of a Wedding Present album – or on the banks of seating behind, facing Hannah Sibai’s end-on stage that takes the open-plan form of a wedding reception with white decor, dance floor and balloons, complemented by the striking triptych projections of Lee Thacker that mirror his black-and-white illustrations for Gedge’s autobiography Tales From The Wedding Present.
Lawrence Hodgson-Mullings’ Harry is going out with Zoe Allan’s North Easterner Rachel; his best friend, Richard Lounds’s John, is urging him to head to Seattle. Keep an eye on him. Friends Sally (Amara Latchford), Jane (Hannah Nuttall) and Estrella (Rebecca Levy), forever armed with her Camcorder, are always on hand.
Rachel’s brother Joe (Zach Burns) has a slow-burning thing for Jane in the second love story, while Latchford’s Sally has ‘previous’ with John. Rachel and Joe’s Dad (Matthew Bugg) is the one seasoned adult amid all the young folks with all the life experience of Shakespeare’s young lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Gedge has described his lyrics as “typically little stories”; little, yes, but universal, in the way that love is. Aston’s anxious characters are everyday types, experiencing teething problems in coltish lives that are more prosaic than poetic. Post-university red-brick students on a learning curve in life.
They are not the gilded youth of Evelyn Waugh’s Oxford spires, but provincial average Joes and Janes. Not particularly bright (unlike Chris Davey’s sometimes intrusive lighting), not particularly witty, nor particularly interesting or enlightening, but we recognise them in kitchen-sink dramas and soaps.
Caitlin Lavagna’s vicar Emma leading the funeral ceremony in Reception: The Wedding Present Musical. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Reception’s combination of storytelling, impactful projection and drama-filled song peaks with the suspense of Act One’s closing scene on Brighton pier, suspense that is broken by the unexpected, rug-pulling opening to Act Two: a funeral that plays out in full, led by vicar Emma (Caitlin Lavagna), to establish a better balance of chat and song.
What Reception does have throughout is a restless energy, to match The Wedding Present in concert, captured in the choreography of York’s Hayley Del Harrison as much as in the fractious exchanges in Aston’s dialogue, where the wittiest moment comes in a late cameo by Jack Hardy’s Keir/Keith/Kevin – no-one is ever sure of his name – who turns out to be Keir Starmer in his Leeds University days.
As you would want from a musical, what works best by far are Gedge’s songs, delivered in myriad settings by musical director Marie McAndrew, from string quartet to piano, accordion to flute, Ukrainian folk band to full-on guitars by instrument-swapping actor-musicians in fine voice, emphasising the melody and diversity of his love songs to accompany his home truths.
My Favourite Dress takes on new poignancy as a despairing, broken-hearted ballad for Burns’s Joe and Nuttall’s Jane. As John Peel once said: “The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the rock’n’roll era. You may dispute this, but I’m right and you’re wrong!” Reception affirms that again and again.
Perfect Blue Productions and Engine House Theatre in Reception, The Wedding Present Musial, at Slung Low, The Warehouse, Crosbt Road, Holbeck, Leeds, until September 6. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or at leedsplayhouse.org.uk. Wedding Guest table packages are available.
Coming on leaps and bounds: The community ensemble in gymnastic action in Reception: The Wedding Present Musical. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
York writer-director Matt Aston, left, walking through Leeds with The Wedding Present’s singer, lyricist, guitarist and only permanent member, David Gedge
THIS is a story of love gone wrong, love gone right and then love gone wrong again, in keeping with David Gedge’s songs that inspired Reception, The Wedding Present Musical.
Presented by Perfect Blue Productions and York writer-director Matt Aston’s company Engine House Theatre, the world premiere will be staged at Slung Low’s theatre space, The Warehouse, in Holbeck, Leeds, from August 22 to September 6.
The plot opens in 1985, the year when Leeds University mathematics student Gedge formed The Wedding Present (and fellow student Keir Starmer was among the early enthusiasts).
That summer, a group of Leeds friends is celebrating the end of university days, but life does not always work out as planned. Events both entangle and unfold at a graduation ceremony, funeral, wedding and, of course, the receptions that follow over a span of five turbulent years. “You should always keep in touch with your friends…or should you,” asks Aston, as he explores how we grow together and apart.
Featuring songs by Leeds-born Gedge’s semi-legendary indie band, full of frantic energy and distorted guitars,and his more cinematic, French pop-inspired group Cinerama,this new musical heads back to the sticky dance floors and crimped hair of 1980s’ Leeds for a coming-of-age story of love, friendship, growing up, regret and reconnection.
Reception marks the 40th anniversary of The Wedding Present’s debut single, Go Out And Get ’Em Boy, the first of many to be aired by late-night BBC Radio One maverick John Peel, who once said: “The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the rock’n’roll era. You may dispute this, but I’m right and you’re wrong!”
The “Weddoes” chalked up 18 Top 40 singles and built a devoted cult following – Aston, for example, has seen them in concert more than 50 times – drawn to the searing wit and narrative candour of Gedge’s arch, romantic yet perennially disappointed songs of love and longing, life’s high hopes and low blows, break-ups and breakdowns, chance and no chance.
The likes of indie classics My Favourite Dress, Kennedy, Brassneck and Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft will be performed in new arrangements by Aston’s dynamic ensemble of actor-musicians, along with a new Gedge composition, written expressly for the premiere.
“It was almost 20 years ago when I had the first inkling that a Wedding Present musical might work,” says Matt. “David had returned to Leeds to perform a selection of his songs with the BBC Big Band for Radio 3.
“The arrangements for the songs were astonishing, as different as you could possibly imagine but David’s lyrical and conversational storytelling still shone through. His lyrics are cinematic, emotional and rich with story – they felt naturally theatrical.
“Then later seeing Wedding Present and Cinerama concerts backed with 16-piece orchestras and full choirs helped cement the thought that the songs could work perfectly in a musical.
“Early in 2019 I met Tony Ereira, director of Leeds-based record labels Come Play With Me and Clue Records, at – where else?! – a Wedding Present gig in Leeds, and the idea of getting the play off the ground started take shape.
“Now, with this phenomenal cast of multi-talented actor-musicians, we’ve found the perfect group to bring that vision to life with heart, humour and edge. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Gedge, The Wedding Present guitarist, lyricist, singer, biographer and strategist, is intrigued by what lies in store at The Warehouse: “When Matt approached me with the idea of a Wedding Present musical, I was intrigued…I’d never imagined my songs being used in a musical – I know little about the format and I’m not even sure I like it – but I loved how Mamma Mia! reimagined ABBA, and I’ve always been up for trying new things,” he says. “I’m excited to see how the show brings the songs to life in a new way.
“It goes back to writing songs with stories in them, and then Matt having the idea to link them together and get a story out of that, which didn’t require much input from me, as he’s an amazing writer and director.”
Reflecting on his propensity to focus on love, loss and longing in his songs, David says: “I gave up many years ago trying to expand from that narrative when I was thinking ‘why am I always honing myself down to songs about relationships?’, but it’s because I’m good at it!
“People connect to songs about relationships because they relate it to their own experiences and things that have happened to them. I do feel it’s the perfect subject for pop songs, wanting a girl, loving a girl, so I might be limiting the subject, but it’s a massive subject and an ageless one, going back to Shakespeare’s plays.”
Plenty of mathematicians are good musicians too, but David says: “There’s a logic to writing songs, some things work, some things, but in making music, you can always go off at tangent, whereas in Maths there is only a right or wrong answer – but Maths does help me do the accounts!”
Tickets for a musical that “thrums with real emotion, biting wit and restless energy, like the band that inspired it” are on sale on 0113 213 7700 or at leedsplayhouse.org.uk. Wedding Guest table packages are available.
Writer-director Matt Aston, back row, left, and The Wedding Present and Cinerama frontman David Gedge, back row, right, with cast members for Reception: The Wedding Present Musical. Picture: Northedge Photography
Who will be in the cast for Reception, The Wedding Present Musical?
Zoe Allan as Rachel
Rachel is a confident yet vulnerable graduate of Leeds University who, having experienced loss and pain early in life, has carefully planned a future of love and security. Or so she thought.
Zoe is a passionate working-class performer from the North East with a versatile background across stage, screen and independent film projects. Her credits include Pippin, directed by Barbara Houseman, and When We Strike, an original musical developed by BYMT.
She graduated from Leeds Conservatoire’s Musical Theatre programme and is excited to be back in Leeds for this production.
Lawrence Hodgson‐Mullings as Harry
Harry is Rachel’s first love. Leeds born and bred, he has never left Yorkshire and dreams of adventure before settling down.
Leeds native Lawrence can next be seen in Sally Wainwright’s Riot Women for Drama Republic and the BBC. His screen work includes Fool Me Once (Netflix), Catherine Called Birdy (Working Title), complemented by stage roles in The Enormous Crocodile (Leeds Playhouse/Regent’s Park), Dick Whittington (National Theatre), and The Panopticon (National Theatre of Scotland).
After cutting his teeth with Leeds Playhouse Youth Theatre, he trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and was a Spotlight Prize finalist. He is a violinist and baritone singer too.
Richard Lounds as John
John is Harry’s best friend. A couple of years older than the rest, he is a source of steady support and advice.
Richard is a performer, musician and dramaturg who trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. His credits include LIFELINE Off-Broadway(Signature Theatre, New York), The Storm Whale ((Little Angel, York Theatre Royal), The Secret Garden (Tabard Theatre), The Mould That Changed The World and Mr Men And Little Miss On Stage. As a vocalist, he has toured internationally and was a choral scholar at Merton College, Oxford.
Amara Latchford as Sally
Sally is Rachel’s best friend and John’s on/off girlfriend. She has loved university life but is ready for what’s next.
Amara is a graduate of Leeds Conservatoire’s Actor Musician programme, who plays piano, guitar and violin. Their credits include Vernon God Little (Leeds Conservatoire, 2024); The Boy Who Cried Wolf (Tutti Frutti, 2024); The Polar Express (London Euston, 20th Anniversary, 2024); The Storm And The Minotaur (Slung Low, 2025), and All My Pretty Ones (Birmingham Rep, 2025).
Particularly passionate about movement, and ways stories can be communicated through the body, they are training in Kung Fu and various dance styles. Drawing on their wealth of experience in songwriting and composing their own music, they aim to release an EP at the end of the summer.
They describe themselves as a creative octopus, with a vibrant curiosity and desire to explore as many creative avenues as humanly possible. Others have described Amara as a bold and fearless performer.
Matthew Bugg as Dad
Dad to Rachel and Joe, he has moved to Leeds to be close to them after a shared family tragedy.
Matthew, a theatre artist with 25 years’ experiences across many disciplines, is the creator of Miss Nightingale, writing, directing and performing in the hit musical that toured the UK five times between 2011 and 2017, then played the Vaults and Hippodrome Theatre in London.
Jack Hardy in rehearsal for his role as Keir/Keith/Kevin. Picture: Northedge Photography
He has worked as an actor, choreographer or composer on seven other West End shows including Zorro, The Secret Of Sherlock Holmes, Dear Lupin, Our Man In Havana and Cirque Berserk.
Touring works include: King Lear (ATG); Angelina Ballerina (UK and international tour); The Handyman; Star Quality; Lark Rise To Candleford; Quartet; The Hound Of The Baskervilles; Northanger Abbey; Jamaica Inn; Three Men In A Boat and numerous shows for the Agatha Christie Company.
He teaches musical theatre at Leeds Conservatoire and has extensive experience as a composer, lyricist and musical director. He is an active member of Mercury Musicals Development and a judge for the Stiles and Drewe songwriting competition.
Rebecca Levy as Estrella
Estrella is a mature, perpetual student, who has done course after course. She thinks she is better than everyone else… and probably is. But she means well.
Rebecca graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2016 and is an actor, singer-songwriter and youth facilitator. Her credits include Rapunzel (Liverpool Everyman); Cinderella, Vernons Girls (Royal Court, Liverpool), A Letter To Harvey Milk and Mamma Mia! The Party. She released her debut album, How to Keep Your Girlfriend 101, in 2019. She is an emerging composer, with credits including Animal Farm for NYMT.
Hannah Nuttall as Jane
Jane is the quiet one of the group…most of the time. A Doris Day obsessive and happily single, she is not quite sure where life will take her next.
Hannah trained at Italia Conti Academy. Her credits include Yeast Nation (Southwark Playhouse), Dick Whittington, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella (Theatre Royal Wakefield), Soho Songs (Crazy Coqs) and In The Time Of Dragons. She is a theatre educator and composer too, including for The Girl Who Saved The Sea (Beansprout Theatre Company).
Zach Burns as Joe
Joe is Rachel’s younger brother – a fact her friends never let him forget. Mature beyond his years, he is finding his place in the world.
Zach trained at the Royal Academy of Music. Credits include Yesterday (Workshop), Sleeping Beauty (Radlett Centre), and Potty The Plant (Edinburgh Fringe). He has recording credits as a vocalist on The Sandman (Netflix) and Idols (Yungblud) and is known for his work in new musical theatre and actor-musician collaborations.
Caitlin Lavagna as Emma
Emma is the rector of Leeds Minster, an upstanding and respected member of the local community.
Caitlin is a Welsh-Gibraltarian actor-musician, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who graduated from Rose Bruford College. Credits include Housemates (Sherman Theatre, Cardiff), Operation Julie(Theatr na nÓg), Vernons Girls (Royal Court, Liverpool), and Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical.
Also a singer-songwriter, whose single October won Best Actress and Best Music Video at the Celynen Film Festival. She was named Best Female Act at the 2025 Radio Wigwam Awards. Drummer and vocalist for the band Big Wednesday.
Jack Hardy as Keir/Keith/Kevin
Barman at the pub that hosts all the receptions, although no-one ever gets his name right. A political activist with big ambitions, he is searching for his voice.
Leeds-born actor and musician Jack attained A Levels at CAPA College before continuing his journey at ArtsEd on the BA Acting course. From 2021 to 2024, he completed his training on the Actor Musician BA programme at Leeds Conservatoire. Multi-instrumentalist musician, playing piano, guitar, synth, bass, drums and voice. Passionate writer and songwriter with a love for stories that blend music and performance.
Matt Aston on a bench in Rowntree Park, York, when directing Park Bench Theatre under Covid restrictions. Picture: Livy Potter
Did you know?
RECEPTION writer-director Matt Aston’s credits include The Storm Whale and Grandad’s Island at York Theatre Royal and the Park Bench Theatre seasons in Rowntree Park, York, as well as directing Line Of Duty star Vicky McLure in Stephen Lowe’s Touched, James Bolam in William Ivory’s Bomber’s Moon and David Mamet’s Oleanna with Alistair McGowan.
Artistic director of Engine House Theatre and winner of the Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for Encouragement of New Writing.
The Wedding Present to release 40th anniversary retrospective 40 on September 19 on vinyl and CD
Jonathan Hitchen’s artwork for The Wedding Present’s compilation album 40
ON September 19, CLUE Records will release 40, a “chronological, aural journey” through The Wedding Present’s album tracks, singles and B-sides. Frosted clear quadruple vinyl box sets and quadruple CD sets are available for pre-order at https://cluerecords.myshopify.com/collections/the-wedding-present-40.
After 13 studio albums, 20 compilations and a heap of singles, EPs, live albums and live sessions – with more on the way – 40 will be a “commemorative reflection of this complex and fascinating catalogue”.
Artwork by the Weddoes’ regular cover designer Jonathan Hitchen will be complemented by extensive sleeve notes by David Gedge, along with music writer Mark Beaumont. Gedge’s commentary provides an insight into the workings of his band and a track-by-track guide to the compilation.
The track listing will be: Side A/CD1, Go Out And Get ’Em Boy; You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends; Anyone Can Make A Mistake; Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft; A Million Miles; My Favourite Dress.
Side B/CD1, Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm; Davni Chasy; Give My Love To Kevin (Acoustic Version); Kennedy; What Have I Said Now.
Side C/CD2, Bewitched; Take Me!; Brassneck; Crawl. Side D/CD2, Dalliance; Dare; Suck; Blonde; Corduroy. Side E/CD2, Heather; Blue Eyes; Come Play With Me; Flying Saucer; Click Click.
Side F/CD3, Spangle; Convertible; Montreal; Kansas; I’m From Further North Than You ; Interstate 5. Side G/CD4, Perfect Blue; Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk; Boo Boo; Deer Caught In The Headlights. Side H/CD4, Two Bridges; Rachel; I Am Not Going To Fall In Love With You; Science Fiction; Hot Wheels.
Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcast special with David Gedge
The Wedding Present’s David Gedge with Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcaster Charles Hutchinson, pictured outside Leeds University Union in April 2025
Listen to David Gedge discuss 40 years Of The Wedding Present, the Reception musical and his Rise@Bluebird Bakery show with Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcasters Charles Hutchinson and Graham Chalmers at:
DAVID Gedge, long-time leader of The Wedding Present, discusses his “semi-legendary” Leeds indie band’s 40-year-career and his life in the music industry, in conversation with Amanda Cook at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb tonight.
York writer/director Matt Aston joins him too on the eve of rehearsals for Reception – The Wedding Present Musical, ahead of its premiere at Slung Low, The Warehouse, Holbeck, Leeds, from August 22 to September 6.
Tonight’s event concludes with Gedge’s 20-minute acoustic set drawn from The Wedding Present’s cornucopia of arch, romantic yet perennially disappointed songs of love, life’s high hopes and woes, chance and no chance. Box office: eventbrite.com.
Listen to David Gedge discuss 40 years Of The Wedding Present, the Reception musical and his Rise@Bluebird Bakery show with Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcasters Charles Hutchinson and Graham Chalmers at:
The Wedding Present’s David Gedge, right, with Reception writer-director Matt Aston walking through Leeds. They will discuss the new musical tonight at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York
David Gedge: Songwriter and frontman of The Wedding Present and Cinerama
YORK writer-director Matt Aston’s new musical inspired by David Gedge’s songs for The Wedding Present and Cinerama, will premiere at Slung Low’s theatre space, The Warehouse, in Holbeck, Leeds, from August 22 to September 6.
Reception’s story of love, loss, break-ups and breakdowns – everything you would expect from a Wedding Present song – is built around a group of Leeds University friends that keeps in touch over five years of trials, tribulations and life events, from a graduation ceremony and a stage & hen do to a funeral, wedding and, of course, the accompanying reception.
Set in and around Leeds in the late-1980s, Reception will be presented to a mixture of cabaret-style seating – with ‘wedding guests’ enjoying a glass of fizz on arrival and a three-course meal – as well as more traditional raked seating.
The idea of a musical spun around Gedge’s songs had been brewing for writer and director Matt Aston over several years and serendipitously comes to fruition on the 40th anniversary of the Weddoes’ debut single Go Out And Get ’Em Boy – on the Reception Records label that prompted the show’s title.
Matt met Tony Ereira, director of Leeds record labels Come Play With Me and Clue Records, inevitably at a Wedding Present gig, in Leeds in early 2019, when the seeds of the play were duly sown.
“I started talking about it with David [Gedge] five years ago, just before the Covid lockdown,” recalls Matt. “We raised money through crowdfunding, I wrote the draft script and did some R&D (research and development), and got the show pencilled in for a couple of venues, but they fell through in the Covid backlog.
“But then, in 2024, I met Alan Lane at Slung Low, where I went to see their new space in Holbeck. He was really up for it and we set it in motion before Alan left to become artistic director for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Alan is still Slung Low’s vice-chair, and venue manager Matt Angrove has taken over the arrangements for the show.
“They’ve been great in finding dates for us and in liaising with The Wedding Present to fit in with the 40th anniversary.”
Reception will wrap its story around songs from four decades of The Wedding Present, Cinerama’s back catalogue and a new Gedge composition.song.
The Wedding Present & Cinerama: the back story
THE Wedding Present were formed in 1985 by David Gedge, who had graduated from the University of Leeds in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics in 1981, and continue to tour and release new music today with vocalist and guitarist Gedge as the only constant member.
Their songwriting has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of The Fall, Buzzcocks and fellow Leeds band Gang Of Four to more varied forms. They have bothered the UK Singles Chart’s Top 40 on 18 occasions, including a history-making run of 12 singles – one for each month – in 1992, matching Elvis Presley’s achievement for a single year.
Cinerama were formed by Gedge in 1998, subsequently released a series of singles and albums significantly different in musical style to The Wedding Present, rooted in French-influenced cinematic/soundtrack-style arrangements.
David Gedge: Writing new material for Reception, a musical built around his songs of love and loss, break-ups and breakdowns for The Wedding Present and Cinerama
THE Crowdfunder appeal to kick-start work on The Wedding Present musical, Reception, has hit the initial £10,000 target with more than a day to spare.
You can still visit @crowdfunderuk where the @ReceptionSoon page welcomes further contributions today and tomorrow to aid York writer-director Matt Aston start crafting a story of “love, loss, break-ups and breakdowns – everything you’d expect really from a musical based on the songs of David Gedge”.
The Crowdfunder Gedge pledge will facilitate work on the first draft, artwork and branding of a show that will combine Gedge’s songs for his Leeds band The Wedding Present and Cinerama with new material by the 60-year-old songwriter, who now lives in Brighton.
Reception writer-director Matt Aston in his Wedding Present T-shirt when rehearsing Park Bench Theatre’s summer production of Samuel Beckett’s First Love with actor Chris Hannon. Picture: Northedge Photography
Aston and production partner Tony Ereira anticipate beginning research and development in early 2021 to road test their ideas – Covid-19 Government guidance permitting – with a group of actor-musicians, incorporating Gedge’s new songs. The premiere is pencilled in for Leeds in 2022, to be followed by a small tour that would take in Brighton.
Full details on Reception can be found in an earlier CharlesHutchPress article, filed on September 15.
“The crowdfunding campaign is a chance for fans to get involved from the beginning with a bunch of rewards that are all exclusive to this production, including specially commissioned artwork from Lee Thacker, illustrator of David’s autobiography, Tales From The Wedding Present,” says Matt, artistic director of Engine House Theatre, who staged the Park Bench Theatre season in the Friends Garden, Rowntree, Park, York, this summer.
To support the project, go to: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/reception-the-musical
David Gedge: Creative consultant for a new musical based around his songs for The Wedding Present
DO you have a gift for a Wedding Present project?
To explain, a crowdfunder campaign is being launched to support the creation of a musical based on the songs of David Gedge’s “semi-legendary“ Leeds group and John Peel favourites, The Wedding Present…with “some brand new material” from Gedge too.
The driving force behind Reception, The Wedding Present Musical, is York writer, theatre director and Engine House Theatre artistic director Matt Aston, fresh from mounting this summer’s season of Park Bench Theatre monologues in the Friends Garden at Rowntree Park.
“Reception will be a story of love…loss…break-ups…and breakdowns,” says Matt. “Everything you’d expect, really, from a musical based on the songs of David Gedge.”
Gedge, who turned 60 in April, will be the creative consultant for a show that will incorporate his songs for both The Wedding Present and Cinerama, plus the aforementioned new material, targeting 2022 for a Leeds premiere.
The Gedge pledge crowdfunder campaign “gives fans the opportunity to get involved at the very beginning of an exciting journey – and pick up a bunch of specially commissioned artwork and merchandise, only available here, in doing so”.
Reception is the story of a group of friends from Leeds University who keep in touch over two decades of trials, tribulations, and receptions. Their stories are rooted in Gedge’s songs and the title is inspired by the name of The Wedding Present’s original record label, Reception Records.
Matt Aston: Artistic director of this summer’s Park Bench Theatre season at Rowntree Park, York, now working on a musical play inspired by his favourite band The Wedding Present. Picture: Livy Potter
The idea of doing such a musical has been brewing for writer/director Aston for several years. When he met Tony Ereira, director of the Come Play With Me and Clue Records record labels – where else but at a Wedding Present gig, in Leeds in early 2019 – the concept was batted around still further.
The concept of the play started to take shape, with the documentary nature of Gedge’s candid, darkly humorous song-writing in the never-ending minefield of love and loss, lovers and losers, longing and lost opportunity suited to transferring those anguished stories and their quotidian protagonists onto the stage.
As Gedge himself said in Gigslutz on August 24 2015: “I’m interested in the minutiae of relationships. I like to write about what actually happens, rather than some imaginary situation cloaked in metaphor, hence the references to the everyday, though I have been known to decorate the songs with science fiction or comic book references!”
Aston first saw The Wedding Present at Confettis nightclub in Derby in 1988. “So, you could say this musical is over 30 years in the making,” he says. “I’ll always be grateful to my older brother and his mates for taking his little 15-year-old brother to his first ever gig. I got a T-shirt, a set of badges and a nosebleed. Not to mention a new favourite band.”
How come Aston suffered a nosebleed? “I remember standing there, when the support band were on, and everyone was being very polite…and then…The Wedding Present came on and there was this huge surge. That’s when I got the nosebleed!” he recalls.
Gedge’s songs “really struck a chord” in Aston’s teenage days. “They are those difficult 15 to 19 years, and his lyrics really connected with me; his songs have stuck with me ever since. They’re just good songs – they’ve never got the recognition they deserve. They’re down-to-earth stories of love gone wrong and they’ve been there for me in both good times and dark times.”
Writer-director Matt Aston in a Wedding Present T-shirt – not the one from 32 years ago! – in rehearsals with actor Chris Hannon for Park Bench Theatre’s production of Samuel Beckett’s First Love. Picture: Northedge Photography
Aston elaborates on their suitability for a musical play: “I’ve always felt there was something very theatrical about David’s songs. The storytelling, the arrangements, the anguish,” he says. “And, as proven with Cinerama’s 2012 re-recording of The Wedding Present’s Valentina album, they have the flexibility to be arranged in a number of different, epic and dramatic ways. Although the show will, of course, still have plenty of fast guitars too!”
Attending a Cinerama concert five years ago affirmed that conviction. “They did this gig with a 15-piece orchestra and I thought, ‘these are musical theatre songs’; that’s what will work on stage,” says Matt. “‘The show will connect with fans, but people who are not Wedding Present fans will connect with the songs too, making for a good show, a new musical story rather than a typical jukebox musical’.”
Aston and Ereira put the idea to Gedge, along with an early synopsis for the story, and never one to shy away from a new medium to present his work, Gedge was equally excited to explore the idea further.
“With this crowdfunder campaign, we are looking to raise initial funding to get a first draft of the script written, some artwork and branding in place, and to start preparing for a period of research and development in early 2021 to road test our ideas – Covid-19 permitting – with a group of actors/musicians and some brand new material from David,” says Matt.
“Once I get down to writing the script in full, it will become clear whether and where new songs may be required. When we met up, David he said he’d be happy to get writing for the show, and it will be exciting to have new David Gedge work in there.”
Aston anticipates working on the script over the next six months. “There’s just huge potential for this show,” he enthuses. “The intention is to be in a position to premiere the musical in Leeds in 2022 and then do a small tour after that, hopefully taking it to Brighton, where David now lives.
“This crowdfunding campaign is a chance for fans to get involved from the beginning with a bunch of rewards that are all exclusive to this production, including specially commissioned artwork from Lee Thacker, illustrator of David’s autobiography, Tales From The Wedding Present.”
To support the project, go to: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/reception-the-musical
David Gedge: Creative consultant for a new musical based around his songs for The Wedding Present
DO you have a gift for a Wedding Present project?
To explain, a crowdfunder campaign is being launched to support the creation of a musical based on the songs of David Gedge’s “semi-legendary“ Leeds group and John Peel favourites, The Wedding Present…with “some brand new material” from Gedge too.
The driving force behind Reception, The Wedding Present Musical, is York writer, theatre director and Engine House Theatre artistic director Matt Aston, fresh from mounting this summer’s season of Park Bench Theatre monologues in the Friends Garden at Rowntree Park.
Gedge, who turned 60 in April, will be the creative consultant for a show that will incorporate his songs for both The Wedding Present and Cinerama, plus the aforementioned new material, targeting 2022 for a Leeds premiere.
The crowdfunder campaign “gives fans the opportunity to get involved at the very beginning of an exciting journey – and pick up a bunch of specially commissioned artwork and merchandise, only available here, in doing so”.
Matt Aston: Artistic director of this summer’s Park Bench Theatre season at Rowntree Park, York, now working on a musical play inspired by his favourite band The Wedding Present. Picture: Livy Potter
Reception is the story of a group of friends from Leeds University who keep in touch over two decades of trials, tribulations, and receptions. Their stories are rooted in Gedge’s songs and the title is inspired by the name of The Wedding Present’s original record label, Reception Records.
The idea of doing such a musical has been brewing for writer/director Aston for several years. When he met Tony Ereira, director of the Come Play With Me and Clue Records record labels – where else but at a Wedding Present gig, in Leeds in early 2019 – the concept was batted around still futher.
The concept of the play started to take shape, with the documentary nature of Gedge’s candid, darkly humorous song-writing in the never-ending minefield of love and loss, lovers and losers, longing and lost opportunity suited to transferring those anguished stories and their quotidian protagonists on to the stage.
As Gedge himself said in Gigslutz on August 24 2015: “I’m interested in the minutiae of relationships. I like to write about what actually happens, rather than some imaginary situation cloaked in metaphor, hence the references to the everyday, though I have been known to decorate the songs with science fiction or comic book references!”
“I first saw The Wedding Present in Derby in 1988, so you could say this musical is over 30 years in the making,” says Matt. “I’ll always be grateful to my older brother and his mates for taking his little 15-year-old brother to his first ever gig.
Writer-director Matt Aston in a Wedding Present T-shirt in rehearsals with actor Chris Hannon for Park Bench Theatre’s production of Samuel Beckett’s First Love. Picture: Northedge Photography
“I got a T-shirt, a set of badges and a nosebleed. Not to mention a new favourite band. I’ve always felt there was something very theatrical about David’s songs. The storytelling, the arrangements, the anguish.
“And, as proven with Cinerama’s re-recording of The Wedding Present’s Valentina album, they have the flexibility to be arranged in a number of different, epic and dramatic ways. Although the show will, of course, still have plenty of fast guitars too!”
Aston and Ereira put the idea to Gedge, along with an early synopsis for the story, and, never one to shy away from a new medium to present his work, Gedge was equally excited to explore the idea further.
“With this crowdfunder campaign, we are looking to raise initial funding to get a first draft of the script written, some artwork and branding in place, and to start preparing for a period of research and development in early 2021 to road test our ideas – Covid-19 permitting – with a group of actors/musicians and some brand new material from David,” says Matt.
“The intention is to be in a position to premiere the musical in Leeds in 2022 – and this campaign is a chance for fans to get involved from the beginning with a bunch of rewards that are all exclusive to this production, including specially commissioned artwork from Lee Thacker, illustrator of David’s autobiography, Tales From The Wedding Present.”
To support the project, go to: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/reception-the-musical
