“ WE ARE SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON …”
“ WE ARE SUCH STUFF AS DREAMS ARE MADE ON …”
Born on the Wirral , Open Hand Productions Artistic Director , Dr David Crilly , talks about living the dream and bringing a new Pink Floyd show to the Floral Pavilion .
Who or what is Open Hand Productions ? The Company has been in operation since 1988 and our main annual event is The Cambridge Shakespeare Festival , which produces eight fully-staged Shakespeare productions in the gardens of the Cambridge University Colleges each July and August . Throughout the rest of the year we produce a number of music shows , including MOTHERSHIP – Led Zeppelin tribute , COURT AND SPARK – the Joni Mitchell Songbook , and our current production , ECLIPSE – the Pink Floyd Experience .
What is the focus of the Company ? Well there are two answers to that question . On the one hand – quite simply - we strive to produce the best quality performances we can . The Shakespeare Festival was listed fourth in the Independent on Sunday ’ s ‘ Top 50 UK Arts Festivals ’ and our music events pay enormous attention to detail . We have a fantastic team of musicians and our standards are second to none . When people come to our shows they know they ’ ll be getting as close as possible to the sound world of the original artists we cover . The Company has a charitable focus , too , and we ’ ve raised ( so far ) £ 97,400 for St John ’ s Hospice on the Wirral and the Children ’ s Hospice in Cambridge . The real answer to the question , though , is that we do what we do because we really enjoy it – and that ’ s something that is very obvious in performance . In the seventies ( when I was a teenager ) I would go and see and listen to Led Zeppelin , Joni Mitchell and Pink Floyd . Now I get to live the dream and get up on fantastic stages like that at the Floral Pavilion and play the music of my youth . It ’ s fantastic fun !
Pink Floyd and Shakespeare seem miles apart . How did that happen ? I was born in Birkenhead and grew up on the Wirral , but ended up at the University of Oxford taking a D . Phil in Music before spending twenty six years as a university lecturer in Cambridge – coincidentally at the same college that Pink Floyd ’ s Dave Gilmour and Syd Barratt attended as Art students in the sixties . As a teenager I was a rock / blues player on the local scene , but moved South and spent a quarter of a
century lecturing on twentieth-century classical music before returning to my roots and the local music scene . It ’ s been quite a journey going full circle , and I left academia a few years ago to concentrate on performance .
Where do the performers come from ? All the players in ECLIPSE – the Pink Floyd Experience will be wellknown to your readers . Jade Thunder , Vicky Abban-Laybourne and Frank Ryan ( on vocals and guitar ) front the show . They ’ re all great singers and their voices blend wonderfully . Jade has been performing around the North-West for many years with artists including Captain Beefheart ’ s Magic Band , The Undertakers , The Christians and Connie Lush . Vicky ’ s background is funk and rock and she was formally singer with Freak Out ! Frank is multi-talented and plays in several bands , including Dr Strangelove . The driving force of the band is its rhythm section , made up of Martin Byrne on bass ( and vocals ) and Daz Jones on drums . Martin has probably played with every major artist in the North West and Daz is an exceptional talent . The signature sound of Pink Floyd , though , is undoubtedly its myriad keyboard sounds , and Toni Hughes has researched each one meticulously to reproduce them exactly . At times it ’ s hard to distinguish what the band are playing from the original recordings ! The line-up is completed by myself on guitar and backing vocals and the excellent Steve Riley on sax .
What can your audience expect at the Floral Pavilion in October ? Our Pink Floyd show is about as spectacular as it comes ! The light show promises to be stunning , and that is supported by a full laser show and projection onto the ubiquitous large , circular screen . Musically the performance will include classics from The Wall , Wish You Were Here and Division Bell . My favourite part of the show is the second half , in which we celebrate 45 years of the Dark Side of the Moon by playing the album in full .
Where can readers get more details ? Tickets range between £ 19.50 and £ 15.50 ( concessions ) and are available through the Pavilion website : www . floralpavilion . com or by phone on 0151 666 0000 . The band website is www . eclipsefloyd . com and we welcome people to join us on Facebook . wirrallife . com 25