Across The Wall The Musical
Across The Wall The Musical - Originators
Our Creators
Across The Wall is a musical which originated from an idea by the composer Alan Hawkshaw. He met the writer David Soames and at their first meeting, Alan shared his idea about a man and a woman who are in love but separated by a wall and never meet until the end of the musical.
Alan played him several of the songs and David was excited by the idea and immediately said that they should call the Musical 'Berlin.' David then wrote a treatment where the musical was set in Berlin one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The settings for the musical would be the bars and cafes and the East and West Berlin Opera Companies. David then started working on the book for the show, Alan wrote the music, and the lyrics were written by both Alan and David. Additional Italian operatic lyrics were written by Jeanne Madsen. Eventually they agreed on a new title for the Musical and it is now called 'Across The Wall'.
What began as an idea emerged as a heart felt, beautiful musical, which was produced with a 60-piece orchestra at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London as a narrated concert. The actor Paul Nicholas narrated the story and several talented West End performers, such as John Owen Jones, Celia Graham, Jim Graeme, Holly-Anna Lloyd, and from America, Nathan Pacheco on stage, performed the story and songs from
'Across The Wall'.
Here is the background of the creative team:
Alan Hawkshaw was awarded the Ivor Novello award for Best Film Score for 'The Silent Witness'. Also The American Academy of Arts & Sciences best arrangement of 'I Honestly Love You' for Olivia Newton-John. In addition Hawkshaw was nominated for Best TV score for the series 'Love Hurts' and in 2008 was awarded The Gold Badge Award from BASCA for services to the industry.
Hawkshaw has composed songs for a variety of international stars such as Barbra Streisand; 'Why Let It Go' with lyrics written by Alan & Marilyn Bergman and Barry Mason. Other artists Hawkshaw has composed for include Marty Webb, Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, Lulu, and Olivia Newton-John.
He has also worked with such artists as: David Bowie, The Shadows, Catherine Deneuve, Cilla Black, Donovan, Ella Fitzgerald, Englebert Humperdink, Geoff Wayne, Isabel Adjani, Jane Birkin, Serge Gainsboroug, Sacha Distel and Shirley Bassey.
TV series include Love Hurts, Arthur C. Clarkes Mysterious Universe, Dave Allen at Large, Grange Hill, Countdown, Channel 4 News and a whole list of drama series, sit-coms and TV and Film Movies.
Hawkshaw has collaborated with top lyricists Don Back, Alan & Marylin Bergman, Barry Mason and Geoff Stevens.
Supporting young musicians also was a passion for Hawkshaw and his foundation The Alan Hawkshaw Foundation is now in its eighth year with students at The Leeds College of Music and at the National Film & Television School.
Alan was delighted to be working with Theatre and Film Screenwriter David Soames, on their exciting collaboration of the Musical Across The Wall.
Sadly,
Alan passed away on October 16th, 2021.
David attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama for three years to study to be an actor. On leaving drama college, he appeared in many stage productions and theatres around England including 10 Shakespeare plays where he played Toby Belch in 'Twelfth Night', Cordelia and the Fool in 'King Lear', Touchstone in 'As You Like It'. He also appeared in several TV shows such as 'The Bill', 'Thick As Thieves' and played Keats in 'Keats The Poet'.
He wrote the book and most of the lyrics for the hit Musical 'TIME' which starred Cliff Richard and Lord Laurence Olivier, and which ran for 2 years at the Dominion Theatre in London. Other musicals include 'A Tale Of Two Cities' with David Pomeranz and Steven David Horwich and 'Blockbuster' which featured the songs of Nicki Chinn and Mike Chapman, two of the most successful songwriters of the 70’s and 80’s.
David’s songs have been recorded by Freddie Mercury, Cliff Richard, Dionne Warwick and Jimmy Helms. David has completed two further Musicals in the past several years. The first being, 'Across The Wall', for which he has co-written with Ivor Novello Award winner Alan Hawkshaw. 'Across The Wall' was performed at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London as a Narrated Concert with a 60-piece-orchestra and a star-studded cast from London’s West End. David has written the book for his latest musical 'Fallen Angel' with music and lyrics by the International singer/songwriter Chris de Burgh. Along with Steven David Horwich he has written a 10 part drama series 'Through These Eyes' with a soundtrack by Chris de Burgh. He has recently completed a new play 'Remember Remember' and a further Musical Play 'Second Chance' with 3 characters, 10 songs and 1 set (a Producers dream).