Big Interview: Craig Adams

Craig Adams’ new musical Thérèse Raquin, based on the classic French novel, opens tonight at the Finborough Theatre.

Craig (music) has adapted Émile Zola’s novel for the stage with Nona Shepphard (book and lyrics). The production features a stellar cast, including Julie Atherton (LIFT/Avenue Q) and Ben Lewis (Candide/Australian production of Love Never Dies).

Craig is a composer, lyricist, and arranger. He was the Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer at the Finborough Theatre, facilitated by Mercury Musical Developments and Musical Theatre Network UK. 

His first musical LIFT, developed in association with Perfect Pitch, received its world premiere at Soho Theatre in February 2013 and received an Off Broadway run in November 2013. The show was ranked #2 in West End Frame’s top ten shows of 2013.

Craig’s other writing credits include: DEFECT (as part of Vibrant 2013 – A Festival of Finborough Playwrights at the Finborough Theatre), 101 Dalmatians (The Castle, Wellingborough), Ghosts Of The Past and The Watchers (YMT:UK), Ballet People (The Place), Battlement (Vanbrugh Theatre), Let Him Have Justice (Cochrane Theatre), Spell, The Frog Prince (Wimbledon Studio Theatre and Edinburgh Festival) and Alice in Wonderland (Edinburgh Festival and tour). 

He is currently working an adaptation of the Terry Pratchett novel Soul Music for YMT:UK, and a dance piece based on acclaimed children’s book Bob Robber and Dancing Jane entitled Shadowthief which will premiere in summer 2014. 

Recently I spoke to Craig about why he decided to write Thérèse Raquin, the overwhelming success of LIFT and the state of new writing… 

How have you felt over the past few weeks with the build up to the opening of Thérèse Raquin?

Very nervous… [laughs] really nervous! It’s a really hard show; the subject matter is hard anyway because the book is very naturalistic. It doesn’t centre itself on emotion; it’s about how people deal with the story. When writing the music it was hard to not wallow in the emotion, it has to be more of a commentary. The score is really, really tricky – the cast have done a phenomenal job. It’s been hard but rewarding work!

Julie Atherton, Ben Lewis and Tara Hugo

When and why did you decide you wanted to write Thérèse Raquin?

Funnily enough I was given the book in 1999 by a friend of mine. She said, “you’ve got to read this book, you’ll love it” and I was blown away. The central character, Thérèse Raquin, doesn’t speak for the first quarter of the book, and then suddenly when she starts to have this horrid affair with this guy her husband introduces her to she suddenly just opens her mouth and this outpouring of emotion happens. When I read it I had to close the book because I was so excited by it! For me it was a piece which instantly sang. That was the starting point and then it was literally a case of strange coincidences, like I was in a play which was written by Nona (Shepphard) who has adapted the book and written the lyrics. One day I told her about this fantastic book I had read. We got talking about it and she had always wanted to work on a musical. That’s where it all stemmed from, it’s all been happening from around 2002 – it has been ten or eleven years in the making on and off!

How involved have you been with rehearsals?

Well I’m not MD-ing it – I’m not even supervising really - I’m kind of overseeing things. We’ve got a brilliant MD called James Simpson who is an Australian guy. He’s in it as well as playing the piano, it’s just a piano because it’s a really small space and we didn’t want it to be overpowered. A lot of the orchestrations come from the vocal arrangements. We thought it was a good idea to really strip it back and make it as eerie as possible; it’s quite an eerie story. I’ve been in and out of rehearsals which I think is healthy, you’ve got to let the cast discover it for themselves. It’s really nice because it’s completely different from LIFT as I’m not there all the time. The show is completely different from LIFT in every other way possible as well, they couldn’t be any more different!

What do you think audiences can expect?

I think those who haven’t read the book and don’t know the story will hear a brilliant story which people really need to know. They might not expect to, but I think they’ll laugh and I think they’ll be moved. Also, they might question themselves about selfishness. The story is about our obsession with ourselves and our own lives. Hopefully they’ll come away humming a little bit of the music. I’m not promising you’ll be able to hum all of it because some parts are quite tricky [laughs]. It’s really interesting because I hope people who know the story will enjoy seeing how we’ve adapted it. I think we’ve taken it on a really different journey from all the adaptations I’ve read. Also there are some stunning people in the cast. Julie Atherton is like… I mean… I’ve known and worked with her for years and she’s a phenomenal actress and this is a really good part for her because she’s known for her comedy but this is a really serious, very dramatic role. Ben Lewis, who’s playing Laurent and was in the Australian production of Love Never Dies, has this incredible, massive, beautiful voice which just soars. It has been really exciting to see the piece brought to life so brilliantly. 

 Ben Lewis, Tara Hugo, Matt Wilman and Julie Atherton

As you mentioned you have known and worked with Julie for years and years, why do you think the two of you get on and work so well together?

I think it’s because we have 50/50 fun and work. We can have fun, get drunk and be stupid, but also we love and are serious about theatre – we love really good theatre and love really good writing. We look back and think about how something can inspire an audience or move an audience – that’s the key. When we were at college together we’d spend evenings until 3 in the morning when we were listening to Tori Amos and then we’d have a good laugh. Also she really is a phenomenal actress, sometimes I think, “where did that come from?” because I find her opened quality so inspiring. It’s amazing to be working with her again, especially on such a different piece.

How do you sit down and write a musical? What is your preferred method?

I always think the lyrics are the most important part of the song, so the melody usually comes from the lyric. I think a melody should always by inspired by a lyric, that’s how I like to work. I also like an element of locking myself away in a room on my own with a piano with words and discovering it myself. I enjoy collaboration, but after I have done a little bit of my own work. What I love about rehearsals is the collaboration – the aspect of discovering the theatricality of it and what can be changed. That’s happening a lot on this because it’s a new piece.

Julie Atherton in LIFT

Obviously I have to mention LIFT which I still love. What was the whole experience like for you? Was it a little overwhelming?

It was! It was a really, really strange period for me. Putting on your own work is really strange, the dream is, ‘Oh my god seeing your work come to life is amazing’, but the reality is that it’s really hard work. It’s draining because you put all your energy into it. LIFT was the first thing I had produced, it had lived in me for ten years and then suddenly I realised, ‘s**t, people are going to hear this! People are going to judge this!’ It’s really quite terrifying! I distinctly remember the weekend of press night. I remember press night on the Friday night and then reading the reviews on the Saturday and there were such polarised views about it. That weekend we played to four full houses and I just remember so clearly sitting in front of the score and judging it as I was playing thinking ‘people have said this and that about me’ and ‘oh my god they don’t understand me’ and ‘only some of them get me’ – it was a really surreal moment for me. On one hand it was phenomenal but on the other it was really, really difficult having something I’d lived with for so long being judged! It was the incredible response on Twitter which really saved it.

What are your thoughts on the state of new writing? I think we’re getting better at supporting new writing and obviously there are amazing people and organisations like Perfect Pitch who do incredible work – but commercial West End shows are very much dominated by jukebox musicals and from screen to stage adaptations… 

Like you said, I do think we’re getting better. I think there’s a real change in the air, I can really feel it. Loads of things have taken off for me and, although it isn’t commercial stuff at the moment, you’ve got to prove your worth before someone is going to take a big risk on you. Ten years ago there wasn’t a support network so those new writers who would have existed then, and would still be writing now, don’t exist. Their shows would be in the West End now – like Andrew Lippa and Jason Robert Brown who have shows on Broadway. But now that support network does exist, my generation of new writers will fill those shoes and become the people who are asked to write the music for the next big film that’s turned into a musical. I think those things will happen, it just takes time and it’s bubbling under the surface at the moment, it really is. There are some phenomenal writers out there who are really, really dedicated and who are really, really pushing boundaries. I think it will just take that one person to have one big hit, and then it will take off. I’ve written a commercial show called Defect. It’s a big show with a cast of twenty-four and nobody will take me seriously about it, no producer will take it seriously, although I know it could be a bit of a cult hit. That’s why we’re taking it to Arts Ed and doing it as their third year show next June. It gives us the chance to show the potential of the piece, people can see and hear it as it could be – and I think that may be the way in for upcoming composers. It may be that we have to go through that route so people can see the show and then suddenly those big jobs that we all know we can do will come. I mean, thank god for Perfect Pitch because without them I wouldn’t be sat here talking to you, putting on my second show a year after LIFT’s runs in London and New York! Their support has been absolutely vital!

You have built up so much support from audiences, what’s it like having that behind you?

It’s phenomenal and without that support I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing so I can’t be more grateful! Even on a down day, when I’m writing something really tricky, someone might send a Tweet something like, ‘just sang one of your songs’ or ‘I loved listening to this song’ and it’s just so lovely! There is a reason why we do this – the audience. We want to create work which is seen. The audiences and fans are the most important people, without them there wouldn’t be any writing. We write to move people, we write to inspire people and we write to tell people stories. It’s a fantastic feeling and I’m very lucky that people have really taken to my work. Long may it continue and long may I continue to turn out things that people really love! It’s really inspiring for me that there are people out there who ‘get’ my work! 

Interviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)

Thérèse Raquin runs at the Finborough Theatre until Saturday 19th April 2014.

Please visit www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk for further information and tickets.

Read our recent interviews with LIFT cast members Julie Atherton, Cynthia Erivo and Nikki Davis-Jones

Visit Craig’s website: www.craigadamsmusic.com

Photo Credit 2-4: Darren Bell

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