Drew McOnie is currently preparing to premiere the first production from The McOnie Company. The theatre-dance revue, entitled Drunk, premieres at the Leicester Curve Theatre on Tuesday 28th January before transferring to London’s Bridewell Theatre from Wednesday 5th February 2014.
The show features a brand new score by Grant Olding who is best known for composing the live music in the National Theatre’s production of One Man, Two Guvnors for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Score and won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Score.
Drew is fast becoming one of the UK’s most sought after choreographic talents. Last year he collaborated with Matthew Bourne on an original piece for the Coronation Festival Gala at Buckingham Palace, broadcast on BBC1, and also choreographed Chicago at the Leicester Curve Theatre to huge critical acclaim.
His other recent credits include: West Side Story for NYMT at Victoria Warehouse, 13 directed by Jason Robert Brown at the Apollo Theatre, Laurel and Hardy at the Watermill Theatre, Kiss of the Spider Woman at Arts Educational School and the UK Tour of James and the Giant Peach. Drew created his first major dance piece Making Midnight at Jermyn Street Theatre in 2012 which was revived at last year’s Latitude Festival. This year he is working with the National Youth Ballet to film a new dance feature film Out of Step.
Recently I spoke to Drew about developing Drunk, the huge success of Chicago and what's next for The McOnie Company...
How are you feeling ahead of Drunk’s premiere?
I’m flipping between nervous and excited at a very quick pace. When I’m in the studio with the dancers and the music I’m ridiculously excited, a little bit uncontrollably so, but then when I get home and I’m on my own sitting with schedules I start to get a little bit nervous, only because what we are doing is very important to me and makes me feel quite vulnerable as it is the first time my company and my name have been put forward in this way. It is terrifying but the vibe within the company is very exciting and that whips me up into quite a frenzy!
