(GayWebSource.com – Gay News & Press Network) – Posted by Jake Simpson – TheGayUK.com
The phrase “back due to popular demand” is one which is often over used and over exaggerated, but in the case of Miss Nightingale, a 1940’s set Burlesque musical, it could not be more true. The show enjoyed a popular run in the West End last year before embarking on a national tour. Following glowing reviews from the media and a reaction from audiences which saw them fall in love with the show, multi-talented Matthew Bugg – the writer, composer, musical director, musician, actor and dancer – is taking Miss Nightingale on tour again.
By Paul Szabo |27th March 2014
The show follows the story of Maggie, a feisty cabaret performer, and her gay Jewish songwriter, George as they try to catch their big break. Maggie is thrown into the spotlight by Sir Frank Worthington-Blythe and becomes the toast of London. But behind the scenes, George and Frank fall in love in what is seen as a dangerous, illegal and unpatriotic relationship.
The show itself is termed as a burlesque musical which is set in the 1940’s, and features a perfect blend of cheeky, saucy, almost British seaside postcard humour, a tender, poignant and beautiful gay love story and a powerful and relevant political message about the persecution of gay men.
The tour starts on the 27the March 2014, visiting theatres in Ipswich, Doncaster, Birmingham, Mold, Leeds, Sheffield and Halifax. TGUK caught up with Matthew in a rare break in his hectic schedule.
TGUK – For those who missed the show last time round, can you tell us a little about the story?
MB – Miss Nightingale is an hilarious and heart-warming gay love story set in the smoky cabaret clubs of London in 1942 and it’s all about what you show under the spotlight and what gets hidden in the shadows. It tells the story of a northern songbird, Maggie Brown and her gay Jewish songwriter, George. They’re looking for their big break but no-one wants their act, until they are ‘picked up’ (in every sense of the words) by the handsome and charming Sir Frank. And he helps transform Maggie into ‘Miss Nightingale’ and her outrageous new act and scandalous love life, make her the toast of London society. But backstage the blossoming romance between the two men threatens to be more destructive than The Blitz!
TGUK – So, what has led to the decision to re-tour Miss Nightingale this year?
MB – It’s very simple really – audiences wanted to see it again and new venues wanted to programme it, so it would have been foolish not to tour it again. And after struggling for almost ten years to get the piece produced in the first place it’s absolutely amazing to suddenly find that audiences have taken ‘Miss Nightingale’ to their hearts.
TGUK – The show was critically successful, but what reaction did you get from the audiences in relation to the show?
MB – The audience response has been staggering. In fact, there has been times when I’ve been quite overwhelmed by how much audiences have loved it and the lovely things they said about it. We had some wonderful messages from people who came to the show, we had a mother saying that she’d come to the show with her newly out son and that it had been a really positive, joyous step in bringing them closer together. Another person wrote to say how it had reminded her of a friend in the 60s who had committed suicide because he couldn’t cope with being gay in a society that wouldn’t accept him and how important it was to keep telling stories like ‘Miss Nightingale’ so that people didn’t forget the danger of intolerance and discrimination. But what’s been really interesting is how varied people’s responses have been. Some people have said that ‘Miss Nightingale’ is the funniest thing they’ve ever seen and others said that it was so touching it moved them to tears. And others commented on how challenging it was. I’m really proud that so many different people have found so many different ways to enjoy the piece.
TGUK – You have made a number of changes to the show for this second tour. What changes have you made to the show and what impact have those changes had on the show itself?
MB – I’m an infamous tinkerer! I can’t leave the writing process alone. One of the brilliant things about performing in your own work is that you get to witness the audience’s response night after night so there is always more to learn. The script has been re-written to make it even tighter, funnier and more touching, but the biggest changes are with the music. At the end of the last tour we were approached by the National Fairground Archive at Sheffield University to become the flagship production for their 20th anniversary. The NFA is an astonishing collection of research covering all forms of popular entertainment including cabaret, burlesque and music hall so I’ve been a doing a lot of research into the authentic vintage performance styles. We’ve decided to do the entire show using only the technology available in the 1940s so we’ve cut all the radio mics and all the moving lights. This creates several challenges but it’s forcing me to be so much more inventive with the musical arrangements and it gives the piece an immediacy and intimacy which really draws the audience in.
TGUK – You have some exciting new changes to the cast. Who are you working with on this tour and how did you come to work with them?
MB – We are using several of the performers from the previous production but we’ve got a couple of new additions too. The biggest change is that the role of Maggie is now being played by Jill Cardo, who is not only a hugely talented actress and singer but also a first rate trumpeter. Audiences absolutely loved seeing actors who could also play instruments in the last production, but Jill really is something else. She is an amazing actress, singer and dancer, a brilliant comic and a fantastic instrumentalist. She can have you in fits of laughter one minute and then move you to tears the next. I hate her. She’s far too talented!
TGUK – What inspired you to write Miss Nightingale originally and how is its 1940’s message still relevant today?
MB – That’s a very complex question to answer, because there are so many reasons. I come from a very religious background – my Mum is a Methodist lay-preacher – and whilst my parents have always been incredibly loving and supportive the coming out process was not easy. As a family we had to go through a process of learning to live our lives with integrity, which was a challenge for all of us – and that’s what the piece is about. And that message is as relevant today as it ever was. It’s very easy to imagine that things will just keep getting better for gay people but even since the last tour in 2013 terrible things have happened in Russia, India, Uganda and elsewhere that remind us that we must stand up for what we believe in. That the fight for equal rights continues.
But ‘Miss Nightingale’ is also inspired by my husband’s granny who was an actress working in Berlin before the Second World War. She performed regularly on the Berlin cabaret circuit, working alongside amazing people like Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. She was fortunate enough to leave Berlin before the war but most of the rest of her family were killed in the concentration camps, so the piece is also dedicated to this extraordinary and inspiring woman.
TGUK – After this tour, what is next for Miss Nightingale?
MB – Well, we’ve had interest from a couple of American producers already, and that’s without us trying to push the piece at all in the States. So we’re arranging a trip to the USA in the Autumn to pursue opportunities over there. And given how hot the topic of equal marriage and gay rights are in America it seems like the ideal time for the story that ‘Miss Nightingale’ has to tell to be heard stateside.
TGUK – As a gay man, what has been your experience of working in the entertainment business and have you faced any particular challenges in the theatrical world?
MB – The entertainment business is probably one of the most open places to be working as an out gay man so I consider myself very lucky. I’ve faced more prejudice for being a Northerner than I have for being queer!
TGUK – You wrote the show, the music and the lyrics, all of which were based on original ideas. With the current trend for jukebox musicals, do you think that there needs to be more originality in British theatre?
MB – Definitely. I am incredibly frustrated by the current crop of mainstream British musicals. It just seems that as an art-form we’ve lost all confidence and we are only capable of making really safe choices. And the consequence of pursuing this course of unadventurous programming is that audiences are losing interest. I think as artists and producers we should treat our audience with more respect. People want to be entertained and to have a good time, but they also want to be challenged. In my opinion, theatre should always say something profound about the world we live in. That doesn’t mean that theatre needs to be serious – anyone who comes to see ‘Miss Nightingale’ will know that I love a bit of saucy silliness – but theatre should also make you think.
TGUK – It may be a difficult question, but which is your favourite musical and what is it about that particular show that makes you love it so much?
MB – It’s actually not a difficult question at all. I love Kander and Ebb’s ‘Cabaret’ and ‘Miss Nightingale’ definitely pays homage to that work in a very British way. The thing that I admire most about ‘Cabaret’ is the way the writers integrate their own political beliefs into a show without the audience feeling they are being preached at. The songs are staggeringly good and the whole musical is an exceptionally well-structured entertainment, but it’s also a really powerful, uncompromising piece of Art.
TGUK – You were involved in fundraising for the Women of Steel statue last year. What is that all about and how is the fundraising going?
MB – The Women of Steel is a fundraising project to commemorate the women who went to work in the factories during the First and Second World wars. These women worked incredibly long hours in very dangerous circumstances and yet never earned the same money as their male counterparts. And when the soldiers returned from the war, these women were all sent back to the kitchen to be housewives. Until now little has been done to officially acknowledge and celebrate these women or to commemorate their huge contribution to the War Effort. I think the issue of gender equality is one of the biggest challenges facing the world at present and it’s about time that men got involved in the challenges that Feminism faces which is why I decided we should use Miss Nightingale as an opportunity to help raise money for a statue to honour these amazing women. We raised more than £1,500 on the last tour and we are hoping to raise more on the next.
TGUK – And after the tour, what is the next musical project you are working on?
MB – I’m afraid that is top secret, but there are several projects in development at the moment. Watch this space…
Miss Nightingale is on tour from the 27th March 2014 to 3rd May 2014. You can visit the shows official website at www.missnightingale.co.uk for details. You can also visit Matthew’s website at http://www.matthewbugg.com/
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