“I Had to Be a Part of it!”:
An Interview with Chris Lewis
Chris: I play the part of Holly in ”She” and I also play two characters in “Alchemy” - Milosh, the gang leader, and Thomas Anzeray, the alchemist himself, which is also a great part.
What are you musical backgrounds?
Chris: I started getting involved in music, as most people, in my teenage years with various rock bands. I ended up doing some recording work in London with Mr Robert John Godfrey. The music that we did back then became precursor to the Enid. Out of this cooperation “Fall of the Hyperion” album was born and released in 1974. After that it was very peaceful period for me until late years when I got involved with the music teacher in the area that I live, Dorothy Frances. She trained my voice up and started getting me involved in various charity shows. Then I was invited to join the cast of the musicals by Clive Nolan. When we begin, I didn’t really get a full picture of it all. I certainly knew about the bands Clive was in, Arena and Pendragon, as I’ve always liked progressive rock music, but I’ve never seen them live, so, that was my first encounter with Clive. I was asked to get auditioned for a certain song in the musical called “She” as an understudy to the character of Holly as they needed somebody with quite a high range, which I was able to achieve. I was told at that time it was a relatively small part, but it turned out to be a rather large part with some great songs. This musical by Clive is an amazing piece and when I actually heard the music, it was no brainer – I had to be a part of it! Subsequently I’ve been promoted to be a principle in the current show that we are staging, again playing the part of Holly. In the meantime, Clive invited me to be a part of his second musical, “Alchemy” staged several times both in England and other countries. In “Alchemy” I play the part of a gang leader, Milosh, and the part of Thomas Anzeray, where I’ve got a huge vocal piece at the end of the show.
What Caamora memory do you treasure most?
Chris: One of the best memories is doing the London Off-West End shows. That was a really good experience – I thoroughly enjoyed that! What’s best about the Caamora Company is the people involved in the whole operation. Apart from Clive’s amazing writing talents, he’s also got a knack of gathering really nice bunch of people around him and the group we are currently working with is more like a family.
What is your favourite character in Clive’s musicals?
Chris: Fun-wise, it’s got to be Lord Henry Jagman, whom I understudied and played in one of the shows. It’s just a great part that you can throw yourself into from whatever direction and he would shine, if you do it with enough enthusiasm. It’s a great character- arrogant, mean and brutal. There’s also a soft, cuddly part that you can persuade your audience to adhere to until all his meanness come out. And again, he comes to a sticky end – Clive does like his deaths here and there.
I suppose the other part that I really like is Holly in “She”. Not only because it’s a bigger part, but because pretty much everything that Clive wrote for this part is fantastic. It is difficult to come up with a conclusive statement on what I would consider to be my favourite character. They are all great roles.
How are the rehearsals going?
Chris: Rehearsals for “She” are shaping up nicely especially thanks to the director, Ian Baldwin, who is an extremely talented guy. The way he plans stuff and how he visualises how the scenes should come together is really clever. He’s put a lot of colour into the production and he does draw the best out of people for translation of characters. We’re really lucky in this respect. And the rehearsals are really good fun. I’m lucky to live in the house where we can accommodate a lot of people and we have a big carport. I never forget Clive turning up and pointing to it saying “Hmm… rehearsals!”. So that is the place where we rehearse and it is really good fun. My lovely wife, Maggi, busies herself with food and drinks for everybody looking after everybody’s wants and needs, which I’m eternally grateful for. So, rehearsals are shaping up really nicely, they are great fun and I’m looking forward to doing more.
What are the plans for the future?
Chris: Clive, being the sort of person that he is, will always write and produce music, so, if I get the opportunity to be involved in anything he writes in the future, I’m happy to do that. As for the nearest future, we have this wonderful September event coming up. During “The Fire and the Quest” we will perform “She”, the acoustic concert next day and then “Alchemy” in the evening. One of the upcoming highlights for me is that in the acoustic session I’m being given the opportunity to sing on stage with Alan Reed. I was an understudy to his part and that’s how it all started. I listened to his voice thousand times learning the songs and never ever tired of it. He’s got a fantastic voice and I really do admire him and his work. To actually be invited to sing on stage with him, has got to be one of the highlights of my musical career. I’m looking forward to it very much and I’m very very happy to be sharing stage with Alan Reed.
Interview by Magdalena Grabias
August 2015
Photo by Ron Milsom
http://clivenolan.net/
http://shethemusical.com/
http://www.alchemythemusical.com/
http://shop.caamora.net
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