NMT stands for New Musical Theatre and readers of Arts page were appraised of this young, talented corps for August 2014’s ‘When Midnight Strikes’. Led by company founders Michael Young and Aaron Barriscale, both Cork School of Music trained, Limerick’s 69 O’Connell Street was host to this zinging Ireland premier. It was a complicated scene of musical beds set in millennium New Year at a Manhattan cocktail party. Terrific stuff, high octane confusion, romance and revelation.
The unfunded NMT is back at this venue on Friday August 14 and Saturday 15 with ‘LIFT’; Sarah Cahill directs, Michael Young is musical director. ‘The Voice of Ireland’ candidate Niall O’Halloran is one of a cast of eight along with Muireann Carr and other names known for their work with musical societies in the Mid West.
With technical costs alone running to €4,000, ‘LIFT’ is another bold, ambitious target. But then Young won the Cork School of Music Best Event gong for ‘Carrie’ this year before going on to take the national BICS for Best Event with the same production.
On to ‘LIFT’. As with NMT’s last outing, the story smacks of urban living, challenged lives and a concentrated time trap.
“It’s quite a different show to last year’s,” Young makes clear. “Musically it is difficult and the show virtually takes place in a lift – the cast of eight are all in the lift for the majority of the time. The story of the show is [action] over 60 seconds, in Covent Garden tube station where the underground is so deep, you have to take the lift”.
Their respective histories begins to unravel through storytelling set to complex musicality, told through the eyes and songs of a busker. There are two office workers who know each other, a male dancer, a French teacher, “quite a diverse cross section of people”. Being strangers to each other is pivotal to this sung exploration of connection/ not.
“Scenes take place, fragments of their individual lives, from outdoors or scenes in a club but physically, we see them in the lift”. The busker is definitive character, obsessed with a girl he is or is not involved with and the repetitive riff of “the last lyric” becomes more than just a line.
Parallel with his Masters in Piano, Michael Young graduated a while back into professional freelance directing and is in demand. “The music and the lyrics are very attractive me”, he says of this risk.” ‘LIFT’ is very modern and played with electric guitar, bass, piano and drums. The lyrics and harmonies are contemporary, absolutely strong with people telling their stories at the same time”.
Anticipate split-second timing, confident singers and chemistry to fuel the chorus. Booking through Lime Tree for 69 O’Connell Street on 061-774774 for August 14 and 15 at 8pm.
