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Souvenir Programme U.Me The Musical Narrated by Stephen Fry WORLD PREMIERE 12th May 2021 // Watch from 19:45 BST @ www.bbcworldservice.com/musical Listen from 20:06 // BBC World Service, DAB and BBC Sounds THE BOOK Simon Pitts and Theo Jamieson MUSIC & LYRICS Theo Jamieson MUSIC PRODUCTION Steve Levine CASTING Will Burton CDG MUSICAL DIRECTOR Jennifer Whyte ORCHESTRATION Callum Au & Theo Jamieson PROJECT MANAGER BBC PHILHARMONIC A Magnum Opus Broadcasting Production Beth Wells for the BBC World Service © DRAMATURGY Ali C Smith THE CAST U.Me Introduction More than 300 years BC, Aristotle was probably one of the first people to point out the wonderfully cathartic quality CONTENTS of every form of art; that ability it has to put our emotions through the wringer and leave us feeling comforted, Page uplifted and inspired. What would any of us have done during lockdown if it weren’t for the music, images and stories that Introduction By Stephen Fry 7 came into our homes to connect us to each other and give us hope? The Cast 8 Synopsis 9 Many of our storytellers were cut off from income streams during the pandemic, but leaving themselves vulnerable in Cast Bios 10 every way is something they’re used to. Many have continued Creative Team 14 to create, unpaid and in isolation, documenting these extraordinary times so that we, and those who come after, Contributor Credits 16 would be able to understand this moment in a way that is Special Thanks 22 truthful, universal and profound. Behind the Scenes 24 Our century-long love affair with audio storytelling has The Complete Lyrics 27 continued into the digital age, with broadcasting, podcasting, streaming and audiobooks reaching millions of ears every day, whoever we are and wherever we go. We each create our own movie of what we’re hearing in our minds, honing our imagination, and in turn allowing us to better innovate, adapt and empathise - attributes that are surely even more important right now than ever before. Stephen Fry 6 7 SYNOPSIS Act One The Cast Rose is working from home during the pandemic lockdown when she meets Ryo online. They find a shared passion and enjoy ROSE an unusual video date. Anoushka Lucas No Interval RYO Martin Sarreal Act Two As maid of honour, Rose makes the final KENJI preparations for her best friend Kevin Chen Alyssa’s epic internet wedding. Meanwhile, Ryo rushes to hospital in Kyoto. ALYSSA Nicole Deon No Interval HIROMI Act Three Michelle Yumiko Payne Ryo examines his own life, and the time he’s spent living other people’s priorities. Rose offers a most precious gift. 9 THE CAST ANOUSHKA. // MARTIN. LUCAS // SARREAL @s Rose @s Ryo Anoushka Lucas was raised in a big Born in Malaysia to Portugese-Filipino and French-Cameroonian-Anglo-Indian family, Chinese parents, Martin Sarreal is an actor and studied Russian and Italian at Oxford. and fi lmmaker. He grew up in Hong Kong She starred as Mary Magdalene in Jesus before heading to drama school in London. Christ Superstar at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, as well as appearing in Faces in He has trodden the boards at the Crowd, Chiaroscuro and Sparks. Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre, as well as playing roles in Sin Infl uenced by Carole King, Zadie Smith, Amy and Romeo and Juliet. He has appeared Winehouse and Billie Holiday, Anoushka has in music videos and fi lms such as Toof been writing songs since the age of 14, and and The Dew. her music has been championed by BBC Radio 2 and Jazz FM, with her debut album Martin learnt valuable lessons during the Dark Soul released in 2019. She has pandemic: fi rstly, that the novelty of cycling composed original scores for major touring everywhere wears off quickly; secondly, theatre productions, winning an award for that running in the great outdoors is Best Musical at the Edinburgh fringe. more fun than he thought; and thirdly, that it’s important to be kind to each Her lockdown highlights include a Christmas other. He learnt this when he got locked of rom-coms in pyjamas with family, long down with a brand new housemate strolls in the rain, nocturnal phone calls aft er just one week; luckily, due to a with Stateside friends and watching shared quirky sense of humour, they Buff y with her sister. still get on very well. 10 11 © Michael Shelford © Michael Shelford THE CAST MICHELLE. YUMIKO PAYNE // @s Hiromi Michelle Yumiko Payne is a Japanese- Australian entertainer who lives in Tokyo. She has presented on Japanese television and on HBO. As a singer she has performed on stages and screens all over the world, and she has recorded with artists including Robbie NICOLE. Williams. Experiencing the pandemic with her housemates has made them like family. DEON // @s Alyssa Originally from Manchester, Nicole Deon trained at the Hammond School, and her work KEVIN. includes roles in Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Miracle on 34th Street at the Liverpool SHEN // Everyman and West Side Story with the Estonian National Opera. During lockdown @s Kenji she ended up living with her parents, but was delighted to fi nd that they got along like best London-based Kevin Shen’s previous theatre friends. She loves hot baths with bath bombs, credits include Paper Dolls, Snow in is learning Spanish on an app, and loves the Midsummer with the RSC and Yellow Face rollercoaster of life as an actress. Her motto? at the National Theatre. He has also worked You have to do what sets your soul on fi re, in television, in shows like Criminal Minds so be persistent and believe in yourself. and Eastenders, and fi lms like A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby. During lockdown he has rediscovered a love for playing the guitar and the piano, done some balcony gardening, recreated his favourite restaurant meals and gone a little carb crazy. He also hopes that the virtual movie-watching sessions that he has been enjoying with friends all over the © Luce Newman-Williams globe continue post-pandemic. 13 © Sam Mackay the CAST CREATIVE TEAM THEO. STEVE. JAMIESON LEVINE composer music producer Theo Jamieson is an award-winning Award-winning producer Steve Levine composer, lyricist, musical director and pianist. produced Culture Club’s classic hits and all He has worked on Everybody’s Talking About three of their multi-platinum albums. Other Jamie, The Wild Party, Funny Girl, High Society, artist collaborations include Lemmy & Here Lies Love and Treasure Island, and was the Motorhead, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Mis-Teeq, piano soloist in the Opera North orchestra for 911, the Clash and the Beach Boys. The Light in the Piazza. He has developed He produces and presents the acclaimed musicals at the National Theatre and Theatre show The Record Producers for BBC Radio 2 Royal Stratford East, and his classical and BBC 6 Music. Recent sessions include the compositions have been performed by the debut album for Hushtones and music for the St Paul’s Sinfonia and the English National video game HyperBrawl with Apple Arcade. Ballet Orchestra. He was recently made an He is a director of PRS for music, and a LIPA Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, Companion. During lockdown, he enjoyed the and spent lockdown learning to complete Tiger King zeitgeist and a well-timed video a Rubik’s cube in under three minutes. call with his friend Boy George. © Paul Nicholas Dyke © Paul © Rosie Levine © Rosie STEPHEN. SIMON. FRY PITTS narrator creator ‘U.Me’ Stephen Fry is an English actor, writer, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director. Simon Pitts lives in London, and looks after He formed a double act with Hugh Laurie after arts, music and drama radio and digital meeting him in the Cambridge Footlights, and programming at the BBC World Service. together they wrote and co-starred in A Bit of He has worked as an editor, producer and Fry & Laurie, as well as playing the eponymous director on arts, news and factual roles in Jeeves and Wooster. Fry’s acting roles programming, and has won awards as include an award-winning performance as Oscar an independent film-maker. He fits in Wilde, as well as roles in Blackadder, Kingdom, (occasional) piano practice around a busy V for Vendetta, The Hobbit and Veep. Fry has life with a young family. He says that written and presented several documentary lockdown at home feels like winning the series, contributed columns and articles for lottery as it affords precious time to be newspapers and magazines, appeared around his baby daughter. frequently on radio, and has written seven books. He has been an advocate of the rights Newman Williams © Claire of the LGBT community for 30 years, and is the president of Mind, Britain’s largest mental health charity. 15 CONTRIBUTORS Will . Burton Ally . C . Smith Jennifer . Whyte Callum . Au CASTING DRAMATURG MUSICIAL ORCHESTRATOR Will Burton has worked Ally C Smith is an DIRECTOR Born to a Scottish mother on West End Theatre award-winning script Jennifer Whyte has and a Chinese father, productions, including writer and songwriter, played the piano in Callum spent most of his Matilda, Heathers, and has seen her work concert halls all over formative years in Blackpool Everybody’s Talking About performed on stages the world, as well as on before moving to London. Jamie and Ghost. He has from London to New the sets of blockbuster He has written music for also worked on TV shows York. She has worked in movie Les Miserables, international artists The Voice, So You Think You Can Dance, and film, and for RADA, where she is currently and hit show X Factor.