STEPPING OUT - THE MUSICAL

(KNOWN AS 'ONE NIGHT A WEEK' IN THE USA)

Music by Denis King - Lyrics by Mary Stewart-David - Book by Richard Harris.

Publisher:Samuel French Ltd
Music Publisher:Eaton Music

Based on Richard Harris’ hit comedy “Stepping Out” about tap-dancing as therapy. A group of seemingly hopeless amateurs from a variety of backgrounds sign on for a weekly evening class, none of them bent on fame or life in the chorus line, their common motive purely a couple of hours a week away from home, where they can briefly escape the cards life has dealt them.

“A lot of people thought the play Stepping Out was a musical, but it was a play about people who dance. Now it’s been totally re-shaped as a musical. I’ve had to change and cut the play drastically to accommodate 14 songs. STEPPING OUT - THE MUSICAL should be seen as an entirely new piece. It’s one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done because I like the genre so much. I love seeing the choreographer working--we’ve got a very good one, Kenn Oldfield--I love listening to people sing--I love listening to Denis King playing the piano and somebody singing. I just find that very exciting. Something about the music lifts me, and when the band arrives, there’s another lift. I think most people get a lift out of music; it’s an emotional charge. I hope we get the same feeling that we did with the play. The idea is to just give people a good time, really. A happy couple of hours in the theatre.”  Richard Harris

PERFORMANCES

First performed the the Theatre Royal Plymouth, 7 November 1996
A Theatre Royal Plymouth and Thorndike Theatre Leatherhead Co-production

CAST (1M, 9W)

Helen Bennett, Olivia Breeze, Jan Hartley, Diane Langton, David McAlister, Yvonne Newman, Liz Robertson, Rachel Spry, Gwendolyn Watts, Joanne Zorian

Opened Albery Theatre, London, October 1997, following a tour; Bill Kenwright producing in association with the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, and Tyne Theatre & Opera House, Newcastle

CAST

Liz Robertson, Helen Bennett, Sharon D Clarke, Helen Cotterill, Felicity Goodson, Carolyn Pickles, Rachel Spry, Colin Wakefield, Gwendolyn Watts, Barbara Young

MUSICAL NUMBERS

Click on any track name in blue to listen to the track, use the controls on the right hand side to play, pause and stop the audio.

To purchase the tracks below, click here to visit the iTune Store

• ONE NIGHT A WEEK
• QUITE
• DON’T ASK ME
• LOVE TO
• WHAT DO MEN THINK
• TOO MUCH
• NEVER FEEL THE SAME AGAIN
• DEFINITELY YOU
• NOT QUITE
• JUST THE SAME
• WHAT I WANT
• ONCE MORE
• LOVING HIM
• STEPPING OUT

OTHER MEDIA:

Original Cast Recording, produced by Chris Walker and Denis King Recorded at CTS Studios Wembley, 16 -20 February 1998; Engineer: Dick Lewzey. John Craig for First Night Records

New Americanized version, “ONE NIGHT A WEEK” published by Samuel French Inc. with full orchestral backing tracks available on CD as well as vocal guide track. 

KINGS’ COMMENTS

I’d never seen his play “Stepping Out”, but when Richard Harris asked if I’d be interested in working on a musicalized version of it with him, I felt instinctively that we’d benefit from having a female lyricist on board, as the cast is predominantly women. Enter the talented Mary Stewart-David. After the three of us went to see a production of the play at The Mill at Sonning, we had no doubts that it would work beautifully as a musical. How we three would work together, beautifully or otherwise, was something yet to be discovered. Briefly, the main problem with the collaboration, it transpired, was that Richard and Mary, though deeply respectful of one another’s talents, didn’t particularly get on, and eventually refused to speak to each other.