Staging the UK amateur premiere of Les Misérables was the most astonishing experience, says Brighton Theatre Group chairman Keith Shepherd – the greatest thing the company has ever done.
00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers.
00:06Really lovely to speak again to Keith Shepard.
00:08Now, Keith, goodness, what a couple of weeks.
00:10Just coming to the end of two weeks, Brighton Theatre Group, Les Mis in Brighton, Brighton Theatre Royal.
00:17And it has been stunning, hasn't it?
00:19Has it, I mean, huge pressure, but huge expectation too.
00:23How would you sum up the two weeks you've had?
00:25Gosh, phenomenal.
00:29We've had the most incredible audience reaction, you know, from everybody, from West End stars to West End directors to the wonderful Brighton Hove and our city and beyond, you know, the audience members that have been to see the show.
00:43But I think it's been a cast production and the end of the show, which comes on Saturday, will be down to our cast of 82 people that have graced that stage these last two weeks.
00:55So what does the fact that you've done it and done it so magnificently tell you about the company you have there?
01:03Gosh.
01:04Tell you that you didn't know.
01:05Well, I mean, I've always, I'm quite biased about the company that I've been in for so many years, but I think it just shows that there's an immense breadth of talent in Brighton Hove and beyond.
01:16We've had people from London, from Eastbourne, from Worthing in the show, and the talent is incredible, but it's a dedication to the piece.
01:24And, you know, it's given you new life, new blood, new input into Brighton Theatre Group and how it runs.
01:32You know, we're nearly 60 years old.
01:33You know, the love for this show and the love for the company has been paramount.
01:38You know, and then that feels, gives me a heart full of love, to coin a phrase.
01:44Boom, boom.
01:45I keep thinking the pressure that you must have been under, the fact it's Les Mis had to be stunning, and it was, but it had to be because you had Cameron McIntosh of the team looking over your shoulder, rightly so.
01:57But you've pulled it off under really high-pressure circumstances.
02:03Yeah, it has been really high-pressured.
02:05You know, it's been, it was a massive accolade, in a way, to be asked to lead the production, you know, of Les Mis.
02:14And we've had some collaborators with us from other local companies.
02:18But I think that, you know, the very fact that it is Les Mis, the pressure was there, you know, the pressure to cast correctly, the pressure to have the right-looking show, the right set design, the right atmospherics, but also the financial pressure.
02:33You know, these shows, although they are amateur by status, you know, they are a professional cost, put it that way, and they are enormously costly.
02:42And I have to say, working at the Theatre Royal, which is our spiritual home, you know, we've been blessed with Sophie, the GM there, and all the people that support us so incredibly well.
02:53So it's been a very pressured, a very happy path.
02:56Absolutely. Now, as you're saying, you can't top that, can you?
02:59I mean, it's the most brilliant thing the company's ever done, isn't it?
03:03Most incredible thing.
03:04How do you, how do you sort of pick yourself up afterwards and carry on?
03:08Well, I think we'll have a lie down for a couple of weeks afterwards, but we always pre-plan, and I think whatever we do that will follow, and that will be Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it's a very different show.
03:22And the key to not trying to match Les Mis is to do something very different, you know, different audience, different feel.
03:30And, you know, Les Mis is an operetta, really.
03:33You know, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a feel-good, family-friendly show that I grew up with.
03:37You know, in the 70s, you know, so we've done it once before, and we will come back with a flying car once again, you know, back to the theatre all next year.
03:47Fantastic. Well, congratulations on Les Mis.
03:50Absolutely brilliant. Really lovely to speak to you, and all good wishes for Chitty next year.
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