Stuart Matthew Price: “‘All Things in Time’ is an opportunity for people to escape into the world of these amazing contemporary writers”

Simon Greiff for SimG Records has produced the debut album from Stuart Matthew Price. ‘All Things In Time’ contains an outstanding selection of songs by leading contemporary musical theatre writers from Britain and America; featuring 14 tracks 9 of which are previously unrecorded songs (including work from Scott Alan, Jason Robert Brown, Grant Olding, Dougal Irvine, Georgia Stitt, Richard Taylor, Laurence Mark Wythe), 11 feature the original composer, all have brand new arrangements, guest vocalists are West End´s Annalene Beechey & Louise Dearman and Broadway´s Caissie Levy, plus a special album foreword by acclaimed composer Jason Robert Brown.

Stuart Matthew Price made his theatrical debut performing Young Soldier in Donmar Warehouse production of Jason Robert Brown’s PARADE. He has also performed Riff Raff in the European Tour of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, Jordan in the Edinburgh Festival production of DEPARTURE LOUNGE, and more recently he has starred in the musical parody JEST END at the Jermyn Street Theatre.

Stuart Matthew Price tells us more details about his debut album, with which he celebrates the work of contemporary musical theatre writers.

HOW CAME UP THE IDEA OF RECORDING ‘ALL THINGS IN TIME’? WHY DID YOU DECIDE PERFORMING SONGS OF CONTEMPORARY MUSICAL THEATRE WRITERS?
About a year ago I returned from performing Riff Raff in the European Tour of ROCKY HORROR and found myself bored waiting for the phone to ring and auditions to begin again. I’m a very pro-active person and once I get an idea in my head, I won’t stop until it’s done. I have always wanted to record an album and people have always suggested it. I finally had the spark to just go ahead and see if I could do it. I spend a lot of time working on new material as an actor, but I’m also a keen songwriter too and find it hard to get your material out into the industry. Baring this in mind, I thought that the album would be a perfect opportunity to sing new material by new contemporary musical composers. I’m heavily influenced by American writers and British writers, so what better way to amalgamate these talents then on my debut album? In an age where new musicals are finding it hard to surface, I feel it’s important to put as much new work into the public eye as possible. There are amazing writers out there and I wish I could have recorded a double disc album just to celebrate them all! Once I asked Simon Greiff, my album producer, if he would consider producing the product, I knew the dream would start to happen. I mean, the man is incredible!

WHAT DOES THIS ALBUM MEAN TO YOU?
As an actor and a writer, I make it my purpose to do as much for people as I can. I think going to the theatre should be about escaping from your own world and then getting involved in someone else’s. When it comes to this album, the same rule applies. I wanted to create an album that people can escape into. Music is a great form of escape for people…I mean, how many people have a song they listen to when they’re upset or are in a great mood? This album is my way of sharing the sort of music and composers I admire and aspire to write. Hopefully, people will share the same excitement for this music as I do and I can then take people away and offer them the same escape that the songs offer me. This album means one main thing to me; it’s an opportunity for people to escape into the world of these amazing contemporary writers and share the same experience I feel when listening to them. As a bonus, you can get to know me more personally through the song choices too.

THE ALBUM CONTAINS ELEVEN SONGS FEATURED BY THE OWN COMPOSERS… THIS IS NOT USUAL… HOW THIS FACT CONTRIBUTES TO THESE SONGS?
A lot of people celebrate new work by contemporary composers, but very few get to work with the composers on their material. I have been very fortunate, with the help of Simon, my producer, to be able to feature the majority of the composers on their own songs. When a writer composes a song, they have usually spent in depth time creating characters, getting into the minds of the characters and writing the appropriate music depending on the character and situation they are in. As an actor, we get artistic license to interpret this material however we want. This may result in a fresh look at a song, but I would be daring enough to say that no one will ever be able capture the exact meaning of the song based on the composers original blueprint and ideas. So when the chance comes to work with the said composer, it offers you, the actor, with the opportunity to really get into the song from the composers perspective. After all, it’s their work and they deserve to have it presented the way they’ve always wanted to present it. Their input has been very valuable to me and they have all been very hospitable with offering their help and support. So if anyone gets the chance to work with the composer of a song they enjoy singing, they should take it!

WAS IT DIFFICULT TO YOU MAKING THE SELECTION OF THE SONGS THAT WILL BE INCLUDE IN YOUR DEBUT ALBUM? HOW WAS THE SELECTION PROCESS?
It was always my intention to have an equal balance of American and British composers featured on the album. I knew of many composers that I would like to work with, but there was no way of including everyone that I admire. There were always some obvious ones for me such as Jason Robert Brown, Georgia Stitt, Scott Alan, Grant Olding and George Stiles etc. However, they weren’t enough for me to fill an album. I work with Perfect Pitch a lot as an actor and meet a lot of new British composers. There have been two that I admire a lot, Laurence Mark Wythe and Dougal Irvine. With the help of my producer, and the support from Perfect Pitch I managed to secure these two writers on the album. My producer and I literally sat listening to all the music I listen to and the composers. We ended up with a lengthily list of about 20 songs, but had to start cutting some. The hardest thing to do was decide who stays and who goes. Just because I enjoy a song doesn’t mean it will fit on the album or others will enjoy it as much. It was also important to have some tracks people may recognize, which is why we have 3 covers on the album. I’m very proud of what we’ve created. Every song has something different about it. There is a touch of the composer in each track and each arrangement has been written to offer the song the best sound possible that works for the song and the composer. Even the cover tracks are a completely new take on the song, so don’t expect to hear the same song as featured on a London or Broadway cast recording.

‘ALL THINGS IN TIME’ INCLUDE THREE DUETS WITH ANNALENE BEECHEY, LOUSE DEARMAN AND CASSIE LEVY. HOW HAS IT BEEN PERFORMING WITH THEM?
There are very few opportunities that you can work with a voice that blends well with yours and compliments the song it is singing. I have been blessed to work with 3 voices like that! On top of that, each girl has been a pure delight to work with! I have worked with Annalene on a BBC Radio 3 musical play, ‘The Good Companions’. I love her talent and she’s one of the most down to earth and genuine people you’ll ever meet. Perfect choice for the song she sings with me, “Angels” by Richard Taylor. Louise Dearman and I met about 4 years ago doing a workshop of a new musical in London. We sang a duet together and I knew then that I would have to sing with her again one day. It only seemed right that this would be the time. She has the most seductive and warm voice ever! As for Caissie, I have to thank my producer for that. I wanted another fantastic talent to work with in order to live up to the standard of the other 2 leading ladies. Simon, my producer, rings me up and tells me he’s secured Caissie Levy (currently playing the lead role of Sheila in HAIR). I was over the moon. I saw the show a few weeks earlier and fell in love with her. Her voice would be perfect for the song we wanted her for. Now I had a Broadway leading lady on the album too! They all sound stunning on the album and I’m truly honored to be singing with them. I hope you get the same enjoyment out of their voices as I do.

Stuart Matthew Price and Louise Dearman in the recording studio

JASON ROBERT BROWN, SCOTT ALAN, GERGIA STITT, DOUGAL IRVINE ARE SOME OF THE COMPOSERS THAT HAVE TOOK PART OF THIS ALBUM. WHAT COULD YOU HIGHLIGHT OF THEIR WORK? WHICH FUTURE DO YOU THINK THAT MUSICAL THEATRE WILL HAVE WITH ALL OF THEM?
I first met Jason on his London production of PARADE at the Donmar Warehouse in 2007. I knew from the outset that I wanted to work with him again, providing he wanted to, of course. The man is literally a genius when it comes to writing and he plays a very significant role in my career.  A lot of people respect his work, as do I. I guess I’m slightly biased, but I will always hold PARADE very close to my heart, so that would be my favourite work of Jason’s. Moving onto Georgia Stitt. I met her through performing some of her songs in a ‘New Work’ showcase in London. Although married to Jason Robert Brown, she is a composer in her own right and writes some truly beautiful songs. Her enthusiasm for writing is inspirational. She has a real delicacy to musical phrasing and movement and as soon as I heard her song “Sonnet XXIX” I was blown away. The romance within the music was enough to sweep me away, so I knew I had to sing it. Scott Alan and I met through my album producer before the album had really been born. We were work shopping HOME a song cycle of Scott’s work. He writes very honest music straight from his heart. I think that’s why so many people relate to his songs. I know I personally do. I love both of his albums and it felt only right to ask him to let me premier a new one of his songs on my album. Finally, onto Dougal Irvine. I was fortunate enough to premier one of Dougal’s shows, DEPARTURE LOUNGE, in Edinburgh a few years ago. It was a small show for 5 people written on two guitars. It was a fantastic comedy piece and I loved the new sound that Dougal was writing for. If I could have had any new British writer on the album, Dougal was my first choice. I think all of the composers mentioned here and on the album are the future of musical theatre. They all deserve success from their work and the world needs to realize that theatre is in safe hands and will change soon with these composers being the frontiers of it all.

YOU ALSO HAVE RECORDED ONE SONG WRITTEN FOR YOU AS A BONUS TRACK… WHAT COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS PIECE?
As this is my own personal album, I wanted people to be aware that I love to write music too. I wouldn’t exactly put myself up there with the likes of the composers featured on this album, however, I thought it would be a nice bonus for listeners. I wrote the song for a musical I was working on called THE DIARY OF ME. The musical was picked up by independent producers to be turned into a TV show/online musical/stage musical. The sad part for me was they only bought the idea, so my music is now just waiting to have a new home. However, it’s all amazing and I can’t wait for the project to move forward. As for “Autumn Days” (the bonus track on the album), this is my favourite song from that show and there’s always a song that you, as a composer, connect with the most in the show. This is that song for me and I wanted to share it with others. It’s about being 16, feeling lost and needing someone to talk to when life seems to hit you hard. We all like to bottle our emotions up, but eventually the bottle will overflow and you need a release. This song is the release for the character and, in a way, me.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THIS ALBUM? HAVE YOU PLANNED PERFORMING IT IN CONCERT?
If there’s one thing I’ve already learnt from this process is that you can’t expect anything. My main point is to offer the composers the chance to have their songs heard. In an ideal world millions will buy the album and help shoot their careers to the highest heights! But, in reality, if only a few people buy the album, those few people will hopefully feel the same emotional journey I feel when I listen to these songs and have a new found appreciation to these incredible composers. I will do everything in my power to get the album out to people and I have every intention of performing the tracks in concert form at some point. However, I have no idea at this stage when that will happen. I just want to get the album released first and the songs out there.

NEXT SEPTEMBER 26TH YOU WILL BE PERFORMING IN SCOTT ALAN CONCERTS AT THE NEW PLAYERS THEATRE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TAKING PART OF THIS CONCERT? It’s a fantastic honour to be asked to perform in such a great concert, celebrate a great composer’s work, in a beautiful venue opposite some of the world best performers in current musical theatre. It will be a stunning evening and everyone should buy tickets now! I will be singing a few numbers in the concert from the song cycle we work-shopped earlier in the year as well as the duet FREE from my album, with West End superstar Louise Dearman. I love Scott’s material and wouldn’t turn this chance down in a million years.

YOU PERFORMED YOUNG SOLDIER IN DONMAR’S PRODUCTION OF JASON ROBERT BROWN’S PARADE. HOW DO YOU REMEMBER THIS EXPERIENCE?
This particular experience will always be held very dear to my heart. PARADE was the first musical and job that I had a professional actor after drama school. The Donmar Warehouse is such an intimate space to work in and the whole company is like a family. I still pop in for a cup of tea and chats every now and then. They are literally the most caring people you’ll ever work with. To work with them on an original musical with one of my favourite composers was like a dream come true. The musical itself is so powerful and emotionally driven that you can’t sit there and not be affected by it. I believe it to be one of the best musicals written in the past 15 years. Most people say you never forget your first job after drama school…I never can because of the pure genius of this piece. Also, we started rehearsals for the show on my 24th birthday so it’s literally a day I will never forget…they bought me a cake and everything! It’s thanks to that show that I was able to meet Jason Robert Brown. It was thanks to him that I even got the job and thanks to him now that I have the pleasure of premiering a brand new Jason Robert Brown song on my album aptly titled ALL THINGS IN TIME.

COULD YOU COMMENT ON YOUR PROJECTS?
As for the future…? I have no idea at the moment. My focus is promoting the album and the writers involved. Auditions will keep popping up, I’m sure, but I have nothing set in stone yet. I also intend to begin writing my new musical over the next 12 months, so watch this space!!!

‘All Things In Time’ is available for pre-order at  www.SimGProductions.com.

Stuart Matthew Price in a scene of Jason Robert Brown´s PARADE