Paul Nicholas: “A TALE OF TWO CITIES is a very good piece of work”

In celebration of the bicentenary of Charles Dickens, the new musical A TALE OF TWO CITIES opened at London’s Charing Cross Theatre last 5th April. Directed by Paul Nicholas, A TALE OF TWO CITIES has music by multi platinum award-winner David Pomeranz, book by Emmy winner Steven David Horwick and David Soames, lyrics by Steven David Horwich and musical arrangements by John Cameron. This production is starred by Jonathan Ansell as Charles Darney.

Based on the much loved Dickens story, this classic tale depicts one man’s ultimate sacrifice for love, set against the backdrop of the French revolution and the comparative calm of the 18th Century London society.

The director and producer of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, Paul Nicholas, is best known for his award-winning role of Vince in ‘Just Good Friends’. Other TV credits include ‘Bust’, ‘Close To Home’, ‘Two Up Two Down’ and ‘The Lady Killers’, while film credits include ‘Tommy’, ‘Stardust’, ‘The World Is Full Of Married Men’, ‘Blind Terror’, ‘The Nutcracker’ and ‘Invitation To The Wedding’. Paul’s recent stage credits include ‘Keeler’, which he also produced and directed, a national tour of ‘The Haunting’ and THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE.  As an actor Paul has played iconic theatre roles, such as Jesus in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, Danny in GREASE, Rum Tum Tugger in CATS and the Pirate King in THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE. As a singer, Paul Nicholas had four top ten UK hits, including the international bestseller “Heaven On The Seventh Floor”, four gold albums and his own pop series called ‘Paul’.  As a producer Paul joined forces with David Ian and credits include GREASE, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER and AIN’T MISBEHAVIN.

Paul Nicholas tells us more details about A TALE OF TWO CITIES, this new epic musical that will run in London until the 12 May.

HOW WOULD YOU INTRODUCE ‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’?
It’s a show that is based in Charles Dickens book. Basically I got involved many years ago because I met some writers, I liked their work, and I asked them “would you like to write a musical?” and they came back with the idea of writing A TALE OF TWO CITIES. I said “that would be great”, and that’s what we’ve done. That’s what now is running at the Charing Cross Theatre.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST OF THE ORIGINAL BOOK WRITTEN BY CHARLES DICKENS?
First of all it was written like a soap opera. It was written over 31 different weeks. It was published in a magazine called ‘All the Year Round’ and it was 31 episodes. So in many ways it was like the first soap opera, because every week you had to come up with something that would make you to want to read the following week. So it’s a little bit like that. The plot is quite complicated, but I think the idea of love and sacrifice: dying so that somebody else can be with the man that she loves. It’s something that I certainly wouldn’t do (laughs). I don’t know many people who would do that! So obviously it’s quite a nice thing to do for someone…

HOW WOULD YOU ASSESS THIS FIRST WEEK AT THE CHARING CROSS THEATRE?
The audiences have been very very good. But like all shows, we have had very good reviews and we have had not so good reviews which is interesting. It is a small theatre, and of course there have been comparisons with LES MISÉRABLES which is kind of obvious in a way, but really it’s nothing like LES MISÉRABLES. It’s in a similar period, but not really. It’s really a much smaller story in many ways. It’s a bit like a soap opera. I always think that it is a slightly easy option for reviewers to make those kind of comparisons because, musically, it really has its own sound. The songs are beautiful, music is beautiful, but lyrics are very strong in our show… It isn’t to say that LES MISERÁBLES isn’t strong, but as far as comparing is concerned, it makes no sense to me.

DO YOU THINK THAT THEATREGOERS USE TO READ REVIEWS AND FOLLOW REVIEWERS OPINIONS?
I think they go on their own, but I also think that when money is tight, when people don’t have so much money to spend, the will look at reviews. Anything negative may influence the person.I think once they go there, they’ll get their own mind up, but we need to get them in for that.

THE CAST OF ‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’ IS LEAD BY JONATHAN ANSELL. WHAT WOULD YOU HIGHTLIGHT OF THE COMPANY OF THE SHOW?
I think it’s a very strong cast. It is basically what we would call here a Fringe production, which means that it doesn’t have a great deal of money spent on it. Cast don’t have star wages, they all earn pretty much the same money, but I think they were interested in the project. I spent quite a lot of time auditioning. I really did get very good people. The fact that it is in London is a good showcase for the artists, because they can get seen by other producers or by other directors. So I think that from the artists point of view it’s a good idea, because also it’s only for six weeks… So from their point of view, although the money is not going to be as much as they would get in a big West End show, it is a marvelous showcase for them.

DO YOU THINK THAT ‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’ COULD EVER BE IN THE WEST END?
Well, I think it could. I think that the standard of the show is good enough to be in the West End. But of course it is very expensive, and in a way, having it where we are, which is pretty much the West End, in the sense that we are in the heart of London, will give us a sense of whether there’s an audience. One of the reasons why I wanted to put it where I’ve put it was because I’m financing it myself and, as you probably know, is very expensive to put on a show in London. So I felt, I’ll do it in a limited way, to find out what the reviews are like, to find out whether we have an audience… which will then help me to make a decision about what to do with it next.

IS IT VERY HARD NOWADAYS TO PRODUCE A SHOW IN LONDON?
Well it is very hard. I produced GREASE, which has been recently in the West End and is now on tour. For example, if you’re going to put a show like GREASE in town, it will probably cost you somewhat between £2,5 - £3 millions, and it is not a big show. It could cost you as much as £4 million. But probably you could get away with £2 million for a show like GREASE, which is quite a lot of money. Most producers would have a list of investors that they can go to and ask them to put small amounts of money and then make up to the £2 million, but it is very difficult, and again investors are very careful now about what they will invest in. So I think the way I’ve done it –although is costing me personally quite a lot of money– is perhaps the good way to find out if there’s an audience or not.

YOU HAVE DEVELOPED A CAREER IN MUSICAL THEATRE AS AN ACTOR, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER. WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST OF EACH PROFESSIONAL FACET? WHICH ONE DO YOU PREFER?
Well, I mean I’m an old man now, I’m in my 60s, so I’m quite an old chap. Obviously when you’re getting older, you are limited to what you can do, because most parts are for man in their 40-45, and then you begin to play character parts. So for me, to be honest with you, I enjoy all facets. I’m really interested in what works for the audiences, so for me it’s about things that work, it’s about being a part of something that succeeds, whether I’m in as a performer, or as a producer or as a director. I get as much pleasure from directing something that works, or from producing something that works. It doesn’t matter to me which facet is what I do, as long as it has an audience and people like it.

WHICH MOMENTS OF YOUR CAREER WOULD YOU HIGHLIGHT AS THE UNFORGETTABLE ONES?
I think it has yet to come (laughs). I’m sure it’s just around of corner (laughs). No, I mean, I’ve done lots of shows all these years. I’ve done things that haven’t worked, I’ve done things that have worked, but really the thing that motivates you is the next thing, I think. After this I’m doing a musical called BLOCKBUSTER. There are a couple of songwriters called (Nicky) Chinn and (Mike) Chapman who wrote lots of hits in the 70s for people like Suzi Quatro, Sweet and Smokie… big bands in the 70s, lots of numbers 1… They got a great catalogue of songs and I’ve sat down with the writer and put them all together in this musical called BLOCKBUSTER… which I’m hoping to do next. So really it’s next thing that you do I think.

AS A CONCLUSION, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GO TO THE CHARING CROSS THEATRE TO SEE ‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’?
I truly think it is a very good piece of work. It’s got good tunes, it’s got very good actors, it’s got a very strong story… it moves along, it’s very clear I hope… I’ve been told it’s clear because it is a very complicated story and I think we tell it in a way that people can follow it. We have two grand pianos. We don’t have a big orchestra, but it’s interesting that people get to forget that there are just two pianos, it could be a thirty piece orchestra, because people do forget once they come involved in the story. So I would say to people that they’ll be seeing a really top quality show, and they are not having to pay £90 to see it. 

Michael Howe (Sydney Carton) and Jonathan Ansell (Charles Darnay) in A TALE OF TWO CITIES