''Standing at the Sky's Edge'' is an

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

-winning

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

with music and lyrics by

Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...

and a book by Chris Bush. The musical (named after Hawley's 2012 album of the same name) begins in 1961 and tells the story of three families over sixty years living in Park Hill, a council housing estate in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

and features both new and existing songs by Hawley.

Production history

World premiere: Sheffield (2019)

The musical premiered at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's m ...

, previewing from 14 March (with a press night on 20 March) and running until 6 April 2019. The production was directed by artistic director Robert Hastie, designed by Ben Stones and choreographed by Lynne Page. The cast featured Darragh Cowley, Nicole Deon, Louis Gaunt, Adam Hugill,

Robert Lonsdale Robert Lonsdale (born 2 November 1983) is an English actor and musician. Early life and education Son of Tom and Dilys Lonsdale, he was born on 2 November 1983 in Marsden, West Yorkshire, and has one sister. He went to the Academy of Live and R ...

, Fela Lufadeju, Maimuna Memon, Johanne Murdock, Damian Myerscough, Alastair Natkiel, Faith Omole, Deborah Tracey,

Rachael Wooding Rachael Wooding (born 27th September 1979) is an English, Yorkshire born musical theatre performer, best known for her performances in ''We Will Rock You'', playing Meat and Scaramouche. She began her career in musicals in Germany – such as ''C ...

and Alex Young.

Sheffield revival (2022-23) and National Theatre, London (2023)

Following the success of the 2019 production, the musical was revived at the

from 10 December 2022 to 21 January 2023, before transferring to the

Olivier Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. In ...

at the National Theatre,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from 9 February to 25 March 2023. The revival had been due to take place in 2020-21 but was delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The National Theatre co-production with Sheffield Theatres opened at the Olivier Theatre, London, on 9 February 2023 to favourable critical reaction.

West End (2024)

The musical is scheduled transfer to

's West End at the

Gillian Lynne Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965 ...

from February 2024 for an initial six-month season. In November 2023, some casting was announced. Returning to the show are Samuel Jordan as Jimmy, Baker Mukasa as George, Alastair Natkiel as Marcus,

as Rose. The West End production will also see Elizabeth Ayodele, Joel Harper-Jackson, Sharlene Hector, Mel Lowe, Laura Pitt-Pulford, and Lauryn Redding joining the cast as Joy, Harry, Grace, Connie, Poppy, and Nikki respectively. Further casting is still to be announced.

Roles and principal casts

Musical numbers

;Act I * "As The Dawn Breaks" * "Time Is" * "Naked in Pitsmoor" * "I’m Looking for Someone to Find Me" * "Tonight the Streets Are Ours" * "Open Up Your Door" * "My Little Treasures" * "Coles Corner" * "There’s a Storm A-Comin’" ;Act II * "Standing at the Sky’s Edge" * "Our Darkness" * "Midnight Train" * "For Your Lover Give Some Time" * "There’s a Storm A-Comin’ (Reprise)" * "After the Rain" * "Don’t Get Hung Up in Your Soul" * "As the Dawn Breaks (Reprise)"

Awards and nominations

2019 Sheffield production

2023 London production

The show received eight nominations for the 2023

Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

, making it the most nominated musical of the season.

Cast recording

The Original Live Cast Recording was recorded over three evenings in December 2022 during the Sheffield revival and mixed at the Arch Studios, Sheffield. The recording was released on 13 February 2023 and features 17 songs.

Adaptations

In February 2023 it was announced that the show would be adapted by

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...

RED Production Company Red Production Company is a British independent television production company owned by StudioCanal. Background Red Production Company was formed in 1998 by Nicola Shindler, a television producer who had worked on ''Our Friends in the North'' ...

into a four-part television series.

References

{{Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music 2019 musicals British musicals Musicals set in England Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals