''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 recognize excellence in professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Aw ...

-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 Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

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 Long ...

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 in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

and features both new and existing songs by Hawley.

Production history

Sheffield (2019)

The musical had its world premiere at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

, 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, Fela Lufadeju, Maimuna Memon, Johanne Murdock, Damian Myerscough, Alastair Natkiel, Faith Omole, Deborah Tracey, Rachael Wooding 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 at the National Theatre,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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 transferred to

's West End at the

Gillian Lynne Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly the 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 occupied the site until 1965. On ...

from 8 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, Rachael Wooding as Rose. Elizabeth Ayodele, Joel Harper-Jackson, Sharlene Hector, Mel Lowe,

Laura Pitt-Pulford Laura Pitt-Pulford is a British actress, best known for her work in musical theatre and for playing Carol Butler in ''Emmerdale''. Early life Pitt-Pulford grew up in Rugby, joined a local youth operatic group at age 12, and trained in drama at ...

, and Lauryn Redding join the West End cast.

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 recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

, 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., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

RED Production Company Red Production Company Limited was a British independent television drama production company that was founded by Nicola Shindler and owned by French production & distribution company StudioCanal. Background Red Production Company was formed i ...

into a four-part television series.

References

{{Richard Hawley 2019 musicals British musicals Musicals set in England Laurence Olivier Award–winning musicals