The Sheffield Theatres production of Standing at the Sky's Edge, winner of 2023 Olivier Awards for Best New Musical and Best Original Score or New Orchestrations, will transfer to London's Gillian Lynne Theatre in February 2024.
Written as a love letter to Sheffield and as an ode to the Park Hill Estate, Standing at the Sky’s Edge features songs by Richard Hawley, a book by Chris Bush, and direction by Sheffield Theatres Artistic Director Robert Hastie. The musical, which reveals the history of modern Britain through the stories of this iconic housing estate, charts the hopes and dreams of three generations over the course of six decades.
The musical had its world premiere at the Crucible Theatre in 2019, returning there in 2022 before making its London premiere in the National Theatre’s Olivier in early 2023.
The creative team also includes set and costume designer Ben Stones, choreographer Lynne Page, music supervisor, arranger, and orchestrator Tom Deering, lighting designer Mark Henderson, sound designer Bobby Aitken, and wigs, hair, and make-up designer Cynthia De La Rosa.
Composer Hawley says, “In all honesty I never really thought this story would leave the inside of our minds, but to see it blossom and grow from a heartfelt set of ideas exchanged in a Sheffield pub to sell out shows at the Crucible and National theatres every single night has been a very powerful experience. The drive, focus, and determination to allow the voices and history of Park Hill to be heard at last by everyone involved has been equally mind-blowing. This would’ve been more than enough for me to say the least…but the West End?…next you’ll be telling me Sheffield Wednesday are going up this season!”
Playwright Bush adds, "Making Standing at the Sky's Edge has been the most extraordinary and rewarding experience of my professional career. To see audiences at the National Theatre leap to their feet for these characters and these stories with the same enthusiasm as those in Sheffield has meant the world to me. For all its hyper-specificity, the last few months have cemented for us that these themes of home, of love, of fresh starts and second chances, are utterly universal. I'm absolutely thrilled that we'll get to introduce Park Hill to a whole new set of audiences in 2024."
Visit SkysEdgeMusical.com.
