{"id":17783,"date":"2019-04-09T16:35:23","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T15:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/?p=17783"},"modified":"2023-08-02T16:21:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:21:49","slug":"millennials-the-non-musical-musical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.city-academy.com\/news\/millennials-the-non-musical-musical\/","title":{"rendered":"Millennials: the Musical"},"content":{"rendered":"
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City Academy's Creative Fund was established as a means to both celebrate and support the talent of our wonderful tutors. One of this year's recipients is Singing Tutor and songwriter Elliot Clay, who will be composing a new 'song cycle' musical titled\u00a0Millennials<\/em>, tackling negative depictions of youth in today's society. In this interview, we talk to Elliot about the genre of the 'song cycle' musical, discuss plans to professionally record Millennials<\/em>, and get an exclusive demo of the album.<\/p>\n

~ Clara Stone, Head of Dance<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Hi Elliot! First of all, for those who don\u2019t know, can you explain what a 'song cycle' is?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A song cycle<\/a> is a musical that is told through song - so a collection of songs. It\u2019s a non-traditional way of telling a story in that there\u2019s little to no dialogue. A song cycle is a bit more abstract, like a \u2018musical collage\u2019, which is why it\u2019s being presented as an album first and foremost.<\/p>\n

Are there any famous song cycles we would have heard of?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most famous is probably Songs For A New World<\/em> by Jason Robert Brown, or Edges<\/em> by Pasek & Paul - who are now most famous for La La Land<\/em> and The Greatest Showman<\/em>. Most song cycles are from the late 1990s and early 2000s, and there hasn\u2019t been any that have really penetrated since then. That\u2019s why I wanted to do one!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The album cover for 'Millennials'<\/h3><\/div><\/div>
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And why did you want to create an album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m always interested in writing musicals for people who say they don\u2019t like musicals. I want to try to change people\u2019s perceptions, and present things in different ways and with different styles than you would expect from a musical theatre.<\/p>\n

Historically, there\u2019s been a lot of music in the UK Charts from musicals. The song \u2018I Know Him So Well\u2019 from the musical Chess<\/em> was one of the longest running chart toppers at the time. Then Andrew Lloyd Webber became the master at popularising songs from musicals, like Boyzone\u2019s \u2018No Matter What\u2019 which was originally from the musical Whistle Down The Wind<\/em>. That\u2019s why I wanted to do an album; I think it\u2019s the most accessible way for people to listen to it. I want people to not realise they\u2019re listening to a musical, but they are!<\/p>\n

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Millennials<\/em> is about bringing people together not splitting people apart - a\u00a0musical about extraordinarily ordinary people.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Can you give us any insights into what will the album sound like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019ll be a range of different styles in the album, ranging from really modern songs that sound like Ariana Grande or Coldplay, mixed with songs that sound very musical theatre. The idea is that you can listen to one song, or you can sit and listen to the whole album, so it\u2019s got to work individually as well as gel as a whole thing. I've written a short demo of the Opening Song for you all to hear (below).<\/p>\n\n\t

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