Fans of indie legends The Wedding Present are being asked to back a new Crowdfunder campaign to create a musical based on songs from their 30 year career.
It’s the brainchild of writer and director Matt Aston who met Tony Ereira, director of Leeds record label Come Play With Me at a Wedding Present gig last year, and he also loved the idea.
“I first saw The Wedding Present in Derby in 1988, so you could say this musical is over 30 years in the making,” says Matt. “I’ll always be grateful to my older brother and his mates for taking his little 15-year-old brother to his first ever gig. I got a t-shirt, a set of badges and a nosebleed. Not to mention a new favourite band.”
Matt and Tony put the idea to Wedding Present main man and songwriter David Gedge, along with an early synopsis for the story, and luckily for them he was equally excited to explore the idea further agreeing to become the creative consultant for the project,.
“I’ve always felt there was something very theatrical about David’s songs,” notes Matt. “The storytelling, the arrangements, the anguish. And, as proven with Cinerama’s re-recording of The Wedding Present’s ‘Valentina’ album, they have the flexibility to be arranged in a number of different, epic, and dramatic ways. Although the show will, of course, still have plenty of fast guitars too!”
The result is a unlikely jukebox musical ‘Reception’ that will tell the story of a group of friends from Leeds University who keep in touch over two decades of trials, tribulations, and receptions. Their stories are based on Gedge’s songs and the title is inspired by the name of The Wedding Present’s original record label.
The intention is to premier the musical in Leeds in 2022. and this campaign is a chance for fans to get involved from the beginning with a bunch of rewards that are all exclusive to this production, including specially commissioned artwork from Lee Thacker who illustrator of David’s autobiography, ‘Tales From The Wedding Present’.
To support the project: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/reception-the-musical