TV theme tune composer's music for Theatr Clwyd dance show

Mar 12 2009

EVEN if you haven’t heard of composer and broadcaster Howard Goodall, the chances are you will have heard one of his musical creations.

With his list of TV themes including Blackadder, Mr Bean, Red Dwarf, and The Vicar of Dibley his compositions will have played in almost every UK home.

Added to his CV are award winning musicals, contributions to platinum selling choral CDs and a presenting role on BBC Radio Two. Now he’s has turned his quite considerable talents to one of his first loves – dance.

Fusing the genre with his passion for choral music he has captivated youthful audiences with his composition for Rambert’s Eternal Light Tour.

The show comes to Mold’s Clwyd Theatr Cymru this month, combining energetic dance with the Sirenian Singers, Rambert’s associate orchestra and soloists Elin Manahan Thomas and Adrian Powter.

He explains how his career has come full circle: "I was educated at an Oxfordshire comprehensive in the 1970s and our teacher was very switched on to modern dance and they had annual dance shows. This may not be unusual now but certainly was for a 1970s comprehensive.

"It gave me an early introduction into dance and it was a revelation for me.

"I had thought of dance as ballet and tutus and seeing this vibrant modern dance was amazing."

In the 1980s Goodall spent two years composing for Wayne Sleep’s live stage show Dash and on the BBC television series The Hot Shoe Show.

He said: "At that time I took on a lot of what people were telling me and there were lots of people telling me lots of things!

"But now with experience, while you still listen to input, you are strong enough to know where you want your piece to go. This has been the case with this piece.

He explains: "This show has allowed me to combine two parts of my life, choral music and dance. This is the first time in my career I have been able to do that."

"Having not worked with dance for some time I was initially worried that my piece had to fit a certain tempo but I was told just write the piece without thinking of the dancers. They would adapt to the music rather than the other way round.

"It is quite a reflective piece but this does not stop the high tempo of the dancing.

"There is a myth that the speed of the music has to match the dance movements but this is not the case."

So far the show has been a hit on tour nationally, particularly with young audiences.

He said: "Watching the show and the reaction has been amazing, especially the age of the crowds, which have been very young."

Despite his love for dance, Goodall had one confession: "I can’t dance myself, I’m rubbish. I’m happy to let everyone else do the dancing!"

The show’s designer is Michael Howells, who’s worked on films Shackleton, Emma and Bright Young Things, plus for fashion mags Vogue and Vanity Fair, as well as shows for McQueen, Lacroix and Galliano.

The hats are by milliner Stephen Jones, who has collections in the V&A, and Louvre museums, and counts Marilyn Manson, Gwen Stefani and Alison Goldfrapp as clients.

The show plays in the Anthony Hopkins Theatre, Theatr Clwyd, from Wednesday, March 18, to Saturday, March 21. Box office – 0845 330 3565.