''Time'' is a

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 a book and lyrics by Dave Clark and David Soames, music by Jeff Daniels, and additional songs by Hans Poulsen and

David Pomeranz David Pomeranz (born February 9, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, composer, lyricist, and writer for musical theater. He is also an ambassador for Operation Smile, a foundation dedicated to cleft lip and palate and a member of the Churc ...

Plot

Derived from the 1970s musical ''The Time Lord'' by Soames and Daniels, it focuses on contemporary

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

ian Chris Wilder, who has been transported with his backup singers and band from a

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

to the High Court of the Universe in the

Andromeda Galaxy The Andromeda Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy and is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. It was originally named the Andromeda Nebula and is cataloged as Messier 31, M31, and NGC 224. Andromeda has a Galaxy#Isophotal diameter, D25 isop ...

. In light of mankind's strides in

space exploration Space exploration is the process of utilizing astronomy and space technology to investigate outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted bo ...

, the

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Time Lords are so named for their command of time travel technology and their Nonli ...

Melchisedic (loosely based on the title character in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'') has decided the time has come to examine

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

's people to determine what role they will play in the quest for universal peace, and Wilder and his band are called upon to defend their planet.

Productions

The heavily amplified

multi-media Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as writing, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. This is in contrast to tradition ...

event relied heavily on

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

s, including a huge projected floating head named Akash (billed by the show's producers as a

hologram Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...

) that served as a

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

throughout the show. The interior of the

Dominion Theatre The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre and former cinema on Tottenham Court Road, close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point, in the London Borough of Camden. Planned as primarily a musical theatre, it opened in 1929, but the following ye ...

in London, where the show first ran, was gutted and reconstructed to accommodate the massive steel set with

hydraulic Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

lift designed by

John Napier John Napier of Merchiston ( ; Latinisation of names, Latinized as Ioannes Neper; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8 ...

."Stage View; In London, Green Lasers and Red Smoke" (4 May 1986) ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', p. A.5 The West End production, directed and

choreographed Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer creates choreographies thr ...

by Larry Fuller (assisted by

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, former television judge, presenter, and dancer. She reached mainstream fame on television as a judge on ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (2004-2008) a ...

), had a world premiere on April 9, 1986, at the Dominion Theatre in London, where it ran for two years.

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

starred as Wilder, Jodie Brooke Wilson as Louise,

Jeff Shankley Jeffrey Richard Shankley (born 17 November 1947) is a British actor, singer and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company who has had a long career as a television and stage actor particularly in the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber for who ...

as Melchisedic, and Dilys Watling as one of the tribunal judges, with a pre-filmed

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

as Akash.

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor and musician. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical-sitcom ''The Partridge Family''. After completing high school, Cassidy purs ...

replaced Richard later in the run, closing with '' Grease'' producer

David Ian David Ian (born David Ian Lane; February 1961) is a British theatre producer and former actor. Biography Ian started out as an actor and appeared in a number of UK theatre productions, including the musicals ''The Pirates of Penzance'', '' Jo ...

. Stephanie Lawrence was also a replacement in the ''Time'' musical and played opposite Cassidy.

Cast

* The Rock Star, Chris Wilder – Cliff Richard (Later replaced by David Cassidy) * Louise – Jodie Brooke Wilson (Later replaced by Stephanie Lawrence) * Babs – Dawn Hope * Carol Ann – Maria Ventura * The Rock Group – Cavin Cornwall, Neil Gow-Hunter, Simon Shelton, Ian Stewart * Akash, The Ultimate Word in Truth – Laurence Olivier * Judge Morgua – Dilys Watling * Judge Trigon – John North * Judge Lagus – David Timson * Lord Melchisedic, The Time Lord –

* Lord Melchisedic's Retinue – Gary Co-Burn, Brad Graham (left due to injury) Neil Gow-Hunter, Kazimir Kolesnik, Alan Meggs, Dave Trevors, Steve Mondey, Simon Shelton, Simon Marlow, Neil Reynolds * Captain Ebony – Clinton Derricks-Carroll * Captain Ebony's Retinue – Heather Robbins, Linda Mae Brewer, Rosemary Ford, Robin Clever, Ian Stewart and Sparky (Later replaced by Kim Rosato, Stacey Haynes, Sandra Easby, Annabel Haydn, Ian Stewart, Cavin Cornwall)

Recording

The

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' was released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in the United States and

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

elsewhere in the world (UK Catalogue Number UK:AMPM 1 (EQ 5003). In addition to Richard and Olivier, it featured

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

Julian Lennon Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician, photographer, author, and philanthropist. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia; Julian is named after his pate ...

Murray Head Murray Seafield St George Head (born 5 March 1946) is an English actor and singer. Head has appeared in a number of films, including a starring role as the character Bob Elkin in the BAFTA award winning and Oscar-nominated 1971 film ''Sunday B ...

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

Leo Sayer Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingd ...

Ashford & Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carol ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

, John Christie, Jimmy Helms, Mike Moran, and Paul Miles-Kingston.Evelyn Erskine (23 January 1987) "Rock", ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', p. D5 Olivier's spoken "Theme From 'Time was released as a single in some countries and was a surprise hit on the Australian charts, reaching #27.

25th anniversary release

The album was never released on CD but in 2012 ''Time – The Musical'' was made available for digital download from iTunes. It featured both acts of the show, the 13 single releases, new edits and several alternate mixes not on the original vinyl record or cassette release. The recordings were restored and remastered by Adam Vanryne and produced by Dave Clark. The re-release was timed to commemorate the musical's 25th anniversary. A 20-page color booklet accompanied the album.

Song list

;Act I * Born to Rock 'n Roll * Time Talkin' *

* Music of the Spheres * Law of the Universe * The Time Lord Theme * The Charge * One Human Family * What On Earth (moved to here from second song of act II at cast change in 1987) * I Know, I Know * Your Brother in Soul * Case for the Prosecution * Starmaker * Time Will Teach Us All * I Object * In My Defence ;Act II * Within My World (added to opening of act II at cast change in 1987) * Because I Love You * Move the Judge * What on Earth (removed from act II in 1987) * She's So Beautiful * If You Only Knew * We're the UFO * The Theme from Time * Harmony * The Return * Time (Reprise) * It's in Everyone of Us

Critical reception

"If present trends go on, John Napier and his team will doubtless one day find themselves re-creating the entire state of Iowa for a rock musical about the Little Red Hen, or reconstructing the Alps for one about Heidi; but until then ''Time'' can claim it has provided the most sensational contrast between mountainous spectacle and molehill content the musical theatergoer has seen." "It's like a science-fiction Sunday-school lesson. London critics had a field day sneering at its greeting-card philosophy and 1960s flower-power platitudes. But children, the young at heart, tourists with little English and any lover of sheer spectacle will be enraptured." "But its actual genius is the man who invented its gravity-defying, sense-bombarding scenic effects, the modern theater's most astounding designer. His name is John Napier.""Set Designer Real Star of Musical" (29 May 1986) ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' "The worst of it, though, are the philosophical speeches from The Time Lord who sounds like Captain Highliner (commercial spokesman of High Liner Foods) after transcendental meditation. If vinyl ever deserved to be melted..."

References

External links

*
Fan website
archive from 10 March 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Time (Musical) 1986 musicals Fiction about holography West End musicals Science fiction musicals Fiction about time travel