THE MUSICAL

The eagerly awaited musical 'Closer To Heaven' (which Neil and Chris worked on with Jonathan Harvey for a few years) opened on Tuesday 15th May 2001, it ran for five months before closing on Saturday 13th October 2001.

It was staged at the intimate 340 seat Arts Theatre in London's West End.
Full address: Arts Theatre, Great Newport Street, Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7JB, England.
Box Office telephone: + 44 (0) 20 7836 3334.

Towards the end of 1999 The Really Useful Group, Andrew Lloyds Webber's company, agreed to finance a workshop. A full cast, director, choreographer and designer worked on the show and rehearsed it for three weeks, culminating in three private performances in North London at the end of May 2000 which went very well. "Actually it was astonishingly accomplished", says Neil. "The idea of a workshop is to see what worked and what didn't work. It was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm".
The musical which was originally going to be called 'Nightlife', is set against the backdrop of London's clubland. It features 15 new tracks, including 'Friendly Fire' which the Boys played at the London Savoy Theatre in 1997, and few tracks from 'Nightlife'.

Below is the complete listing of all the characters and who played them in the musical in England.


Billie Trix Bob Saunders Vic Christian Straight Dave Flynn Shell Christian Mile End Lee Billie's Babes Ensemble/Swing	Frances Barber Paul Broughton David Burt Paul Keating David Langham Stacey Roca Tom Walker Jo Cavanagh Akiya Henry C. Jay Ranger Mark John Richardson Richard Joe Louie Spence Mark Stanway Amanda Valentine Marcos White

Below is the complete listing of all the songs performed in the musical, including the names of the characters singing them.

My Night Billie Trix, Straight Dave, Shell, Vic, Flynn & Mile End Lee
Closer To Heaven Shell & Vic
Something Special Straight Dave
Positive Role Model Instrumental
Closer To Heaven Shell & Dave
In Denial Vic & Shell
Call Me Old Fashioned Bob Saunders
Nine Out Of Ten Shell & Straight Dave
It's Just My Little Tribute To Caligula, Darling! Billie Trix
Hedonism Instrumental
Friendly Fire Billie Trix
In Denial Straight Dave & Shell
Something Special (Reprise) Straight Dave
Shameless Vile Celebrities
Vampires Vic
Closer To Heaven Straight Dave & Mile End Lee
Out Of My System Shell with Billie Trix, Flynn & Trannies
K-Hole (Featuring Run, Girl, Run!) Instrumental
For All Of Us Straight Dave
Positive Role Model Straight Dave
My Night The Cast

Billie Trix Played By Frances Barber (England)

Several songs had been written for the musical but were not used. These include 'The Only One' and 'For Your Own Good' from the 'Nightlife' album and also the unreleased songs, 'Tall Thin Men', 'A Little Black Dress', 'Home' and 'You've Got To Start Somewhere'.
The three versions of 'Closer To Heaven' in the show each have different lyrics.
On Monday 8th October 2001 the Original Cast Recording was released.

Closer To Heaven Poster Featuring Straight Dave (England)

Closer To Heaven Poster Featuring Billie Trix (England)

Closer To Heaven Poster Featuring One Of Billie's Babes (England)

Closer To Heaven Poster Featuring One Of The Dancers (England)

Closer To Heaven Poster Featuring Mile End Lee (England)

Below is the first ever piece of merchandise from the musical. The keyring was free with the May 2001 issue of 'Theatregoer' magazine.

In 2005 the musical moved overseas to Australia where it opened on Wednesday 9th June 2005, it ran for just over a week before closing on Saturday 18th June 2005.
It was staged at the intimate 200 seat Visy Theatre.
Full address: Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm, QLD 4005, Australia.
Box Office telephone: + 61 7 3358 8600.

Below is the complete listing of all the characters and who played them in the musical in Australia.


Billie Trix Bob Saunders Vic Christian Straight Dave Flynn Shell Christian Mile End Lee Billie's Babes	Libby Munro Chris Maver Chris Herden Regis Broadway David Dellit Crystal Taylor Julian Curtis Olympia Kwitowski Sarshee Elliot Brad Kendrick Remi Broadway Ellen Casey Joel Curtis