Actor-Musicianship
Jeremy Harrison was one of the country's leading actor-musicians and a core member of John Doyle's award-winning ensemble of actor-musicians from 1995 - 2001. He appeared regularly at The Watermill, in Cabaret, a version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, A Star Danced, and a re-working of Bizet's Carmen that toured the UK and Europe, finally playing Covent Garden's Linbury Studio. Since graduating from RADA in 1987, he has worked in theatre, film and television as a performer, musical director, composer and director both in the UK and internationally. As leader of the renowned actor-musician course at Rose Bruford he has trained many of the country’s leading actors in this field.
Actor-musicianship is now an important feature of the musical theatre landscape with actor-musician shows playing in theatres from Bradford to Broadway, from village halls to international arena tours. In Jeremy’s fascinating new book he explores the history of actor-musicianship, examining its origins, as well as investigating how this specialist form of music theatre is created.
The Watermill has played a significant part in the development of this art form. Artistic Director, Paul Hart, will discuss this with Jeremy and look back at those early productions. They will be examining why audiences love this style of theatre and what might happen next, both here at The Watermill and beyond.
Jeremy’s book was recently commended in The Stage as a 'best new book.'