Podcasts

WOS Radio: Cast Bring Heart to Story at Q&A

Editorial Staff
London's West End

No wonder we couldn’t resist a Whatsonstage.com Group Outing to new British musical Love Story when it so enchanted Olivier and Whatsonstage.com Award winner Michael Ball that he chose to make it his West End producing debut. Having starred in the Chicester Festival co-production this past June Michael Xavier and Emma Williams return to the stage playing young lovers Oliver and Jenny in this tear-jerking romance.

Oliver Barrett IV went to Harvard and Jenny Cavilleri to Radcliffe. He was rich, she was poor. He was sporty, she played music. But they fell in love. This is their story. Their romance is as poignant as it is enriching, as sweet as it is intense. Inspired by Erich Segal’s best-selling iconic novel, which was also made into one of the most romantic films of all time, Love Story has music by Howard Goodall (The Hired Man, Days of Hope, Two Cities), a book by Stephen Clark (The Far Pavilions) and lyrics by Goodall and Clark.

Following this heart-wrenching production, many theatregoers still wiping their eyes and blowing their noses, we were lucky enough to be joined by Xavier and Williams, along with several other members of the cast for a really interesting (and funny) Q&A. Richard Cordery, who plays Oliver’s father Oliver Barratt III, admitted to having read Segal’s novel when it was first published and pretending to hate it while secretly loving it. Williams and Xavier spoke candidly about returning to this production, working with director Rachel Kavanaugh and on working so closely with one another. While theatregoers had lots of questions about moving from Chichester to the West end.

To listen to the full recording of the Q&A, click the ‘play’ button below; or to subscribe and download from iTunes, click here.

For more photos and commentary from last night’s event, visit our Outings blog and for further information and booking for upcoming Whatsonstage.com Outings, click here.