On September 1st and 2nd, 2017 at the Cheltenham Playhouse, the second edition of the Clive Nolan "Fire and the Quest' festival will take place. "Alchemy" will open the festival on Friday evening to be followed by the grand premiere of the second part of Clive's Victorian extravaganza, "King's Ransom", on Saturday.

We are happy to welcome new artists in the cast of "Alchemy". Elisabeth Syrdahl Ellingsen, the principal vocalist of Caamora Norway, who also accompanied Clive in the 2016 events in Uruguay, will perform the role of Amelia Darvas. Gemma Ashley, known from her masterly renditions of the roles of Ustane and Ayesha in "She", and numerous acoustic shows with Clive Nolan performed internationally over the last two years, will be Eva Bonaduce in both 'Alchemy" and "King's Ransom".

Full cast is as follows:

Clive Nolan: Professor King
Elisabeth Syrdahl Ellingsen: Amelia Darvas
Robbie Gardner: William Gardelle
Gemma Ashley: Eva Bonaduce
Andy Sears: Lord Henry Jagman
Chris Lewis: Thomas Anzeray/ Milsoh
Verity White: Mrs Muncey/Jessamine
Ross Andrews: Ben Greaves/Captain Farrell

During his visit to South America in October 2016 Clive was commissioned to compose an anthem for the International College of Punta del Este in Uruguay. Having carefully examined the mission statement and ideals promoted by the bilingual College, in December 2016, Clive completed the lyrics and composed the music to a song he named "The Future in Our Hands". In January 2017 the composition met with a positive reception and was accepted by the Board to be an official anthem of the College. Clive was also invited back to Punta del Este to be the guest of honour at the College's inaugural ceremony in March. Sadly, due to other commitments, he is unable to attend, so another visit is planned for November.

Clive: "This is certainly something I’ve never done before, so it was an interesting challenge: to find the right blend of music and lyric to give that ‘anthemic’ feel to the song. I very much look forward to one day visiting the school and hearing the song sung live!”

More about International College HERE

Clive: "The Caamora Theatre Company cast is, as we all know, a fluid thing, and with this in mind we have made a few changes to the line up of both the ‘King’s Ransom’ CD and the ‘Fire and the Quest 2’ weekend.

Victoria Bolley is not able to be with us for the next leg of this adventure, so the part of Eva will be going to Gemma Ashley, who will perform on the new CD and also in both ‘Alchemy’ and ‘King’s Ransom’ at the ‘Fire and the Quest 2’ weekend. In turn, Verity White will play the part of Dr. Josephine on both the CD and at the live show.

So, the full and final cast listing for the ‘King’s Ransom’ CD is as follows:

Professor Samuel King – Clive Nolan
Eva Bonaduce – Gemma Ashley
William Gardelle – Guy Barnes
Dr. Josephine Kendrick – Verity White
Tom Worthy – Robbie Gardner
Colonel Luther Scovil – Chris Longman
Helena Blake – Christina Booth
Captain Fergus Maunder – Alan Reed
Edwin Deeks – Chris Lewis
Jacob Alderdyce – Ross Andrews
Martha Kitson – Joy-Amy Wigman
Paper Boy – Emily Frechter

Other news and cast listings for the ‘Fire and the Quest 2’ weekend will follow soon."

Gemma Ashley, the Caamora Theatre Company lead soprano, has released her first solo album, "Vera Voce". The album is a classical crossover featuring a selection of songs ranging from opera, operetta and musical to gothic rock. "Vera Voce" was recorded and produced at Thin Ice Studios by Clive Nolan and mixed and mastered by Karl Groom. In addition to the masterly renditions of the classical crossover repertoire, the album also includes the premiere of "Solitary Man", an aria from Clive's forthcoming musical "King's Ransom".

Clive: "'Vera Voce' is a terrific classic crossover album - Gemma's voice is in best display here with a wonderful collection of songs both familiar and less so - also we have a sneak preview of my new musical, 'King's Ransom', with the song 'Solitary Man' - great stuff."

More about Gemma Ashley HERE
View the promo clip HERE
Buy the album HERE

On November 5th, Clive Nolan and Friends will perform a concert at the official launch of the novel “Otra Vida” (“Another Life”) by the Uruguayan writer, Elizeth Schluk. Her book was originally inspired by Clive’s bilingual 2011 album, released in Uruguay under the same title and based on the idea of Nolan and Schluk. The “Otra Vida” album featured the last performance of the legend of Uruguayan theatre, cinema and TV, China Zorrilla as a narrator, as well as the Uruguayan-born Hollywood actress and singer Noel Calcaterra on vocals. The concert in Punta del Este, Uruguay will feature Clive on piano and vocal, Elisabeth Ellingsen (Caamora Norway) on vocal and the original “Otra Vida” guitarist and bassist, Mark Westwood (Caamora).

Clive: "'Otra Vida' is a novel based on an album which I wrote some years ago - it featured the singer Noel Calcaterra and told a story about a loss of memories. It is written by Ellie Schluk and is being launched at a special event on Saturday where I will be performing some songs from 'Otra Vida' with Mark Westwood and Elisabeth Ellingsen."

Congratulations to Elizeth Schluk on the publication of the novel!