Past shows:

Mahler: Song & Dance Man

written and directed by Mike Maran
music arranged by Karen Wimhurst

Song & Dance Man is a piece of storytelling for the theatre fully lit and designed with live music on stage. In the same 'genre' as Corelli, Angelo and Laing it tells the story of the life and music of Mahler.

It's a symphony of laughter and tears, with music arranged by Karen Wimhurst for a virtuoso sextet - clarinet, accordion and string quartet - a village orchestra!

'Maran moves from character to character with effortless ease and presents a moving tribute to a great and passionate composer'

Aberdeen Press and Journal

The story begins on August 22nd 1965 at The Usher Hall in Edinburgh and the UK premiere of Mahler's 8th Symphony. That performance was also the debut of The Edinburgh Festival Chorus.

Mike Maran was a tenor in the choir and sixteen years old. He tells a story that sweeps through the years from Mahler's birth in 1860, and follows the young conductor from one job to another towards the end of the 19th century until his appointment as Director of The Vienna Opera in 1897, his marriage to Alma, the death of his elder daughter, his departure from Vienna, the world premiere of the 8th Symphony in Munich, 1910, the collapse of his health and his early death in 1911, the banning of his music by the Third Reich, and the murder of his relatives and colleagues in Auschwitz.

'a magic piece of theatre, the near capacity audience spell bound at the feet of a master storyteller.'

Chelmsford Weekly News