Internationally acclaimed stage director Caroline Clegg is directing the first ever staging of Sir Paul McCartney’s ‘Liverpool Oratorio’, which opens at the Cincinnati Music Hall, USA, on July 18.
Sir Paul McCartney with Carl Davis, created the ‘Liverpool Oratorio’ in 1991 to celebrate the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society’s 150th anniversary.
The text is Paul’s own; his memories from his childhood in wartime Liverpool and his youthful aspirations into adulthood. This timeless piece speaks to us all about the hopes, joys and crisis of modern life and finding our way.
It has beautiful arias and wonderful chorus melodies underpinned with the Latin text of Paul’s school motto that means “not for ourselves, but for the whole world were we born”.
The original oratorio was recorded and performed in Liverpool Cathedral by Kiri Te Kanawa, Sally Burgess, Wilard White and Jerry Hadley with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and chorus.
Caroline from Lancashire (pictured), said: “I am delighted to be creating the first staging of this piece. I am very fond of Liverpool; it is a city with warmth and wit and this piece is a passionate love letter to Paul’s home city. It asks us all to ponder the ups and downs of life, and to cherish what we have with our family. I am privileged to be working with acclaimed stage designer Leslie Travers, a fellow Northerner whose work I have admired for a long time.
“I really hope we can bring this opera back to its hometown of Liverpool so those who it might resonate with the most actually get to experience it for themselves.”
Caroline has enjoyed a dynamic career so far, which is an eclectic fusion of opera, theatre and musical theatre that aims to delight audiences of all ages with the sheer joy and surprise of live art. She is passionate about cross art-form collaborations, new commissions and site-specific work, a genre that Caroline has pioneered and perfected with over 30 years of award-winning work.
People in Lancashire and the Northwest will know her best for the company Feelgood Theatre Productions that she founded in 1994, where she remains as their dedicated CEO and Artistic Director continuing to push the boundaries of international touring and grass- roots music and theatre.
She innovated site-specific and immersive theatre in the UK creating new commissions; flying aeroplanes onto airfields, performing in air-craft hangers, on cliff tops and taking elaborate Shakespeare productions to Heaton Park where audiences combined a walk in the park with live theatre, music and dance.
On her return from Cincinnati, Caroline will direct the national tour of stage production Slave: A Question of Freedom based on the true story of Sudanese born Mende Nazer’s escape from enslavement in 2000.
She approaches her work with a definite sense of risk and adventure, willing to explore our perceptions of current societal issues through music and drama. Caroline embraces her dance background utilising physical storytelling to create detailed dramaturgy set within beautifully crafted intimate and epic stage pictures.
She is celebrated for creating dynamic ensemble work with a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural approach. In this way, she has successfully fused the classical canon with acapella singing, drumming and film techniques to create productions that offer audiences a visceral experience within a sonic and visual matrix.
