Howard Goodall - The Hired Man

The Hired Man
a musical show in two acts
Music and Lyrics: Howard Goodall
Book: Melvyn Bragg

Instrumentation
tpt - harp* - pno - harpsichord* - db - (optional string quartet) * - an amalgamated keyboard part, incorporating both the harp and harpsichord parts is also available upon request

Characters: John & Emily Tallentire, Seth & Isaac Tallentire, Jackson Pennington, Father Pennington, May & Harry Tallentire, Sally Wrangham nee Edmondson, Ted Blacklock, farmers and farmworkers, miners, soldiers of the Great War.

Original Cast (Leicester & London): Julia Hills, Paul Clarkson, Richard Walsh, Gerard Doyle, Clare Burt, Billy Hartman, Craig Pinder, Christopher Wild, Sarah Woollett, Michael Mawby, Stephen Earle, Stephen Jameson, Nelly Morrison, Gareth Snook, Robert Gill, Nicholas David, Philip Childs, Tony Crean, Richard Bartlett, Janice Cramer, Joseph Lloyd-Collatin; directed by David Gilmore, designed by Martin Johns, Choreographed by Anthony Van Laast, musical director Kate Young (assistant MD Helen Ireland)

Original Cast (Southampton): Phyllis Logan, David Tysall, Trevor Cooper, Trevor T Smith, Richard Walsh, Elizabeth Morton, Claire Parker, Peter Llewelyn-Williams, Stephen Earle, Billy Hartman, Stephen Jameson, Graham Callan, Paul Clarkson, Michael Mawby, Tilda Swinton, Nigel Eaton; designed by Roger Glossop, musical director Kate Young, director David Gilmore. 

SYNOPSIS
For a detailed summary of the work and cast information, click here.

AUDIO
Listen to The Hired Man on Spotify. 

PHOTOS

 
REVIEWS

The Guardian: “Ensemble songs take on extraordinarily personal tone” also “ Goodall's score, which draws on traditional English airs and folk music, call and respond to each other like swooping birds on the Lakeland fells.”...... “Howard Goodall's score … is one of the finest I have heard … its has its own cumulative choral vitality and ability, in a simple duet about marital survival, to penetrate one's emotional defences!"

Westend geek: "The way Howard Goodall’s score weaves in repeated themes and connects the musical narrative is breathtaking."

British Theatre Guide: "I could count on one hand the number of times I have left a theatre wanting urgently to own the score of the musical I have just seen. The Hired Manwould be assigned one of my digits and the recording I have owned for a few years now has always been sure of a place on my iPod.......The musical ambitions of the piece leave me in awe of Goodall's youthful skill - he composed The Hired Managed 26 - and in Andrew Keates' production the big voiced ensemble sweep you away on Goodall's plush melodic waves. This is unashamedly emotional stuff and the rousing score is as much to blame for the lumps in the throat and the tears as the heart-tugging story." 

The New York Times: "Mr. Goodall has a natural facility for pleasant melody and an affection for traditional song structures. The ample score for The Hired Man is infused with the sounds of British folk music and features numerous rousing choral number...."

New York Times: “....has both heart and purpose. The music is robust drawing strenght from the land … quietly affecting …. lyrical and liberating”

Daily Record: “Goodall's ambitious score is both beautiful and distinctive”

Theatre Week: “A score of operatic breadth, with melodies that sound like hymns and English folk music filtered through with a theatrical sensibility.”

New York Tribune: “The music is searing … vignettes that address both personal and global issues.... that touch the heart and feed the spirit …. there is nothing on Broadway to equal its simplicty”

New York Post: “big cast, solid, lots of songs, lots of gesture, lots of struggle.... Oh hell, I was also touched 

Radio Leicester Review: "Goodall's music actually creates and explores areas of feelings in a way which the spoke word alone cannot.... its an exciting score.”

Daily Mail: “Many things stand out in Goodall's music, its simplicity, melodiusness and the constant trumpet solo.”

Sunday Mercury: “...a vital throbbing score..... effective searing score shows the composers range of musical creativity"

Philadelphia Inquirer: "Goodall's score is touched with a truly lyrical imagination” ….. “ this is a serious work of music drama, rich in choral harmonies.... Goodall has a gift for the distinctive musical phrase and a sensitive gift for letting the emotion of the moment shape it.”

News of Delaware County: "Goodall's music is the fibre that holds everything together..... special gift for using music to reveal emotion"

Courier Post, NJ: “..... music of inspiring beauty...”

The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews: "The lovely and diverse score has a song for the many events and moods of which there's no shortage....They sing Gooddall's score — the real star of this show — with passionate commitment."

Londontheatrereview.com: "One of the most wonderful things about Goodall’s musical writing is the sense of history and community he evokes. His music is earthy, rich and vibrant, drawn from traditional English folk music and tradition and feels deeply ‘connected ‘and strong both in melody and rhythm. From the outset, it creates an immediate sense of community and determination as we hear the opening song in the distance, which then builds until the community is at full throttle in front of us. Goodall’s’ score is at its most lush in the ensemble numbers where he encapsulates all shades of human emotion from determination and despair to rage and joy." 

Jonathan Baz Review: "Taking the rich beauty of Howard Goodall's score and having it sung by some of the industry's biggest names, it was no wonder that The Hired Man in Concert, for one night only, was a hot ticket......the concert format bringing a magnifying glass to Goodall's stunning score. This is without doubt one of the most beautiful pieces of British Musical Theatre and after this concert treatment, one cannot help but feel that The Hired Man needs another outing in London's West End."

www.westendwilma.com: "Howard Goodall’s beautiful music is breathtaking..... a celebration of Howard Goodall’s beautiful score" 

Reviews from "The Hired Man" in The Netherlands:

The Hired Man: gripping portrayal of passion and strife. Mix of music and theatre finds perfect harmony

"The Hired Man was given its Dutch-language première at the Theatre ‘t Eilandje in the presence of composer Howard Goodall. It was a gripping performance of a little-known but musically skilful and dramatically rich musical, cleverly presented by the musical department of the Ballet of Flanders. Director Jan Verbist and choreographer Martin Michel opted for strongly stylized action. The alternation of music and theatre puts across the passion and poignancy. Max Smeets leads a small but vigorous orchestra in a musical language, which, as musicals go, is highly original. The Ballet of Flanders proves once again that in the world of musicals there can be quality and not just kitsch."
(Eddie Vaes in de ‘Nieuwe Gazet’, January 27, 2001)

The hired man sings sublimely. Moving performances by Jan Schepens and Janke Dekker

"Just as the murderess of Jan Schepens was being exposed in the VRT soap Thuis (Home), that self-same Jan was standing large as life on the stage of Theatre ‘t Eilandje at the première of The Hired Man, the new production of the musical department of the Royal Ballet of Flanders. Composer Howard Goodall was in the audience. And he saw that it was good.

The Brit expressed his satisfaction afterwards. “One of the best versions I’ve seen so far”, he muttered.  It could well be, of course, that he says the same thing wherever in the world his work is being performed. But we must admit that it was a very good performance. We enjoyed a beautiful spectacle, which never for a moment threatened to become banal and which was occasionally even moving. 

The drama that emanates from this epic is impressive. Director Jan Verbist succeeded in evoking the atmosphere of those days and with fairly simple means. A sparse décor are enough to create totally different situations in the space of a few seconds. The divine music did the rest. And of course there were the marvellous voices of Jan Schepens, probably one of Belgium’s  greatest musical talents, and Janke Dekker, who had little difficulty convincing everyone of her talent. We already knew what baritone Ernst Daniel Smid was capable of."  
(Herman Van Doninck in ‘De Gazet van Antwerpen’, January 27-28, 2001)

"Impassioned beauty"
(Jessica De Mulder in 'Bossche Omroep', January 28, 2001) 

Simplicity becomes The Hired Man

"Sometimes less is more. As the musical department of the Royal Ballet of Flanders shows with The Hired Man… The story provides scope for catchy ensemble numbers with compelling rhythms and a powerful choreography. Yet the more intimate work, in which Jan Schepens in particular excels, does not suffer as a result. He makes John a man of flesh and blood, vulnerable in his changeability. Ernst Daniël Smid is also first rate in a rather smaller role than we would expect of him. There are good supporting roles as well, for example that of Philip Bolluyt as comic pleasure-seeker, while the ensemble also does a fine job. Without much to-do and spectacle, The Hired Man tugs at the heart-strings."
(Marco Weijers in ‘De Telegraaf’, February 2, 2001) 

Sober musical with a real story

"The Hired Man is the name of the new production by the Royal Ballet of Flanders premièred in Den Bosch yesterday. The public appeared unanimous afterwards: hard to understand that this wonderful show will only run for three months.

The Hired Man is a little-known British show by composer Howard Goodall and writer Melvyn Bragg. So he decided to make one of his own. The show was a success in London, arrived in New York at the end of the eighties, but then - silence. Fortunately, the wilful musical department of the Royal Ballet of Flanders pulled the piece out from the back of the cupboard and dusted it off. The result is a subdued production, averse to overblown stage props and showy scenery, the music and songs are totally captivating and, believe it or not: it is about something. 

A dramatic story forms the leitmotif of this realistic and moving period piece. It is brought with tremendous energy and passion on a stage consisting of moving panels, with next to no props. The café is a back wall, the house is a kitchen table and that’s it. And nothing more is needed. The stage is so versatile that - with the help of slick lighting - even a collapsed mine or a pitched battle is plausible. With The Hired Man, the Royal Ballet of Flanders, which last year took Sondheim (including the less successful Company) into its repertoire, shows that musicals can be more than an all-in company outing. The artistic choice of this production deserves respect and full auditoria. Lovers of better work, go and see it and quickly, because after April 28th the show will undoubtedly go back into the cupboard to stay."
(René van der Velden in 'Brabants Dagblad/De Stem', May 2, 2001) 

Life as a never-ending struggle

"The Hired Man is social realism that takes the exploitation of the working classes, the rise of the workers’ movement and the insanity of war as the framework for a three-cornered relationship. Consciousness-raising theatre almost, but presented in a very tasteful and professional manner.

The musical department of the Royal Ballet of Flanders is well able to stage a worthy Dutch-language version of The Hired Man. In the production by the darling of Flanders Jan Verbist (Samson & Gert, Kabouter Plop and recently Pinokkio), dramatic austerity and the grand gesture go hand in hand and make good partners. This coupled with an ingenious minimal set by Hartwig Dobbertin and an excellent choreography by the Australian Martin Michel (also involved in the Dutch Miss Saigon), results in an impressive production."
(Coos Versteeg in 'De Haagse Courant', May 2, 2001) 

"A cheerful musical it is not, but what’s wrong with that for a change! Howard Goodall’s music was pleasing to the ear. As well as a few fine songs, there are impressive ensembles  and when the lyric takes precedence the music restricts itself to a piano or a discrete orchestral accompaniment. The performance we attended was enjoyable, not least because of the superb diction of all the soloists and their convincing portrayal of the characters…The small orchestral ensemble responded well under the animated leadership of Max Smeets. Jan Verbist’s production was smooth and succeeded  in creating just the right atmosphere: one moment  it was poignant, the next cheerful. As always with productions of the Ballet of Flanders, the austerity of the set was almost Spartan. The audience expressed its approval of the show and there was also loud applause for Howard Goodall, who had come over from England specially for the performance."
(Review on 'De Operagazet' website, January 1, 2001) 

"Under the approving eye of the composer himself, the musical department of the Royal Ballet of Flanders came up with a première yesterday that was indeed  ‘a first’. For the first time the English The Hired Man was staged in a language other than English. Expectations were running high. The cast spoke for itself: Jan Schepens, Janke Dekker, Ernst Daniel Smid, Maike Boerdam, Filip Bolluyt, Kirsten Cools, Stefan Hamblok, et al: each and every one of them artists who had already proved something on the musical stage. Add to that the experienced team of Jan Verbist as director, Max Smeets as musical director and Martin Michel as choreographer. Something big had to come of it and hopefully something positive too…

.. The Hired Man is a moving love story cum powerful social drama. The struggle for justice and against injustice is often intensely exposed. This alternates with a story of ardent love, which eventually results in a veritable three-cornered  relationship. Now and then a deathly silence falls, underlining the emotionally charged moments so much that the spectator is carried away by the music and the story, which towards the end reaches a climax of pure drama. A happy ending it is not, but given the gripping events that have gone before, that would hardly have been realistic. The acting of the majority of the cast was pretty good. The audience cries genuine tears at regular intervals. Filip Bolluyt certainly deserves a special mention for his strong portrayal of Isaac…

…I am confident the general public will enjoy this production. Powerfully emotional moments alternate with explosive, pugnacious scenes. Those expecting a typically English show will be disappointed. The Ballet of Flanders proved courageous enough not to take over the successful English production indiscriminately. Everything was changed and the result is intensely beautiful and compelling. As the composer Howard Goodall said with sincerity afterwards: “At last the piece has been played as I had in my mind’s eye when I composed it”. He could not have paid a nicer compliment."
(Review on 'De Showbizzsite' website, January 1, 2001) 
 

For more information about this and other musicals by Howard Goodall, click here.

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