Christmas Day Countdown šŸŽ…šŸ¼

Open search Close search

Close menu

Culture

Pete Waterman tells us why you need to book your tickets to I Should Be So Lucky at the Liverpool Empire

12 months ago

Pete Waterman tells us why you need to book your tickets to I Should Be So Lucky at the Liverpool Empire
I Should Be So Lucky is a British jukebox musical written by Debbie Isitt which uses the music of the pop writing team Stock Aitken Waterman

The music of Stock Aitken Waterman provided the soundtrack for a generation, with hits from Kylie, Rick Astley, Jason Donovan, Bananarama and more.

Now the era defining music is making its way to the stage, in the world premiere of the official Stock Aitken Waterman musical, I Should Be So Lucky coming to the Liverpool Empire from April 15th to April 20th.

We caught up with the Hit Factoryā€™s Pete Waterman, to discuss making a move into musical theatre, the enduring appeal of the SAW catalogue and why now is the right time to bring the songs to the stage.Ā 

There must have been many people wanting to make a musical using the Stock Aitken Waterman songs over the years, why is now the right time?Ā 

Iā€™d previously worked with a couple of people on it, but I think weā€™d never seen a story that was of any interest to us. Nobody came up with a story that we thought was emotional enough ā€“ they are very emotional songs and I think people didnā€™t get that.

Working with the cast in the theatre recently took Mike (Stock) and I back to when we wrote the songs. When you hear someone do a song slightly differently, the lyrics get to you. I guess nobody before had understood why the lyrics were so poignant. Yes, they were hits, but they were more than hits to the people that bought them, they were statements, particularly for young people. Weā€™ve always guarded that, we never wanted to spoil that memory. I think that the people we talked to in the past didnā€™t see the depth of the songs, they just saw that they were hits and that didnā€™t work for us.

Has it been a huge jump from the music industry into musical theatre? 

This is a very different genre for us ā€“ musical theatre ā€“ itā€™s hard work, itā€™s one of the hardest things Iā€™ve done in my life. My admiration for the cast is unbelievable. The hours they work and the detail they put in. The last thing you want is the writers of the music to sit in the audience frowning, but theyā€™ve got to understand that these are our children, songs that are very special to us. Weā€™re writers, but weā€™re now also the custodians of peopleā€™s memories, so we are touchy about how those songs are treated.

What do you think is your most successful song to date? 

Thereā€™s no question, itā€™s ā€˜Never Gonna Give You Upā€™. It has taken on a life of its own. Itā€™s easy to say that now that it has become almost legendary ā€“ I think last year we did 400 million hits, and its 35-years on. Itā€™s a song that got wrote on the way to work with Rick, and we didnā€™t take it that seriously at the time. 

Liverpool Empire Theatre (Exterior)
Liverpool Empire Theatre (Exterior)

Youā€™ve got to pinch yourself sometimes. Itā€™s when you see Kylie closing the Olympics or Rick doing Glastonbury and then doing this musical, you sit there thinking, ā€˜I didnā€™t think Iā€™d be doing this 40 years agoā€™. I thought weā€™d do great just getting a couple of years out of it.

The production features endless hits from the Stock Aitken Waterman catalogue, such as Never Gonna Give You Up, Especially For You, and the titular I Should Be So Lucky. Do you have a favourite used within the show? 

In this show thereā€™s a couple of songs that really hit me hard about why we wrote them, because theyā€™re done in a different way to how we did them, and itā€™s just beautiful. I think thatā€™s what has struck me about this whole thing. George Dyer, the productionā€™s musical director, what heā€™s done is absolutely great, you sit back and think, ā€˜I never saw the song like thatā€™. Soniaā€™s song, ā€˜Never Stop Me Loving Youā€™, I have never seen the way they do it in this musical. You just go, ā€˜Wow, why didnā€™t I think of thatā€™. The musical had me in tears. Two songs, every time they play them get to me, because the lyrics are so important to us ā€“ you instantly remember what you were going through or why you wrote that lyric. All the SAW songs are Matt, Mike and myself, spread across a canvas.

Iconic hitmaker Kylie Minogue scored her first UK number one with ā€˜I Should Be So Luckyā€™, and sheā€™s also got a starring role in the musical of the same name. Whose idea was it to get Kylie involved, and what is it like to work with her again after all these years?

It was the producerā€™s idea to get Kylie involved, and I wonā€™t spoil it for anybody, but it works ā€“ I was as sceptical as the next man, but it does work quite brilliantly within the show. Iā€™ve been so busy doing TV and other things that I couldnā€™t get to London to see her in rehearsals, but Iā€™m doing a show with her soon, so weā€™ll get to catch up then. With all your artists you never fall out with them. Because Iā€™m that much older than all the guys I was always like their dad really ā€“ they always treated me like their dad. If there was a problem they came to me, they didnā€™t go to the record company, I had to deal with all of it!

What do you hope audiences will take away from the production?Ā 

I hope audiences have fun with this show. This musical couldnā€™t have been timed better. Weā€™re currently in a world thatā€™s all over the place, I mean, we just need a bit of uplift as weā€™ve got enough grief.Ā 

Find more information about I Should Be So Lucky at the Liverpool Empire here.

Find all the latest Liverpool news here.

Share

Tags

The Guide Liverpool

About Us

We showcase the very best of Liverpool City Region through stunning video features and keep residents and visitors updated on what's on and what's good. About Us

The Guide Liverpool

Meet Our Team šŸ‘‹

Meet Our Team
Eurovision 2023 - Jay And Gem - The Guide Liverpool Video Production

The Guide Liverpool

Video Production & Advertising

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse quis eros sit amet mi eleifend tincidunt. Services