Stephen Fletcher (left) and Graham Bickley (right) who play Joe in the stage show "Eric's" at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, with Ken Testi (centre back) and Norman Killon at the Beat Goes On exhibition at the World Museum, Liverpool _320
* Click here for our Eric’s timeline and send us your own memories of the famous nightclub.
LIVERPOOL could have another big home grown stage hit on its hands by the end of the month when the much anticipated Eric’s the Musical is expected to have made its mark.
"We’re selling lots of tickets and there’s a lot of excitement about what’s going to happen - I think it has the potential to become a monster nationally as it’s not just a great Liverpool story but one which has a universal appeal which loads of other people outside the city will identify with too," said its Bootle-born writer Mark Davies Markham of the musical which is based on the legendary Mathew Street punk club of the 70s and early 80s.
He was speaking as the cast lined up for a photo call at the Eric’s section of the Beat Goes On Exhibition at the World Museum where former club DJ Norman Killon was on hand to tell them tales of what went on in the dingy cellar where some of the greatest ever bands played.
Among the actors was former Brookside and Holby City star Mark Moraghan and Graham Bickley who once played Bread’s Joey Boswell. They and the others will play club goers and burgeoning stars from the era such as Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant from Echo and the Bunnymen, Julian Cope of the Teardrop Explodes, Pete Wylie of Wah! Heat and Pete Burns of Dead or Alive.
"We’re nearing the end of the third week of the four and a half weeks’ of rehearsal and everything’s going brilliantly ," said Mark, the creator of the West End smash, Taboo, based on the life of Boy George, and who also staged the acclaimed Nativity play broadcast live on BBCTV from Liverpool last December.
The director is former Lipa graduate Jamie Lloyd, who has just finished work with Piaf at the Donmar Warehouse in London which received rave reviews from national critics.
"Jamie’s been fantastic and has brought a real cinematic eye to the script - not only that there’s some great choreography from AnnYee and song adaptations from Alan Williams," said the writer, whose story revolves around one man’s fight for survival as he draws on the defiant attitude of his youth and the inspirational venue from 20 years before.
The story is drawn from his own life threatening experience: in 1997 he was diagnosed with chronic myeloleukeamia and had to endure gruelling sessions of radiotherapy, chemo and a bone marrow transplant. The disease has now been 10 years in remission.
"So it’s not a history of the club - it’s my own story with Eric’s used as the point of inspiration," added Mark. "It was Eric’s and the Everyman which provided me with that inspiration when I was dreaming of getting out of my job as a clerk at the tax office in Bootle. It’s also not some cheesy cheat of a juke box musical with a bit of talking thrown in between the songs. The songs are sung by the cast and actually themed to move the story along."
They will include their renditions of Norman the DJ’s floorfillers from the time including Deaf School’s What A Way To End It All, The Damned’s New Rose and Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer.
"There’s a lot passion that’s gone into this, a lot of singing, dancing, laughter and some serious stuff too. I hope people are going to love it," Mark concluded.
Eric’s the Musical premiere’s at the Everyman on September 19 and ends on October 11.
* Click here for our Eric’s timeline and send us your own memories of the famous nightclub.
