A glorious love letter to Sheffield with a big, booming heart and astonishing sound... unstoppably winning, ineffably exuberant, extremely moving... take tissues' Guardian Lord took his project to Sheffield Theaters, then run by Daniel Evans, who has since run Chichester Festival Theatre and is about to take the helm at the Royal Shakespeare Company as co-artistic director. He will be joined by TamaraHarvey from Theatr Clwyd.

Magnificent... wonderful... possesses remarkable breadth and depth... a moving and resonant piece' The Times Standing at the Sky's Edge is the seventh studio album from English musician Richard Hawley, released in the UK on 7 May 2012 and in the US on 28 August 2012. The album is markedly different from Hawley's previous efforts, often relinquishing softer instrumentation in favour of squalling guitars. As with all of Hawley's previous albums, the title obliquely refers to a location in his native city of Sheffield, in this case Skye Edge, a hillside area with views over the city centre and formerly known for its crime-ridden estates but largely redeveloped in the mid-2000s. [2] [3] If I was running a venue, or even a chip shop, I’d think, ‘Hold on a sec, if they get away with it with these, then who’s next?’ It’s just wrong.” Set to the irresistible songs of legendary Sheffield singer-songwriter Richard Hawley, it is a heartfelt exploration of the power of community and what it is we call home.a b Millward, Tom (28 February 2023). "My Neighbour Totoro and Standing at the Sky's Edge receive most nominations at 2023 Olivier Awards". WhatsOnStage . Retrieved 28 February 2023. With him leaving the on-stage work of the musical to the cast, could we see him making a cameo in an eventual film? I wasn’t very precious about anything and I thought it would be interesting to see what another creative team would do with the songs,” he said. “I was involved, but Chris and others’ contribution was far bigger than mine.” a b Gill, Andy (5 May 2012). "Review: Richard Hawley, Standing At the Sky's Edge". The Independent. London, England: Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 . Retrieved 28 October 2012. a b c Petridis, Alexis (3 May 2012). "Review: Richard Hawley – Standing At the Sky's Edge". The Guardian. London, England: Guardian Media Group . Retrieved 2 September 2012.

I need to stop playing live for a while and record some of these songs that I’ve got,” he revealed. “I don’t know [what it will sound like] yet and won’t until I’m there. I don’t want to put any limits on it by saying, ‘Oh, it’s going to be this’. a b c Jurek, Thom. Richard Hawley: Standing at the Sky's Edge> Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 September 2012. Hailed as ‘the most exciting new British musical in years’ (WhatsOnStage), STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE was originally written as a love letter to Sheffield, charting the hopes and dreams of three generations over the course of six tumultuous decades, navigating universal themes of love, loss and survival.

Reviews

Hawley has also described the untimely and tragic death in February 2010 of his close friend, Sheffield guitarist Tim McCall, as the "catalyst for a lot of musical activity" [6] and the reason for the change in musical style on the album, saying "...the thing with Tim passing away... is that it made me kind of think musically is there anything I've left undone... and I thought, I haven't really ever just used the guitar as the only vehicle". [7] There's A Storm A-Comin' (Full Version)" (The original shorter version was released on 2009's "False Lights From The Land" EP) – 5:33 Early attempts at the show didn’t go to plan. By this time Rob Hastie had taken over at Sheffield Theatres and he suggested that they meetChris Bush, a local playwright. Within 48 hours Bush had come up with a “pretty good treatment” said Lord.

Wild, Stephi (28 January 2019). "Full Casts Announced For Sheffield Theatres' Hang and Standing at the Sky's Edge". BroadwayWorld.com . Retrieved 10 February 2023. There’s more to it than that, though, and Bush gradually builds up a more complicated picture: a city that went into decline not just because of the closure of its steel mills, but because of men who struggled to get over the loss of their old roles; salt of the earth residents of the flats who turned a blind eye to social cleansing that occurred prior to gentrification. Reflecting the mood of the rest of the team at The Leadmill, Hawley said that he was “not giving in” in his quest to save it. On 12 September 2012 the album was nominated for the 2012 Mercury Prize, [4] Hawley's second nomination after 2005's Coles Corner. a b Hyden, Steven (29 June 2012). "Review: Richard Hawley – Standing at the Sky's Edge". Pitchfork . Retrieved 28 October 2012.a b Schurr, Maria (15 May 2012). "Review: Richard Hawley – Standing at the Sky's Edge". PopMatters . Retrieved 28 October 2012. a b c d Robinson, John. "Review: Richard Hawley, Standing At the Sky's Edge". Uncut. No.June 2012. London, England: IPC Media. p.75 . Retrieved 28 October 2012.

I love what they do, because they do what bands should do which is stretch out and explore,” he said. “You can’t make the same record over and over again. I really like what they do and they’re mates.” Hawley also said that he had “no plans as of yet” to join Arctic Monkeys on stage again at their upcoming Sheffield dates, but heaped praise upon their 2021 album ‘ The Car‘. A love letter to Sheffield and a history of modern Britain told through the stories of one iconic estate, Standing at the Sky’s Edge charts the hopes and dreams of three generations over the course of six tumultuous decades.We keep talking about doing something together. I’d like it; I think we would be interesting. We get on great and she’s a right laugh. I admire her guts to take on the mantle that she does. To do it so fearlessly is quite a rare thing these days. I admire her very much.” Lord came up with the project after hearing about electric graffiti created by Jason Lowe at Park Hill asking his lover to marry him. “I was listening in inadvertently and I was just gripped by the story,” Lord recalled. The Original Live Cast Recording was recorded over three evenings in December 2022 during the Sheffield revival and mixed at the Arch Studios, Sheffield. The recording was released on 13 February 2023 and features 17 songs. [14] Adaptations [ edit ]