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11/12/2020 0 Comments

First public showing of The Crooked Spire (Windlass Edition)

Over sixty people watched out live stream on Wednesday 9th and on Thursday 10th over 20 people joined us for the British Sign Language version of the video.
Then many of the audience joined in a live Q&A session with some of the actors and creatives to discuss the making of the video in "pandemic times" and to consider how the story is developing. In fact we "sold" 30 free tickets for the Q&A via the Ticket Source website!
Many thanks to Caron Lyons (pcmcreative) for "stage managing" these events; to Emily Gray (MMD) for chairing the Q&A and to Jane Kelsall (BSLI) for her work signing the video and for her live signing on the night.
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19/11/2020 0 Comments

Sound Mixing for The Crooked Spire

​Well, I’m recovering from a two day hiatus where technology - although it has helped us create our work online - has also been causing us huge headaches.
 
I was appointed (I think by process of elimination?) to do the music mixing for The Crooked Spire project.
 
I had hoped to have all the singers’ files for a few days while I mixed the music and songs. I had gradually built up the mixes of the music by saving rough drafts of the Logic Pro files as each item came to me.  
However, some of these only arrived on the day I was supposed to send them to the sound mastering engineer. So, I worked until 2 in the morning on the mixes (trying to do as much as possible on headphones.)
 
As many others in our communities of musicians and artists are finding, trying to record yourself while listening to a backing track or click track can become a bit of a nightmare.
 
One musician I know has referred to doing ‘contortions’ while listening on headphones and recording themselves. And then when you listen back to yourself it can sound so disappointing and dispiriting because it is you, on your own, laid bare so to speak, when you are supposed to be part of something else in a backing track or a group or ensemble.
 
So, it took two days and 3 goes before I was able to transfer 7 pieces of music for the ‘production’ to the mastering engineer who was going to put the polish on our recordings.
 
He only had one day free in his schedule to work on it. The night before I thought I’d uploaded to Google drive.
 
Next morning, I got a phone call at 9.30 from Kevin to say that not all the files he needed were there.
I was in the middle of filming a scene outside Brampton Church and had to leave Clara to get on with it and my wife took over while I returned home to send the files again.
 
So, I uploaded the files again. I found there wasn’t enough space on Google drive so paid £15.99 for more google drive memory. Each file took between 20 minutes and an hour to upload. That’s seven times a minimum of 140 minutes twiddling thumbs. All depending on WiFi internet strength.
 
Near the end of the day - at 4.45 Kevin rang me to say he’d had a problem with opening the files from Google drive and could I upload them again via WeTransferTM.
 
So, while supper was waiting to be cooked, I started to upload to Kevin’s WeTransferTM the 7 files. This time it worked and later that evening I was given the thumbs up.
 
I was pretty exhausted by this time and needed the next day to recover.
 
Next day Kevin was able to WeTransferTM the finished and beautifully polished music files ready to go to the actors so they could film the rest of the showcase before it goes back to Andrew (Director) and Matt (Editor) to be made into the finished ‘master’ piece.
 
Martin

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7/11/2020 0 Comments

Further developments...

November 7th

Harry had to change the key of “To Be A Journeyman” because young Sam’s voice is changing. He is 12 and has played in Bugsy Malone but is obviously growing up fast!


The MIDI files he had created for Paul Nash at St Mary’s and All Saints (Crooked/twisted Spire church) didn’t want to play-I think that was because of the silences in front of the input ‘data’. Harry thought they were just for notation purposes. Sam was worried about hanging on to the microphone for too long when they were asked to post it to David for his ‘finale’ rendition. Director Andrew reassured him to hold onto the microphone as long as he needed-not to rush.

Mary has come up with an idea for costumes for the ‘girls’ while Andrew is struggling with the men’s attire.

So far I have received files from two of the ladies in Dronfield Choir. We are hoping many more will make the effort before our Monday deadline. We asked a third choir but the leader has been very ill and unable to rally the ‘troops’.

​Peter has managed to borrow a Zoom recorder (not the online version) so we can visit The Crooked Spire tomorrow when the tenor bell will be rung for Remembrance Sunday. We hope to use the recording for Beth’s Lament in our musical. Peter has also been busily recording sounds of tools such as chisels, saws and even an adze (a medieval axe) to use for the ‘film’.
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4/11/2020 0 Comments

AHA eNewsletter number one

 Welcome to our first eNewsletter.

The Crooked Spire (showcase), first shown at Buxton Festival Fringe July 2020, is currently playing at Brighton Fringe Festival online until 8th November.

The really exciting news is that we have been awarded an Arts Council England grant to develop The Crooked Spire Musical through its second stage and then into a full length musical.
 
Andrew Miller has been appointed as Director and Harry Style - Musical Director. They are assembling the company and rehearsals will soon be followed by filming. Stage Two, as we’re calling it, will tell the main part of the story and will be shown online on 9th December 2020
 
One of our actors, Clara Coslett, is performing in The Limit by Freya Smith and Jack Williams LIVE ONLINE from the Royal Central School Music Theatre on 15th November.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhOxLFHwqeY&feature=youtu.be

​

Best wishes,
Martin Coslett, Peter Gray and Mary Hennessy
 
 
www.ashgateheritagearts.co.uk and on Facebook and Twitter
email: productionoffice@ashgateheritagearts.co.uk

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31/10/2020 0 Comments

​AHA Diary for Stage 2 Crooked Spire musical

Well yesterday was a bit panicky because Harry (musical Director) had done mp3 files for the choirs and sent to Paul at St Mary’s - The Crooked Spire Choir. Paul had then asked for MIDI files which Harry duly created and sent out. I then sent these last week to the Dronfield Choir and Rob without checking them. One of the sopranos emailed me yesterday saying she was having trouble with the MIDI file for her part.

It turned out that they had the required number of silent bars before their part. This is fine if using in a notation package to view the score. If you try and play it however the ‘wheel of death’ comes on. I think it is the silent bars that cause this problem although I haven’t confirmed that. The mp3’s have now been sent and a deadline of 9th November so hopefully I’ll get some ‘choir files’ for the finale of Stage 2 – Wonderful (the windlass song)

Today Peter and I were debating about microphones. Depending on what the actors record on we need a particular Rode mic ME (or ME L for ‘lightning’ connection)
Kevin -the sound mastering engineer -recommended we get a mic for their singing.

Planning to firstly send one out to Chris Blades for his Robert song – This House Will Keep a Welcome. It will arrive next Wednesday. (£4.95 delivery) Hope that is soon enough.
£29 delivery if we want it there sooner.

Also, paid $125 for our original showcase to have a place in the New Zealand Fringe (online) next February and March today.

Martin Coslett
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8/4/2020 0 Comments

Our projects...

Yes, these are unique times!

Ferguson's Gang is our project to take on tour the remarkable tale of those five intrepid fund-raisers in the early days of the National Trust.

The Crooked Spire is our project to develop a Fourteenth-century Medieval Murder Mystery Musical set in the aftermath of the Black Death.

Contact us
   productionoffice@ashgateheritagearts.co.uk
for details.


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1/10/2018 0 Comments

The remarkable story of the National Trust Gangsters

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​Ferguson’s Gang…

1927…Britain's heritage is vanishing. Beautiful landscapes are being bulldozed. Historic buildings are being blown up. Stonehenge is collapsing. 

​Enter Ferguson's Gang, a mysterious and eccentric group of young women who helped the National Trust to fight back.
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30/9/2018 0 Comments

Ferguson's Gang goes on the run at The Mill

A National Treasure of a Musical

RH, JI, MF
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​The retelling of a true story, we assume, must be complex, balancing the sensibilities of the descendants of the real characters with the need to entertain, but Martin Coslett’s AshGate Productions did just that.

​The five wonderful actresses who starred in ‘Ferguson’s Gang’ at the Yvonne Arnaud’s Mill Theatre in Guildford this week, switched roles, costumes, accents and storylines in the blink of an eye, without ever missing a beat.

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1/12/2014 0 Comments

Review - The Perfect City

By ​Clive Burton | regular contributor to the Theatreworld Internet Magazine
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​"Previously premiered at the Quaker Meeting House in St Martin’s Lane, in the heart of London’s theatreland after a tour in similar South of England venues, Perfect City was presented in a costumed performance in the round. ​

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1/11/2014 0 Comments

Audience Thoughts & Responses - The Perfect City

​Very moving, powerful and very well presented. - Heather and Mike Brayshaw
​I really enjoyed the combo of music and serious subject,  I was drawn into the Penn story by the acting, from the very start!  Nothing dragged, nothing seemed not quite as it should be.  And the music was fun yet interesting and harmonically developed. So bravo to all of you. - Margie
Everyone I spoke to after the performance thoroughly enjoyed it.  how effective it was to have the cast sit in with the audience and to make such dramatic use of the centre aisle. 
- Ann Vernau

​PS.  I have one complaint: this morning I can't get 'Spice of my Life' out of my head!!

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