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Clive Nolan: And.... relax! So there we are, a week of Alchemy in the London "off West End'. And what a week it was! Full houses every night, three sell outs and a wonderful and enthusiastic reception from our many audiences. Audiences, which we made up of dedicated followers and just people who came in off the street to see what was going on. Special thanks to the ladies (they saw the show for the first time) who announced to the manager of the theatre that 'Alchemy was even better than 'Les Mis'... That made my week!... On this general subject I would like to thank all the wonderful 'Alchemists' who have stuck with the shows over the last year or two. It is always so good to see those familiar faces in the audience, and your support has been uplifting and heartwarming! To all of you who travelled, whether from another city in England, or from France, Germany, Poland, Holland, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and goodness knows where else... Thank you so much for coming and supporting us, yet again!

Ian Baldwin (‘Alchemy’ director): Well, today we are packing up the van (as well as quite a few cars), and we are heading to the big smoke to bring ‘Alchemy’ to the capital. The crew and I will be beavering away to set up sound, lights, set and get the performance space at the Jermyn Street Theatre ready to tell the story of Professor Samuel King and his battle against the evil schemes of Lord Henry Jagman in this tale of good versus evil, love versus hate, and life versus death.

It has been an interesting journey so far. A far flung cast, all of whom have other full and varied professional commitments which have made rehearsals an interesting exercise in organisation and planning. I must thank Ross Andrews for faithfully making sure that the working tech script is kept up to date, Sian for making sure that most of the London contingent are at rehearsals on time and of course rehearsals just would not have been possible, or indeed as enjoyable without the amazing and unbounded hospitality of Maggie and Chris Lewis who have made sure that we have been fed, watered (among other fluids), and even housed. There just is not enough space on this web page to thank them properly.

"Last weekend saw the rehearsals get properly underway for 'Alchemy' in London. It was a two day package, where we used the time to start working on the structure of the show. Who should be on stage and when? What props do we need? Almost everyone was there, and we managed to get through most of the show. Strangely at this stage, singing is really not that important. We just need to know we had some kind of visualisation of how ‘Alchemy’ would work in this small intimate theatre. The good news was that Ian Baldwin and I were very much on the same page, so this ‘starter for ten’ went very smoothly with Ian taking charge and helping the cast see what we wanted to put across to the audience.

On day two, we spent the afternoon with a small collection of cast member, and went through vocal lines. I wanted to make sure things hadn’t got ‘lost’ along the way, and also I wanted to see how Matthew Ronchetti was getting on with things. The answer to that was ‘very well’, so this was an easy rehearsal. Ross Andrews was starting to acquaint himself with the part of Greaves as well (he will be playing Greaves, and the Captain for this production), so this was a fruitful session.

The cast of the London 'Alchemy' shows in August 2014 has been confirmed. The shows, that will take place at the off-West End Jermyn Street Theatre (right next to Piccadilly Circus), will be a brand new production of Clive Nolan's musical. Due to a limited space of the theatre (just 70 seats in the venue), the show will feature 8 singers: Clive Nolan (Professor King), Andy Sears (Lord Henry Jagman), Agnieszka Swita (Amelia Darvas), Vctoria Bolley (Eva Bonaduce), Matthew Ronchetti (William Gardelle), Chris Lewis (Thomas Anzeray/Milosh), Verity Smith (Mrs Muncey/Jessamine), Ross Andrews (Benjamin Greaves/Captain Joseph Farrell).

On stage we will also see a supporting cast featuring: Ian Baldwin, Ethan Barnett, Natalie Barnett, Colin Greene, Ron Milsom, Caron Morgan and Ollie West.

Tickets for the summer off-West End shows are available via the theatre.

We have pleasure to announce that the contract with the West End Theatre has been signed! 'Alchemy' will be performed in London in August 2014. Details about the cast, the theatre and tickets sale will be available soon.

Clive Nolan: "It is with both pleasure and some trepidation that I can announce that I have now signed the contract with the theatre, and 'Alchemy' is definitely booked to go to the West End. Technically this is an "off West End' show, but geographically we are right there in the heart of it all. We won't name the theatre yet - we'll wait until tickets can actually be bought. Everything for this production begins now, so stand by! So… The adventure continues!!"