Poster for London production of Closer to Heaven, 2001.

Closer to Heaven is a musical by Jonathan Harvey and Pet Shop Boys. It premiered in 2001 at the Arts Theatre in London. It opened to mixed reviews when it opened in May 2001 and it ran until October 13. Image File history File links Closertoheavenlondon. ... Image File history File links Closertoheavenlondon. ... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... Jonathan Harvey is a British playwright whose work has earned multiple awards. ... Jump to: navigation, search Pet Shop Boys are a UK electronic music act, formed by Neil Tennant (born on 10 July 1954) who provides main vocals and keyboards, and Chris Lowe (born on 4 October 1959) who provides keyboards. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Arts Theatre was a small club theatre in London, England. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Jump to: navigation, search October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years). ...

A new production of Closer to Heaven was premiered in Australia in 2005. Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Plot

The story is narrated by retired rock icon and actress Billie Trix (Frances Barber), who other than narration has a fairly small part in the overall story. The opening number, "My Night", is sung by Billie and the rest of the cast, and is used to introduce the characters. Frances Barber (born on 13 May 1958 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England) is a British actress. ...

Shell Christian (Stacey Roca), is going to see her estranged father, Vic Christian (David Burt), for the first time in years. Vic, who is gay, left Shell and her mother during her childhood, and now runs a successful gay club in London. Meanwhile, Straight Dave (Paul Keating), who has just arrived from Ireland, is working as a bartender at Vic's club, although his ambition is to be a dancer at the club. After seeing and speaking to her father, Shell meets Dave, and they immediately fall in love.

Record producer Bob Saunders (Paul Broughton) is a friend of Billie Trix and a regular at Vic's club. He sees Dave dancing and decides he wants to sign him for a boy band he is forming. He makes an offer to Dave, but he has no interest in signing to the record producer. But, Saunders does not give so easily and continues to pressure Dave into working for him.

Dave meets and falls in love with drug dealer Mile End Lee (Tom Walker), who deals at Vic's club. Shell is devasted when she discovers that Dave is gay, although part of her has suspected it all along. Meanwhile, Vic discovers Lee dealing drugs in his club and confiscates the drugs. Lee is worried he will be killed for losing the drugs.

At this point, everyone gets high on ketamine - Shell is still upset about Dave, Lee is worried about being killed, Dave is frustrated that Lee has withdrawn from him, and Billie, a habitual user, needs no excuse. Unfortunately, Lee has a drug overdose and dies. At Lee's funeral, Dave sings a song, "For All of Us". Jump to: navigation, search Ketamine is a general dissociative anaesthetic for human and veterinary use. ...

A few months later, Dave is apparently back on the road to success and sings "Positive role model" to end the show on a high.

Music

The following songs were featured (in order):

• "My Night" - Billie Trix & Cast
• "Closer to heaven" - Shell & Vic
• "Something special" - Straight Dave
• "Positive role model" (instrumental)
• "Closer to heaven" - Shell & Dave
• "In denial" - Vic & Shell
• "Call me old fashioned" - Bob Saunders
• "Nine out of ten" - Shell & Straight Dave
• "It's just my little tribute to Caligula, darling!" - Billie Trix (featured in rehearsal scene)
• "Hedonism" (instrumental)
• "Friendly fire" - Billie Trix
• "In denial" - Straight Dave & Shell
• "Something special" (reprise) - Straight Dave
• "Shameless" - Vile Celebrities
• "Vampires" - Vic
• "Closer to heaven" - Straight Dave & Mile End Lee
• "Out of my system" - Shell with Billie Trix, Flynn & Trannies
• "K-Hole" (instrumental - featuring an except of "Run, girl, run!" - Billie Trix)
• "For all of us" - Straight Dave
• "Positive role model" - Straight Dave
• "My night" - The Cast

Closer to Heaven (Original Cast Recording), October 2001.

Most of the songs that appeared in Closer to Heaven were specifically written for the musical because Neil and Chris did not want to produce a back catalogue musical in the vein of Mamma Mia! or We Will Rock You. Several of the musical's songs were pre-released on the Pet Shop Boys' 1999 album Nightlife, including "Closer to Heaven", "In Denial", and "Vampires". Nightlife was recorded whilst they were writing Closer to Heaven and originally more of the album's tracks appeared in the musical. The oldest song is "Shameless", which originally appeared as the b-side to "Go west" in 1993. Image File history File links Closertoheavencastalbum. ... Image File history File links Closertoheavencastalbum. ... The Prince Edward Theatre on Old Compton Street Mamma Mia! on Broadway (Winter Garden Theatre, New York City, February 2003) Mamma Mia!, a musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, is based on the songs of ABBA. The title of the musical is taken from the groups 1975 chart... Jump to: navigation, search We Will Rock You is a musical play, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1999(MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Nightlife is the eleventh album, the seventh of entirely new music, by the UK electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. ... Jump to: navigation, search i dont like this page. ...

A limited edition single of "Run girl run" by Billie Trix was available during later performances. The two track CD featured two versions of a track of which brief snippets could be heard in "K-Hole". The versions featured were: "Run girl run (Original 1971 single version)" and "Run girl run (1981 post-apocalyptic nightmare mix)".

An album, Closer to Heaven (Original Cast Recording), was released in October 2001 and was produced by Pet Shop Boys and Stephen Hague. The album featured studio recorded version of songs from the musical. Closer to Heaven is an album of songs from the Pet Shop Boys 2001 stage musical Closer to Heaven. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: October 2 - Bankruptcy of Swissair. ... Jump to: navigation, search Pet Shop Boys are a UK electronic music act, formed by Neil Tennant (born on 10 July 1954) who provides main vocals and keyboards, and Chris Lowe (born on 4 October 1959) who provides keyboards. ... Jump to: navigation, search Stephen Hague is a British music producer most active in the 1980s. ...

It was planned to release "Postive role model", as sung by Paul Keating, as a single before the album was released. Remixes by Almighty and Fergie were commisioned for use on the single, but plans were scrapped when the London production closed. These remixes remain unreleased, although the Almighty remix was available for a short time from the Pet Shop Boys' website and an edit of Fergie's remix appeared on dance compilation Headliners:03 in 2001.

London Cast

• Billie Trix - Frances Barber (until September 15); Amanda Harris (September 16 to October 13)
• Straight Dave - Paul Keating
• Shell Christian - Stacey Roca
• Mile End Lee - Tom Walker
• Vic Christian - David Burt
• Bob Saunders - Paul Broughton
• Flynn - David Langham
• Ensemble/Billie's Babes - Jo Cavanagh, Akiya Henry, C. Jay Ranger, Mark John Richardson, Richard Roe, Louie Spence, Mark Stanway, Amanda Valentine, Marcos White

Most understudy positions were filled by the ensemble when required, with the exception of Vic Christian, Saunders and Flynn, who were understudied by Andrew Whelan. Frances Barber (born on 13 May 1958 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England) is a British actress. ...

Future performances

The original run of Closer to Heaven was from May 2001 to September 2001. This was extended to January 2002 because early performances was played to packed audiences. However, over the summer, audiences dwindled. In recent interviews, Neil Tennant has blamed this on poor marketing and bad press reviews. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Arts Theatre were worried about the continual fall of audience numbers across London and wanted a big audience puller, so Closer to Heaven closed on October 13, 2001. It was replaced with The Vagina Monologues. 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: May 1 - Chandra Levy disapears while jogging. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: September 4 - Google Inc. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for January, 2002. ... Jump to: navigation, search Neil Tennant October in 2005 Neil Francis Tennant (born July 10, 1954 in North Shields, Northumberland, United Kingdom) is a British musician, who, with his colleague Chris Lowe, makes up the successful pop duo, the Pet Shop Boys. ... Jump to: navigation, search The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of suicide attacks against the United States conducted on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Arts Theatre was a small club theatre in London, England. ... Jump to: navigation, search October 13 is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler. ...

When Closer to Heaven opened in London, Pet Shop Boys said that there was interest from production companies all over the world, including New York and Germany. However, with the exception of 2005's Australian performance, no further news has surfaced about these. Jump to: navigation, search Pet Shop Boys are a UK electronic music act, formed by Neil Tennant (born on 10 July 1954) who provides main vocals and keyboards, and Chris Lowe (born on 4 October 1959) who provides keyboards. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York City Governor George Pataki (R) Senators Charles Schumer (D) Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² or 54,556 square miles (27th)  - Land...

Cast of the Australian production of Closer to Heaven, 2005.

In 2005, a short series of performances were done by the Brisbane Powerhouse, Australia. The cast for the Australian production included: Image File history File links Closertoheavenaustralia. ... Image File history File links Closertoheavenaustralia. ...

• Billie Trix - Libby Munro
• Straight Dave - Regis Broadway
• Shell Christian - Crystal Taylor
• Mile End Lee - Julian Curtis
• Vic Christian - Chris Herden
• Bob Saunders - Chris Maver
• Flynn - David Dellit
• Ensemble/Billie's Babes - Olympia Kwitowski, Sarshee Elliot, Brad Kendrick, Remi Broadway, Ellen Casey

External links

• Closer to Heaven (Official site for 2001 London production)
• Closer to Heaven (Fan site)
• Pet Shop Boys (Official site)