Tag Archives: interview

Nordoff Robbins Gets Set for the BRIT Awards

This week sees the highlight of the UK music awards season, the BRIT awards. The event will be shown live on Wednesday and viewers will be able to download and stream all the audio performances. These downloads will be free to the viewer as Google Play picks up the costs and donates the money to the BRITS official charity partner which this year is the music therapy charity, Nordoff Robbins. Last years charity, Warchild, received £250k so lets hope that the same (or more!) is raised for one of Alfie Boe’s official charities.

Ahead of this exciting time for Nordoff Robbins, I caught up with CEO Julie Whelan to talk about how being the official charity partner of the BRITS will help them. The charity have a long standing relationship with the BRIT Trust and the BPI, going back to the 1991 fundraising concert at Knebworth and the set up of the BRIT school which led to extra funding for Nordoff Robbins. Since then, the BPI and the BRIT Trust have been ongoing supporters of Nordoff Robbins. This year, much to Julie’s delight, the BPI very much wanted to highlight the work that Nordoff do and asked them to become the official charity partner of the 2016 BRIT awards. As Julie says, this is doubly brilliant as Nordoff is not a charity that “instantly springs to mind. When I first started work with Nordoff I sometimes asked unsuspecting members of the public if they knew who we were and they mostly thought we were a sewing organisation or sold ice cream”! Actually, the following video shows what they do – be warned, you might have something in your eye by the end!

Going forward from 2016, Julie says that Nordoff are currently expanding the services they offer and moving into new areas which have never, until now, been able to access music therapy services and it is this that will be spearheaded by the, hopefully large, influx of funds from the BRIT awards. Services are currently provided from the main centre in North London, the Andrew Lloyd Webber centre at the BRIT school and via a myriad of therapists who travel to NHS centres, prisons, special schools and mental health trusts to name just a few. Over the next eighteen months or so, Nordoff is committed to expanding into Wales, Yorkshire and the North East of England as well as committing to providing services in all London boroughs. Julie emphasised that Nordoff often “works with people in the most isolated and vulnerable settings, those who need it most” and that the expected donations from Google Play this week will enable the much needed regional expansion to happen.

So, being the official charity partner of the BRITS is of huge significance to an otherwise small charity especially when you consider that they receive no government funding at all. Day to day running costs are funded through a number of fundraising events, corporate fundraising events and partnerships and donations from the public. Of course, I asked Julie about the importance of Nordoff’s celebrity ambassadors and what they bring to the charity and this is what Julie had to say about Alfie. “Alfie Boe is someone who gives his time to support us and also, through his fans he brings a whole new set of people who are aware of Nordoff Robbins and what we do. Having that has made us much more confident as a charity”. The use of Alfie’s birthday each year to encourage fans to donate to Nordoff has meant more than £8,000 raised over the last five years; Alfie said “I’m overwhelmed with the generosity shown by fans who have donated to Nordoff Robbins. I’m passionate about music education and therapy and I really appreciate every single donation.”

Alfie of course is not the only ambassador for Nordoff who makes a difference; soprano Laura Wright regularly attends fundraising events throughout the year and makes regular trips to the centre to observe music therapy sessions and engage with clients. Interestingly, not all the official ambassadors are from world of music. Two such are presenter Gaby Roslin, host of the Silver Clef Awards for the last few years and England cricketer, Jimmy Anderson. Having two ambassadors outside the music world is great for Nordoff as Julie explains: “Although they are not musicians, both are connected with the importance of music and having them give their time raises awareness of our work…Jimmy Anderson gives a lot of support at corporate events and Gaby Roslin gives us as much airtime as she can. She is very interested in the work that we do with families.”

So, with all that in mind, get ready to watch the BRIT awards on Wednesday and download the live performances via Google Play!

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Wakey Wakey the Overreactivist

Spend half an hour in the company of Michael Grubbs, the creative force behind indie band Wakey Wakey and you’ll come out with a renewed enthusiasm for old school music making – and you’ll also laugh a lot. I recently interviewed Grubbs and his producer and long time collaborator, Chris Cubeta, to talk about Wakey Wakey’s new album, Overreactivist and I remember laughing a lot but nowhere near as much as was evident when I listened back to the interview. I can only wish that all interviews were so enjoyable.

Overreactivist is Wakey Wakey’s third album and a radical departure from the previous pop album, Salvation, in more ways than one. In contrast to the first album which was full of youthful expression and captured the spirit of making music with no money and no expectation of success, Salvation was a collaborative experience with a team of writers, producers and musicians and the end result turned out to be even further from Grubbs’ first intention of making a pop album. Whilst acknowledging it was an amazing team experience, Grubbs says this experience and way of making music made him feel “disconnected from myself as a musician” and as a result he returned to the ‘old days’ and decided the next step would be to write and record an indie rock EP. The natural choice would be to use producer Cubeta’s studio which as it turned out was shortly to be demolished (it now no longer exists). Happily, they managed to find enough studio time to record enough material for not just an EP but a whole album.

Talking to Grubbs and Cubeta it is plain that the recording of Overreactivist was a form of therapy and respite for both of them from (Cubeta’s words) “an insane part of my life”. Telling only a very small number of people that they were making a new album and taking the decision to only allow those people to hear it if they came to the studio meant that the two of them had complete creative control over the entire process. Cubeta says that as a producer his job is “to find the essence of the artist at the core of the music and bring it out…to make them the best version of themselves. People connect to music that captures the artist at their core”. Unknowingly, they did just that with the first Wakey Wakey album and in Overreactivist they have gone full circle in finding the core of the music they were making and then doing what felt right. Happily, the urgent need to make this album quickly meant a perfect harmony in doing what was best for the song and makes for a tribute to a great collaborative partnership.

Listening to Overreactivist as a whole feels like a very personal album and indeed Grubbs confirms that this is his most personal album so far, even autobiographical. To me, at least, the songs can be read in a number of ways with a strong political current throughout but when asked, Grubbs laughed and says that “although I am very political in my personal life…at home, I make an effort not to be on the right or the left publicly as I don’t want to spend my life justifying my position”. Grubbs then goes on to talk about the “undeniable reality that people don’t pay for music anymore, people don’t pay to support artists in the way that they used to. How did we get here? How am I supposed to support myself as an artist?” These are questions that are brought together in the stand out song of the album, Homeless Poets and in a previous interview Grubbs touched further on the ups and downs of braving the creative dream. I love the video so much I have to show it to you again (Buster the dog is a superstar in the making):

Leaving aside the political undertones for a moment, Overreactivist is an album that challenges the listener on many levels; there is an upbeat message and sound throughout although there is also a touch of disilusionment (Golden’s”if I believed all the things we said when we were young I’d be a broken man with a broken heart and broken dreams”) apparent too. Listening to the album left me with a strong emotional connection to the music, it hangs together very well as a whole and this is due in part to the arrangement and structure of the songs. Grubbs wrote all the songs and proves to be an accomplished songwriter; his early musical influences of Billy Joel and Elton John are apparent with the piano driven melodies. Having said that, the guitar playing of Chris Cubeta is one of the many joys of this album.

Wakey Wakey are lovely people and ahead of the release of Overreactivist on 26 February they have given me a free track to share with you – told you they were nice! If you liked Homeless Poets click here to go over to the Angry Baby blog to get your free track, Adam and Eve (my second favourite track after Homeless Poets).

Overreactivist will be released on The End records on 26 February. Pre-order the album here:

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Club 24601: Alfie Boe is Jean Valjean

Thirty years of Jean Valjean and we’re celebrating the legend that is Les Miserables by looking back at some memorable Valjean’s. So who better to start with than the best of them all (in the opinion of this blog anyway, and, I suspect in the opinions of one or two readers) than the current Broadway JVJ, Alfie Boe.

I interviewed Alfie before he started on Broadway and asked him what he thought would be the greatest difference in his approach from when he played the role in the West End. The main difference would be the difference in the production: “the production is completely different, it’s not the same show I performed in the West End”. Alfie went on to say that although the music is the same, the structure and choreography is different, so “I’m excited to embrace the new direction for the role”. As Alfie had appeared on Broadway before (La Boheme) I wanted to know how and if that experience would differ. Of course, La Boheme was only three shows a week and now he is fully embracing the show with seven shows. Did the fact that he is a lot more well known now factor at all? The answer was definitely not, Alfie said “although I’m a little more well known than I was back then I’m not focused on that. I’m focused on doing the job, doing it properly, performing each show I’m in to the highest standard”. Judging by the rave reviews, Alfie is doing a great job in New York.

Talking about the differences and the challenges of returning to the show naturally led us on to Alfie’s time in the West End. I’d forgotten (no idea how!) that Alfie had been in the show for a couple of weeks prior to the 25th anniversary show at the O2. Alfie said that he had had a great experience, loved every minute of his new venture into the world of musicals as he’d not really done much in the West End before that. He made friends immediately amongst the cast which as Alfie says was “a blessing, it stuck with me for a long time. They helped me, supported me in my interpretation of the role and character. A wonderful experience”.

Of course, performing an iconic role like Jean Valjean means a lot of pressure to be wonderful every night but also brings the opportunity to sing an incredible score every night which inevitably gets an incredible audience response. When asked to choose his favourite JVJ song, I felt that Alfie could easily have chosen them all and indeed mentioned the epilogue, the soliloquy and of course his signature tune, Bring Him Home. Alfie says “Bring Him Home is the song that everyone turns to but for me, one of the greatest moments to express true emotion and strength is towards the beginning of the show in the soliloquy. It’s a real embracing of emotion, expressing the emotion to the audience. I put a lot into those moments, anxiety, fear, passion to reach an understanding of who he is as a character, so I really like that moment in particular. Also, at the end of the show, the epilogue is a beautiful piece , when he’s realising he’s close to death, coming to the end of his life, I really enjoyed singing those moments too”. Here is Alfie at the Royal Variety Performance 2010:

Although JVJ is our focus here, Les Mis is a show full of outstanding songs so I was interested in asking the JVJ’s I interviewed if they had a favourite song by another character. Alfie chose Stars by Javert and revealed that he’s actually quite jealous that he doesn’t get to sing that song in the show himself! He also chose Norm Lewis as his favourite Javert, saying “I’ve heard it sung by so many Javerts but the one that sticks in my mind is Norm Lewis at the 25th anniversary and also Earl Carpenter [which is handy, seeing as he’s in the Broadway show!]. Those are the two guys who stick in ,my mind, their rendition of that song, very talented singers”.

Thanks Alfie for a lovely interview – I’ve quoted most of his answers without editing as I found I didn’t need to add or remove anything, his answers were perfectly eloquent by themselves.

The next JVJ interview is Dan Koek and you can find it on Monday 12th October.

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Exclusive: Alfie Boe Supports Trinity Hospice’s Tea Party Fundraiser

As patron of the Fylde Coast hospice, Trinity (which includes the children’s hospice, Brian House), Alfie Boe is very committed to supporting it’s fundraising efforts. This time last year, Alfie launched the first ever Trinity Hospice Tea Party which raised a staggering £20,000 – that’s a lot of tea and cake!

Now, in 2015, the hospice is hoping that the second year of the tea party campaign will yield just as much, if not more, funds to support the daily running costs of both hospices. £5 million is needed annually to fully support the work that the hospices do and while £20,000 might seem a very small part of that, it still goes a very long way. To illustrate, £10 provides art materials for someone to make a memory box for their loved ones, £150 runs Brian House for one hour, £500 provides eight bereavement sessions for a family and £1,500 means that a child can stay over the weekend, providing much needed respite care for both the child and the family.

In the face of these essential funds, it is just as essential that the charity’s patron supports the fundraising campaigns. I recently interviewed Alfie about Classic Quadrophenia and Les Mis and also took the opportunity to ask about Trinity. Alfie was really pleased that his fans have been so supportive of Trinity and urged

everyone to go ahead and support this wonderful charity – have a cup of tea and enjoy yourselves.

If you want to support the Trinity Tea Party, just have a tea party, bake some delicious cakes and enjoy! Alternatively, why not enjoy a virtual tea party with friends on social media? I attended one such virtual party last year (the brainchild of the lovely Margie) and we had a fabulous time. Whatever you end up doing, visit the Trinity website (click here) or tweet @trinity_hospice and tell them what you’re doing. It makes a real difference.

To get an idea of the difference Alfie’s fans make to Trinity, I spoke to Shirley Morgan from the hospice team recently and she was overwhelmed with the level of support from Alfie and his fans across the globe. Although most donations are from the local area, Shirley mentioned a substantial amount of donations from outside the area and many of these can be traced directly back to Alfie Boe fans. Shirley said that the hospice

couldn’t have a better patron; we really appreciate the global audience he brings and to top it all, he’s such a nice guy. But I don’t know if he even drinks tea!

So, Alfie, do you drink tea?

To make a donation to Trinity (with or without a tea party) click here. If it is a tea party donation, don’t forget to say so!

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Alfie Boe Talks New Dates for Quadrophenia and Les Mis

Recently, I have been listening to the upcoming orchestral version of Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia before reviewing it here in the run up to the album release in June. It sounds fabulous, especially the vocals which sound as if they were recorded from a live performance and not in the studio (even though they were) and I discussed this with Alfie when I interviewed him this week.

The interview actually started with both of us saying “hello”, “hello, can you hear me” type of thing as he was on the move and I was sitting in the playground of my son’s school. I was there to do some fundraising for the specialist music education required by the National Curriculum; as Alfie is well aware, given his recent comments on the state of music education in the UK, schools legally have to provide music education but are given no funding. This often means that music education is not as healthy as it should be. The conversation then turned to Nordoff Robbins and the music therapy and rehabilitation programmes they run which also have no central government funding at all. Alfie would like to see some funding set aside to subsidise the therapies available but doesn’t seem too confident that this will actually happen.

Now, as we were there to talk about Classic Quadrophenia, I started by asking how long he had been involved with the project as it was only about six months ago that the fans became aware of his participation. Alfie said that he came on board about “a year ago. I was asked to go and sing for Pete, to see if I had the right sound for the project”. Obviously, the answer was a resounding yes and Alfie went on to spend two days in the studio with the orchestra. The vocals heard on the album were then recorded in Pete Townshend’s own studio in (Alfie’s words) “a good few hours. The sound is almost like a live recording of my vocals as it was really flowing, we were really in the groove”. I asked Alfie how difficult it was to sing and although some parts are trickier than others, the most difficult for him was getting the emotional intensity right. “It’s an emotional piece and you have to understand what you are singing and the emotional intent behind it and then you’re alright”. I should say that he’s got the emotional intensity spot on as it’s a very powerful album. Look out for the review in the next couple of weeks.

Although this was a brief phone interview, I did ask about Les Mis on Broadway , telling him that my readers would never forgive me if I didn’t ask about that! (That got a chuckle and he’s clearly thrilled by all the good wishes sent his way). Alfie said that he has always been interested in doing Broadway as it would finish off his Jean ValJean story nicely – 25th anniversary concert, West End run and then Broadway. When asked why now, his answer was that it’s all down to timing. It wasn’t the right time before but it is now – simple as that. Oh, and he mentioned that he is scheduled to be performing in the show until February but please do check the website as there are some dates he’s not doing. Incidentally, he won’t be in the show for these dates as he’s doing Classic Quadrophenia elsewhere:

13 October – Cologne

26 October – Munich

31 October – Vienna

There might be more news but I can’t tell you about it yet! In the meantime, here’s Alfie singing Love Reign O’er Me on his recent UK tour:

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Rebecca Newman: The Soprano Who Dared to Dream

Last September, something unique happened in the UK classical album chart: an independent artist went straight to number one! The album is Dare to Dream and the artist is the People’s Soprano, Rebecca Newman, who has just announced new concert dates. To talk about this and her current tour supporting Russell Watson, I met up with Rebecca before the Richmond tour date.

I started by asking about being an independent artist, as yet unsigned to a major record label. Is signing to a major in the plan? Since Dare to Dream hit the top spot in 2014, Rebecca says there has been a lot of industry interest and awareness in her as an artist which will hopefully lead to some fruitful conversations. Interestingly, it is other, established artists who have so far given the most public support. Alfie Boe has tweeted his support for Dare to Dream, saying Casta Diva is his favourite track and of course, Russell Watson invited Rebecca to tour with him as his special guest on the current Up Close and Personal Tour. Should a major record company deal come to pass, a lot of fans will be ready and willing to snap up that album.

Dare to Dream, as well as being the album title, is also one of the original songs co-written by Rebecca and seems to be the perfect song for her at this stage of her career. In fact, many fans relate to it, saying it means a lot to them, often for very different reasons. For her part, Rebecca says that the song is about the inspiring little moments that happen in your life along the way:

whatever your dream is, own it, love it, follow it

Rebecca certainly seems to be following her own advice here as she has come a very long way in the music industry since she first started busking in York ten years ago. At first, busking was a means to an end but Rebecca soon found that it was a great way to connect with an audience whilst building a fan base as well as earning money. In this way, Rebecca has been recording and selling her own music although Dare to Dream was the first album eligible for official chart release. Street performing is a very pure, honest style of performance and this seems to suit Rebecca, so much so that she says she gets withdrawal symptoms when she doesn’t do it for a while. She enjoys engaging with fans on such an intimate level which has sometimes meant that she has had to work harder to connect with a larger audience. Her best advice when faced with a larger audience is to just simply “sing”. Perform first and chat second, an approach that has worked to her advantage as a special guest to Russell Watson. I was lucky enough to see Rebecca perform on the Richmond tour date and while a few members of the audience were clearly baffled when she first came on stage, they were very impressed after her first song. There were audible gasps of appreciation when she then mentioned her number one classical album…all without a major record label behind her. By the time her part of the show was finished, the audience was won over. I questioned how street performing would fit in with a more successful, visible music career and Rebecca was quite clear that major success would not stop her performing pop up gigs in any way – let’s hope we get the chance to find out! A fan’s comment to Rebecca that “you’ve set down deep roots so the wind won’t blow you away” would seem to bear witness that she has a strong and loyal fan base.

As mentioned earlier, Rebecca has recently announced her own concert dates, the first of which is Lichfield Garrick theatre on 16 July 2015 (on sale 1 May) and she is understandably excited about the prospect of being the star attraction. There are other projects and collaborations to be confirmed and announced and together with an appearance on BBC’s Songs of Praise (recorded but no transmission date yet) this should be an exciting time for fans. Amongst other things, Dare to Dream will hopefully be re-issued as a single complete with a new video! Until then, take a look at the current video:

The album is also available on Amazon:

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Alfie Boe – The Duets Album?

If this were to happen, who would Alfie Boe love to duet with? In the virtual sense, in a BFBS interview aired recently, he picks Freddie Mercury (think the new Streisand / Presley duet) but the two female voices he picks are Chrissie Hynde and Barbra Streisand. They would be two completely different collaborations but I bet they would both produce wonderful results!

Here is the interview in full – a great listen if Trust is your favourite Alfie Boe album (thanks to Marcia for sharing):

Serenata is available now – don’t forget to pop a review on Amazon:

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Alfie Boe – The Way He Sings ‘Em

Alfie Boe’s Serenata promotional tour continues apace with this cracking interview for Radio Nottingham with Alan Clifford – once again, thanks to Marcia for sharing:

And thanks to the late great Frank Carson for the headline!

Doesn’t the tour sound fantastic?

Serenata is available now – don’t forget to add your review to Amazon:

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Alfie Boe – Simply The Betsy Interview

Great interview with Simply The Betsy blog:

Who is Alfie Boe? When I was offered an interview with him, I knew his name. I thought I knew he was a singer (I was right), but turns out he’s also an actor, an Italo-phile (that’s an Italy lover, duh!), and a bit of a flirt. Here’s what went down when I chatted to him last week.

Let’s start with the easy questions to warm you up, so do you have a favourite book?

I have to admit I don’t read very much; whenever I do try and read I feel guilty, that I should be looking at music. But I should try and get into it a bit more.

Does that apply to films as well?

I do like watching my movies, and I have a number of favourites. I like the old-fashioned 1940s films, things with Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart, so Casablanca, Out of Africa and The African Queen. They’re the best, they really capture a romantic time period that I really love.

A favourite album?

These are tough! [Groans] I love all types of music so I have favourite albums across the board. I love Led Zeppelin’s ‘Houses of the Holy’, The Rolling Stones ‘Exile on Main St’. Dean Martin, Enrico Caruso, but I can’t pinpoint one in particular.

Do you still feel Northern?

I’ll always be Northern. I’m about as Northern as you can be, I think. I’ll never lose my roots. I’ve spent time in America but people say I’ve not lost my English accent and I can’t. I can’t ever lose my identity as being a Northern English bloke.

So it’s not grim up north?

Absolutely not. Morrissey was wrong with that.

I’ve read that a businessman overheard you singing when you were working as a mechanic, and he told you to audition.

Yes, but he wasn’t the only person who was encouraging me. I had a lot of support, but this particular guy told me about the auditions.

So what song did you sing?

I sang a song called ‘You Are My Heart’s Delight’ and it’s an old song written by Franz Lehar – an old classical composer – and it’s one that my father used to play around the house all the time. So I’d hear this song constantly and because it was an opera company I had to try to sing something like that. Because my father used to play it all the time, I couldn’t help but learn it, and know the words. I did it in English, it’s actually originally in German, but I did it in English, and got on. They asked me back for a second audition and I sang some West Side Story for them then and then they offered me the job.

I know what you mean, I remember listening to my mum’s Tina Turner album in the car for ages.

Your parents teach you things.

But not always good! I remember getting into trouble, aged six, for coming into school and singing the words to Tina’s ‘Private Dancer’. That was a tough one for my mum to explain!

Oh my word! Not so good! [Laughing] That’s absolutely great.

Do you still get stage fright?

I do. Not fright, but nerves before I do a show. It’s part of the job, and being a performer. All that nerves are are wanting to do well. It can sometimes be horrible to experience, but then also they can be exciting. Once you turn the nerves into excitement and develop them into your performance, that’s ok.

How do you feel about being known as ‘the Lancashire Michael Bublé’?

[Chuckles] Is that what they’re calling me now?

Apparently so.

Really. Well that’s a nice compliment. I’m fine with that. I didn’t expect that.

Is that what you’ll call yourself now?

Completely. I’m going to drop the name ‘Alfie Boe’. Bit of a mouthful for an album cover though.

You were in ITV’s Mr Selfridge recently; what brought about the move from musical theatre to TV?

Well, I’ll always been acting really in the shows, and it’s always been a part of my career, and when I got this opportunity, I jumped at it. It was a great chance, and something that was going to open another door for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’d like to do more. Music is taking up a lot of my time at the moment, but if the opportunity arose to do some more acting on TV, I’d love it. Great fun.

You’re known for your performance of Jean Valjean in Les Mis; what did you think of Hugh Jackman’s version in the recent film?

Well, we’re very different obviously – different people and different performers – he did a good, he did a great job. With that role, it is a strong acting role, if you have the acting and the vocal ability too, then that’s great. Hugh sang it in a very different way than I did; I’m operatically trained and he’s musical theatre trained and he used the voice that he has. It is a very different performance and character that we both play but that’s the beauty of Les Miserables, many people have done the roles and brought something new to it that keeps it alive.

And now you can move on to Lancashire’s Michael Bublé?

Exactly. There you go. I’ll get my dance steps moving.

And get the hip shake?

Get the hips going; that’d be good [laughs].

What question do you wish people would stop asking you?

Oh, my word. ‘When did you decide to become a singer?’ or ‘When did you discover you had a voice?’ That’s the one I get asked a lot.

So what do you wish people would ask you?

Erm, I don’t know. ‘What am I going to have for my dinner tonight?’ Anything but that. I like exciting questions, things that make you think a bit, rather than just coming out with the same old explanation about why I became a singer. You know, ‘What would you advise?’ Well, it’s to work hard, and go for your dreams, and that sort of thing, there’s nothing exciting you can say.

What would surprise your fans to learn about you?

Probably that while I’m stood here talking to you on the phone I’m naked.

[Guffaws]

[Chuckles nervously] I’m not really. I have just got out of the shower, but I’m not naked.

Wow. And we’ve just been talking about that hip action… Alfie Boe naked. Done. I can knock that one off the list. So… on to do you feel kinship to Italy? Obviously you have your name, the tenors, your new album features Italian songs, and you’ve been cooking over there; is it a country that you really enjoy?

I love Italy, I really do. It’s a great part of the world: the food, the culture, the weather, the atmosphere. The music is something I’ve grown up listening to for a long time, since being a kid, so yeah, I do have quite a strong connection to Italy. I go over as much as I can, and I love the food. There’s so much of Italy I’ve got to discover. Some beautiful areas, I’ve been to quite a lot of different parts but there’s so much more I want to try and find.

I think you get the sense with Italy that it wasn’t really that long ago that is wasn’t a country, that it was almost counties.

Exactly. I suppose it is a little like counties in a way; in England, with the counties, there are different accents for parts of the country.

And you get the sense of pride.

You do, and that’s the same in Italy. You get your Romans, Tuscans, Venetians, Sicilians, and they’re very very different, and make a point of pointing that out.

Well, I’m going to have to stop monopolising you now, but thank you for talking to me.

My pleasure, come and see the show if you get the chance!

Click here for the original interview.

Alfie Boe’s Serenata is released 17th November and can be ordered below:

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Tag Archives: interview

Nordoff Robbins Gets Set for the BRIT Awards

Wakey Wakey the Overreactivist

Club 24601: Alfie Boe is Jean Valjean

Exclusive: Alfie Boe Supports Trinity Hospice’s Tea Party Fundraiser

Alfie Boe Talks New Dates for Quadrophenia and Les Mis

Rebecca Newman: The Soprano Who Dared to Dream

Alfie Boe – The Duets Album?

Alfie Boe – The Way He Sings ‘Em

Alfie Boe – Simply The Betsy Interview

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