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Extract from the
Virgin Encylopedia of Film and Stage Musicals
Published 1999
 Taylor,
Bernard J.
A versatile and prolific composer of powerful, romantic
musicals since the late 80s, Taylor's early musical tastes ranged from
rock'n'roll to the works of the great theatre songwriters. His first musical
show, Neighbors And Lovers, for which he wrote both music and lyrics,
failed to arouse any interest even from amateur dramatic groups, so he
produced it himself at the Oast Theatre, Tonbridge, in 1987. Although it
attracted a great deal of attention and favourable reaction, Taylor decided
to abandon it in favour of creating a musical based on a universally known
story. He selected Emily Brontë's classic Wuthering Heights,
composing the music, and collaborating on the lyrics with Eric Vickers.
A concept album was released in 1991 with an excellent cast, including
a former "Phantom Of The Opera" Dave Willetts, as Heathcliff,
opera diva Lesley Garrett (Cathy Earnshaw), Bonnie Langford (Isabella Linton),
Clive Carter (Hindley Earnshaw), Sharon Campbell (Ellen "Nellie"
Dean) and James Staddon (Edgar Linton). The romantic, sweeping score contained
several appealing melodies, particularly the impassioned "I Belong
To The Earth". Endorsed by the Brontë Society, Wuthering Heights
was initially beset by contractual difficulties, but eventually received
its world premiere in Holland. Meanwhile, Taylor turned his attention to
something entirely different. Success! was a backstage musical,
loosely based on Faust, and set in New York. Peppered with parody and pastiche,
with additional lyrics by Vivian Wadham, its typical, and often cynical,
view of the ups and downs of show business was accompanied by a jazzy and
sometimes tender score, with Claire Moore, Lon Satton, Kathryn Evans, Jessica
Martin and Maurice Clarke forming the CD cast. By the time Success! made
its debut at the Civic Theatre, Rotherham, in September 1995, Taylor had
returned to the classics, in the form of Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice.
With Claire Moore as Elizabeth Bennett and Peter Karrie in the role of
Darcy, the concept album also featured Gay Soper, Janet Mooney, James Staddon
and Christopher Biggins as Mr. Collins. Stand-out tracks were considered
to be "Through The Eyes Of A Child" "Good Breeding"
and "Thank God They're Married". Pride And Prejudice was
introduced to US audiences, complete with five new songs, by the Public
Theatre Company of Peoria, Illinois, in January 1995. Taylor's musical
interpretation of the Austen novel was considered to be closer to its source
than the 1959 Broadway version, First Impressions (Austen's original title
for the book), which starred Hermione Gingold. In direct contrast to the
subtleties of Pride And Prejudice, Taylor's Nosferatu The Vampire
(lyrics with Eric Vickers) proved a haunting, sombre affair. Prominent in its sung-through score was the opening "Wild
Talk Of Vampires", along with mysterious and unsettling items such
as "And Sheep Shall Not Safely Graze", "Worms Feed On My
Brains" "Ship Of The Dead" "Blasphemy" and "Somewhere
At The Edges Of Creation". Once again, the album cast was led by Claire
Moore (as Mina) and Peter Karrie (as Nosferatu), supported by Mario Frangoulis,
Mark Wynter, Barry James, Annalene Beechey and Simon Burke. The world premiere
was staged at the Madison Theatre, Illinois, in September 1995, and the
show had its first European performances a month later in Eastbourne. Both
productions were extremely well received. Having achieved considerable
success with his adaptations on Brontë and Austen, Taylor did what
several other composers, notably Cole Porter (Kiss Me Kate), and
Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story), had done
before him - looked to the works of William Shakespeare. In this case it
was the bard's Much Ado About Nothing, abbreviated to Much Ado
(additional lyrics: Vickers), that came in for the Taylor treatment. Once
again, there was a stellar CD cast, which included Paul McGann (Benedick),
Claire Moore (Beatrice), Simon Burke (Claudio), Janet Mooney (Hero), Barry
James (Leonato), David Pendelbury (Dogberry) and Peter Karrie (Don John).
Once again, Taylor's skill in writing convincing period music was apparent
in songs such as "If I Could Write A Sonnet", "I'll Never
Love Again", "The Sweetest Kiss", "Now I Hear Symphonies"
and "This Strange Affliction Called Love" as well as the humorous
"The Officers Of The Watch" and "Never Satisfied".
As the 90s drew to a close, Taylor, in collaboration with orchestrator
Gareth Price, attempted "to portray some of the key developments in
the advance of civilization over the past 1,000 years" via his Millennium
Suite. Performed on CD by the Polish State Philharmonic Orchestra of
Latowice,
conducted by Jerzy Swoboda, the suite consisted of "The Birth Of Chivalry"
"The Age Of Oppression" "The Enlightenment" "The
Road To Democracy" and "The Triumph of Democracy". The climax
of the programme came with "Victory Overture" a celebration of
the end of World War II. After featuring on the majority of Taylor's concept
albums, Claire Moore, who has starred in the West End in shows such as
Aspects Of Love and The Phantom Of The Opera, released the solo CDs,
"Songs
From The Musicals Of Bernard J. Taylor" and "Child Of The Earth". The latter
consisted of Taylor compositions, apart from John Lennon's "Imagine".
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