1565 The Musical in Concert is being organised the Malta Arts Council and is part of a calendar of events to commemorate the 450th Anniversary of The Great Siege of Malta which falls during this year, 2015.
1565 The Musical in Concert will be performed on the 6th and 7th of September 2015 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.
Both performances start at 8pm.
1565 The Musical in Concert was originally commissioned by Masquerade Theatre Company under the artistic direction of Anthony Bezzina, written by Malcolm Galea and composed by Paul Abela.
Next September, 1565 The Musical will be performed in Concert version with the participation of Eleanor Spiteri, Roger Tirazona, Georgina Abela, Joseph Zammit, Francesco Nicodeme, Nadia Vella, Rachel Camilleri Fabri, Mark Tonna and tenor Cliff Zammit Stevens.
The plot is set during the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. This was a momentous event in the world's history between Christians and Islam.
Drawing from historic events, this musical follows the story of Henri de la Valette, a young knight of the Order of St John and nephew to the Grandmaster.
In a few short and brutal weeks, Henri had to learn very quickly about such concepts as love, loss and death. Henri falls in love with Anna, a Maltese peasant girl, in the unforgiving summer of 1565. Their short-lived but passionate affair is portrayed over an original soundtrack that is patriotically glorious and heart-rending at the same time.
The People Behind 1565 The Musical, in concert
Artistic director Anthony Bezzina has been established as a theatre director for over 30 years. Anthony trained at the Manoel Theatre Academy of Dramatic Arts (M.T.A.D.A.) and at Webber Douglas in London. His work as a director include musicals such as Annie, The King and I, Little Shop of Horrors, Cabaret, 1565 The Musical, The Rocky Horror Show, and Jekyll & Hyde; plays such as Amadeus, Noises Off, Five Kinds of Silence, Who is Sylvia? The Goat, Doubt, Blackbird, Becky Shaw and most recently All New People.
Author Malcolm Galea has been writing scripts for theatre and TV for a number of years. His show P*rn: the Musical ran at the Edinburgh Fringe as well as in London where it won the Off West End Award for Best New Musical in 2011. The musical has since been accepted for a run at the prestigious New York Musical Theatre Festival in July 2013.
Music Director Paul Abela, a Maltese prolific composer, has graduated at Berklee, Boston, USA and today has a curriculum of a handsome number of local Musicals and Musical arrangements including Les Miserables in Concert, Evita, Sound of Music, Jesus Christ Superstar, Bastilja, Taht Tlett Saltniet and, above them all, the epic GENSNA.
The Executive Producer of this Musical is David Borg. He has recently produced GENSNA for 16 times, the concert “50 Years of Maltese Music” and Djamanti Muzikali, the first ever concert to be jointly organised between the two Gozitan Theatres, Astra and Aurora.
Tickets are priced at EUR15, EUR20, EUR25.
They will be available immediately tomorrow, Tuesday 28th July, online at booking.mcc.com.mt .
Tickets will also be available directly from The Mediterranean Conference Centre’s sales office in Valletta from the 17th August 2015 till 5th September.
Further information may be requested at [email protected]