Sir Tim Rice and Mary-Jess
A few weeks ago I had the honour and privilege of singing with Sir Tim Rice at the Wrag Barn Golf Club in Gloucestershire. It was for the birthday party of his good friend and the Lady Captain of the Wrag Barn, Rosalind Cliff, as well as a charity event in aid of hft, a leading national charity supporting people with learning difficulties.
Below is a leaflet that gives more information about the charity which was written by Rosalind Cliff:
Simon and Mary-Jess
I also had the pleasure of working with Duncan Waugh who was the musical director for the event and with Simon Bailey, a Tenor with a rich, powerful voice. We performed a few of Tim's famous duets together and he was a joy to sing with. I first met them all at Sir Tim Rice's home for a rehearsal. His house is beautiful and we had so much fun singing his songs around the piano, so many different songs from his back catalogue, as we decided what we'd all like to perform on the night. The final line up included well known classics such as Can You Feel the Love Tonight, I Don't Know How to Love Him, Any Dream Will Do and Don't Cry for Me Argentina, but also some of Tim's less well known compositions, like a medley of Home from the stage version of Beauty and the Beast and I Know the Truth from Aida, as well as Fight the Fight from From Here to Eternity where Simon could really showcase his powerful voice. When it came for me to perform I Don't Know How to Love Him, Tim kept his introduction short, then after my performance he explained how the song had been born. It started of as a song called Kansas Morning which Tim treated us to a special performance of! It was really interesting and really funny!
Simon, Mary-Jess and Sir Tim RIce.
The encore was the wonderful Hakuna Matata (I do love The Lion King!) with an extra verse that Tim had written for Timone. It was the perfect way to end the evening and had everyone smiling and singing along.
Many thanks to Sir Tim Rice, Rosalind Cliff, Fay Rawlinson, Duncan Waugh and Simon Bailey for a really enjoyable concert. I can't wait for the next one!