Blur’s frontman can never be accused of being lazy, often juggling several projects at once, now he is to add a West End musical to his bulging resume.
The singer stated that the new project started as more of a “leftfield, experimental opera,” but has taken on a life of its own and has become a full blown “mainstream musical” for children and parents.
The Gorillaz founder talked about the surprise of how the idea evolved. “It’s funny for me to say ‘I’m writing a musical’, but, yes, that’s what I’m doing next,” he told The Daily Star. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do because musicals are great when they’re done well.”
At this early stage, details of the musical are a little sketchy. Albarn said he didn’t expect to be taking on Andrew Lloyd Webber any time soon.
Blur’s singer had previously worked with Chinese theatre director Chen Shi-Zheng. They adapted the Chinese story ‘Journey to the West’, and created the opera ‘Monkey: Journey to the West’, which premiered in 2007 at the Manchester International Festival.
Albarn has been touring in recent months to promote his solo album Everyday Robots, released in April. Last week he was joined on stage by his Blur bandmate Graham Coxon, for an encore of ‘Tender’.
Damon Albarn also teased a possible comeback with Gorillaz bandmate Jamie Hewlett, saying: “I’ve found myself writing a lot of uptempo songs that sound like Gorillaz.”
Whatever is next for Albarn, let’s just hope he just keeps on making music.
