The Distance You Have Come
The Cockpit Theatre
16th to 28th October 2018
“When you’ve lost the fight inside of you, is there anything worth holding on to?
The Distance You Have Come follows the lives of six individuals who juggle the constant
challenges of life, depression, heartache and love. Told through the music and lyrics of awardwinning
composer Scott Alan, this brand-new musical brings together a song cycle of his most
acclaimed works for the first time, performed by some of the greatest generational voices in the
West End.
Alongside Musical Director Scott Morgan (Rent, The Cockpit Theatre; I Love You, You’re Perfect,
Now Change, Arts Theatre; Geek!, Tristan Bates Theatre), the world premiere of The Distance
You Have Come stars Andy Coxon (Hair, The Vaults; Yank!, Charing Cross Theatre; Beautiful –
The Carole King Musical, Aldwych Theatre) as Samuel, who has long been searching for the
perfect match he eventually finds in Brian – a hopeless romantic played by Adrian Hansel
(Starlight Express, Apollo, Victoria Theatre; Hairspray, Shaftesbury Theatre; Five Guys Named
Moe, Marble Art Theatre).
The stellar cast also sees Emma Hatton (Evita, Phoenix Theatre; Wicked, Apollo Theatre; We Will
Rock You, Dominion Theatre) play Maisey who is trapped in a relationship with an addict but
strives to further explore her own dream of finding success in the theatre. She will star
alongside Jodie Jacobs (Rock of Ages, West End; Little Shop of Horrors, West End; The Wedding
Singer, UK Tour) whose character, Anna, is unlucky in love yet determined to put her failed
relationships behind her and move on.
Additionally, the cast includes Dean John-Wilson (King and I, Palladium; Aladdin, Prince Edward
Theatre; Songs For A New World, St James Theatre) as Joe, who uses alcohol to numb his
feelings after plummeting to the depths of depression without the woman he thought he
thought was his soulmate, and Alexia Khadime (Wicked, Apollo Theatre; Lion King, Lyceum
Theatre; Book of Mormon, Prince of Wales Theatre) as Laura who tries to recapture her selfworth
as she shares her struggles with depression and life as an artist.
Scott Alan comments, I have long been asked to bring together my eight albums worth of songs,
to stream a line of stories together. I never thought it was time. It wasn’t until the release of my
latest album, Lifeline, that I feel I had an ending that was less about the gravity of where I’ve
been, and more about the advancement of who I am today and the pride that I have within
that. With producers Sarah Evans and Krystal Lee, and this exceptional cast of actors
interpreting my music and lyrics, I am extremely confident in declaring that now is the right time
to tell this story and I couldn’t be more proud.
Told entirely through song, The Distance You Have Come follows these like-minded individuals
as they face the human experiences of everyday life.”
Review by Richard Lambert, 4 Stars
Well where do you start to describe this production? It’s bi-polar!
It swings from excellent songs and sterling cast to poor technical support.
It’s a 3 Star – until you see the fabulous lighting from Andrew Ellis who has created something quite extraordinary in this Fringe venue in the round. It then deserves a 4 Star.
The Cast are brilliant, the lighting is fab-u-lous, the Set is strange but ok, the costumes are great, but…the Sound and the Stage Management ….. what on earth?
The show started but it became apparent after a very short while (1 verse and chorus if my memory serves) that the boy on stage was out there on his own. No cast. And the band played on and on, and the boy moved space, and the band played on and on….and it became awkward….and the show wasn’t stopped or re-started – and the boy didn’t leave….and it became uncomfortable…..what on earth are stage management doing? It would appear that they are starting the show when the cast aren’t ready, and don’t know how to stop the show when it all goes horribly wrong. Perhaps that’s what can happen when the Producer is the Stage Manager? I don’t know but it was embarrassingly bad! I felt for the Cast. Things can go wrong, that’s the fun of live theatre, but you expect Stage Management to solve the problems and impress with their “thinking on their feet”. Not here apparently, leave the boy alone on a stage.
We get over this and into the production.
Sound “comes and goes” despite the cast all being mic’d.
There are several pauses/empty stage moments in the show between musical numbers, it’s not slick, the Director doesn’t seem to have figured this out. There are many moments when you might not see the action or the actor’s face due to poor choice of blocking by the Director. Many numbers where the performer sings towards one side of the 4 seating blocks leaving the majority looking at the back of their head. Clearly the Director has not considered variations needed when the show is in a thrust configuration.
All in all the cast are let down by the production values. They’re really strong! Andy Coxon is amazing! Having seen him in “Hair” and this production I’d travel far to see any production he’s cast into. Nobody does acting through song better than Andy Coxon!
BUT, then you look at the show. Visually it’s brilliant! The lighting by Andrew Ellis saves the day. It’s fabulous! It absolutely supports the brilliant cast to the level they so deserve! Theatre in the round is always a challenge! Shows in Las Vegas lead the way with mega-budgets. This is a show with the same concepts designed on a smaller budget and despite this the result is similar and incredible! Andrew is one to watch as he’s going far!
With Andrew’s steady hand on the design and the atmosphere, you will get carried away with the emotion, you’ll love the songs, you’ll be moved by the performances and you’ll have a great evening.
I’d love to see this show re-done properly and professionally with all departments stepping up to what it deserves!
Photo Credit Darren Bell
Further Information
Dates Wednesday 16 – Sunday 28 October 2018
Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm, Sunday, 3pm
No shows on Mondays
Location The Cockpit, Gateforth Street, Marylebone, London NW8 8EH
How to get there The nearest tube station is Edgware Road (on the Hammersmith
& City, District, Circle and Bakerloo Line) and Marylebone (on the
Bakerloo and main line).
Running Time 2 hours 20 minutes (including interval)
Box Office Tickets are available from The Cockpit Box Office on 020 7258 2925
or online at https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/.
Tickets are priced from £32 (£26 concession)
Twitter @SevansProds, @tdyhc2018, #DontForgetTheDistance
Writer, Composer, Director Scott Alan
Musical Director Scott Morgan
Producers Sevans Productions and Krystal Lee
Cast
Brian: Andy Coxon
Samuel: Adrian Hansel
Maisey: Emma Hatton
Anna: Jodie Jacobs
Joe: Dean John-Wilson
Laura: Alexia Khadime
Scott Alan
Scott Alan is an internationally-acclaimed songwriter who has worked with some of the
brightest stars of theatre, TV, film and recording. Some of those artists include Grammy Award
Winning Group Pentatonix, Grammy Award Nominated Artists Jane Monheit, Marc Broussard,
Taylor Dayne, Tony Award Winning Artists Sutton Foster, Adriane Lenox, Randy Graff, Frances
Ruffle, Lea Salonga, Film and TV stars Tracie Thoms, Patina Miller, Katie Stevens, Danny-Boy
Hatchard, Cheyenne Jackson, Megan Hilty, Samantha Barks, Jeremy Jordan and Reality TV Stars
Sam Bailey, Collabro, Diane DeGarmo, Christina Marie, RJ Helton among others. After the 2007
release of his debut album Dreaming Wide Awake, Alan has released six follow up albums such
as Keys, What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up, LIVE, Anything Worth Holding on To (Ep) & Cynthia
Erivo & Oliver Tompsett sing Scott Alan. Alan has toured the world and has sold out concerts in
New York City, Brazil, Japan, London, Holland, Germany, Denmark, San Francisco, Boston, Los
Angeles, Australia & Varies cities in South and North America. In 2012, Alan’s composition It’s
Good to See You Again was featured on the premiere episode of the ninth season of So You
Think You Can Dance and was the number one downloaded song from the series that evening
on iTunes and Amazon. Alan’s newest album, Lifeline, was released in January 2018.