Meet Tony Norman & Mark Edwards the creatives behind Vagabond Skies – The Van Gogh Musical.
Tony Norman
Composer & Lyricist
The gift of a paperback copy of Vincent’s letters to his brother Theo started the journey.
“That was 50 years ago,” says Tony. “I was sharing a flat in West Hampstead with one of my best friends. Alex knew I loved Vincent’s paintings so he got me the book. From the start I felt the Van Gogh story would make a wonderful musical. I’d only just started writing my own songs, so I never dreamed it was for me, but time passed and little by little the pieces started to fall into place.”
Tony has always loved writing. In the sixties and seventies he was a rock journalist in London working for NME, Radio One and Music Now, interviewing John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and many more. He travelled in the USA, Canada and Europe, reviewing concerts and interviewing musicians.
He moved to Eastbourne in the mid-seventies then managed and wrote songs with south coast group The Mobiles, who had a UK Top Ten hit in 1982 with ‘Drowning In Berlin’. In Sussex he sang his acoustic songs in folk clubs and fronted R&B bands like The Roosters as lead singer/songwriter. He went on to record his songs in Madrid, Vancouver and Portland USA.
In the nineties he finally felt ready to start work on the Van Gogh musical. It was difficult at first, but then he recorded some of the new songs with brilliant musical arranger Mark Edwards and the music came alive. A new creative team was born. Sarah Dormady, Susie Blundell and Phil Herbert have since brought their experience and belief to a new company, Vagabond Skies Limited. “Now there’s a world premiere on the horizon,” says Tony. “It has been quite a journey.”
Mark Edwards
Orchestrator & Musical Arranger
Pianist/producer/composer/arranger Mark Edwards has performed and recorded with many international artists and musicians. As well as touring the world these last 12 years as pianist for Katie Melua, Mark’s ‘pop’ resume also includes Paul Weller, Roddy Frame, Marc Almond, Dave Stewart, Chris Rea, Incognito and KT Tunstall.
On the Jazz Scene, Mark has worked with many top UK and US names, including Johnny Dankworth, Ken Peplowski, Bobby Wellins, Scott Hamilton, Alan Barnes, Liane Carroll and Claire Martin. He has appeared at the Montreux and North Sea jazz festivals, as well as performing regularly at Ronnie Scott’s in London and noted European venues.
As an artist, Mark has several albums to his own name including “In Deep” produced by four times Grammy Nominated/Brit award winning Producer James McMillan, and “Sawdust and Spangles” featuring his eclectic project “The Cloggz”.
Mark has also appeared on more than 300 albums for a whole range of record labels and artists across diverse genres including Aztec Camera, The Style Council, Carleen Anderson, Paul Jones, Katherine Jenkins, The Magic Numbers, Roy Castle and Amy Dixon, plus soundtracks and feature films including the Oscar winning movie ‘An Education’ and Grammy Winning documentary ‘A New Orleans Story’.
Mark started working with Tony Norman on Vagabond Skies – The Van Gogh Musical over 15 years ago. He is a named writer on the project and his huge creative contribution has been taking Tony’s acoustic song demos to another level with his superb musical arrangements. Mark was free to explore his own creative ideas and he delivered a vibrant and passionate sound canvas. Vagabond Skies is like no other musical. It moves to its own unique blend of musical styles.
Tony talks to Simon Herbert of Hailsham FM about the talented team at Vagabond Skies Limited.