Friday Artist Spotlights
Ben Cahill-Nicholls
Ben Cahill-Nicholls is a composer, lyricist, charity chief executive, and Church of England priest. He spent his childhood watching classic musicals on repeat, then studied Music at Cambridge before working as a civil servant, Parliamentary adviser, communications manager, and teacher. Currently, he leads both a national wellbeing charity, and a small church in a Surrey village so achingly beautiful that he half-expects Miss Marple to pop out from behind a weeping willow and solve his own murder. He is married to Ellie; they have two children, and two cats. The latter are called Rodgers and Hammerstein; the former, thankfully, aren’t.
My Current Project
The Actress and The Bishop
Ben is primarily working on a 1930s musical murder mystery called The Actress and The Bishop. A full raft of twenty songs is completed, with a potential orchestrator on-board, and the beginnings of a script. The show has 13 named roles (two can double), but would work with a much larger cast. Debutantes and Deans clash in this utterly silly, joyful romp around a Cathedral Close, as the Lord Bishop of St Oswaldsbury and his glamorous goddaughter seek to solve a millionaire’s murder. The show is designed to work in an enormous theatre with full orchestra, a village hall with Mrs MacDonald on the old upright, and anywhere in between.
Other projects
Three other shows are in much earlier stages of development:
– Vicarious: A Clerical Cabaret. One-man show based on the ups and downs of parish life. Concept and some song ideas.
– The Fossil Finder. Based on the life of the extraordinary palaeontologist Mary Anning; suitable for younger performers. Concept, structure and some early songs.
– Deck The Halls! A 1930s Christmas cruisical. When a beautiful liner is forced to stay at sea for the festive season, its guests have to celebrate together, leading to considerable drama and hilarity. Concept and some early songs.
What I'm Looking For
The Actress and The Bishop is at a good stage of development, though book-writers would be deeply welcome to help improve the script (as they would be for the other, earlier-stage projects). Ben would be keen to meet agents, producers, venues and funders interested in supporting workshops, and anyone else who would have loved dinner with Cole Porter and P. G. Wodehouse in Mayfair c. 1935.