Interview: Jeff Wayne, The War of the Worlds

The floating head of Richard Burton, a 35 foot high Martian, death-rays and spectacular music can only mean one thing; Jeff Wayne’s musical version of The War of the Worlds is landing onto the stage once again. The musical is celebrating its 30th anniversary in June 2009. It was inspired by a H G Well’s novel and is a unique combination of musical, theatre and concert. So did the creator Jeff Wayne know it was going to be such a success?

'No! Non!! Nein!!! When it was first released in June 1978, punk was at the height of its revolution and disco was king of the dance floor. Yet, there I was composing and producing a 96-minute continuous work trying to interpret HG Wells’ Victorian tale!

'I fell in love with HG Wells’ incredible story, which was not only visionary for its time, but also contained much social comment which inspired me as a composer and producer.'

But Jeff wasn’t always a composer. He had majored in journalism before making a decision to carry on with his love of music.

'The main areas of journalism I loved was investigative and I could see a career in that field. But music lifted my spirits in an entirely different way.'

Jeff then switched to a music major, which ironically he never completed because of his musical success to follow. After pursuing his vision for a musical adaptation of The War of the Worlds, he proved to have created a timeless classic. It’s a concert but with acting, props and Richard Burton narrating the story of Martians invading the earth to exterminate mankind. It’s creator promises it will be better than ever.

'I’m not keen on just taking it out of the box and performing it the same way as the previous tour. To me it’s a living work that needs to be challenged and nurtured. We’re travelling for the first time with our own stage, which has given us the chance to re-design it, and conceal certain special effects that will give the audience a greater impact.'

But apart from that, Jeff's keeping it a surprise and won’t give anymore away.

'We also have a couple of new guest artists, including Jennifer Ellison playing the role of Beth, Parson Nathaniel’s wife – and what a major talent she is. Her singing and acting is really ideal for the character she plays.

'Opposite her as Nathaniel, will be Shannon Noll. He’s got a huge rock voice, and very charismatic on stage – and with Jennifer should make a most electric combination.

'Overall, the coming tour should offer the most exciting production to date.'

With the orchestra out of the pit and in centre stage, it has not only put the music at the forefront of the show but has also put the muscians amidst the action too.

'About half an hour into the story, the Martian Fighting Machine unexpectedly ‘lands’ on stage from the heavens, having been hidden in the lighting rig directly above. Now, our physical Martian is no toy. In fact it weighs over 3-tonnes!

'But in one show in Australia our Martian suddenly stopped. It dangled in mid-air swaying above our band and symphonic string orchestra. All the musicians were looking at me as to what was happening (there were no vocalists on stage at this moment). I just chose to smile, trying to reassure them all was good, and I just kept conducting.

'After the show, from what I was told, no one in the audience knew anything had gone wrong. In fact, a young boy of about nine or ten, who had won a competition to come see our show and meet me afterwards, told me how much he loved the whole show. And his favourite bit was when the Martian descended down toward the stage and then began to ‘fly’.'

It sounds brilliant and I can’t wait to see it myself. The War of the Worlds is the only place where you can listen to the timeless worlds of space and with sell out UK tours in 2006 and 2005, I would advise booking quick.