Whisky Kisses - a New Scottish Musical

Whisky Kisses was a finalist in the international competition to find a new Scottish Musical – Highland Quest – which was sponsored by Eden Court Theatre, the Cameron Mackintosh Foundation and The Scottish Government in 2006.

Book and lyrics were written by Euan Martin and Dave Smith, with music composed by James Bryce.

Whisky Kisses has now received a grant from the SAC to fund its first full production in April 2010.

Please see front page for details of the World Premiere of Whisky Kisses on Sat 1st May at Glenfiddich Distillery.

We have just received the new image from our designer Emma Quinn.

WHISKY KISSES
The story:

Two international whisky collectors vie for the last bottle of a rare 100 year old malt – The Glenigma. The auction must take place in Scotland and the two rivals are lured to the remote Highland distillery from New York and from Tokyo to do battle for the bottle.

First conceived in 2005, Whisky Kisses progressed successfully through all the stages of the Highland Quest competition. The show received a fantastic response from the judges, audiences and critics alike at the Highland Quest Final in Ullapool in July 2006 and came very close to winning the competition. This was a tremendous achievement for Right Lines considering we had never even thought about doing a musical, never mind attempting to write one! With the strong support of Eden Court Theatre, Hilary Brooks and James Brining from Dundee Rep, we began the process of ensuring that Whisky Kisses makes it all the way to a full production.

In the last year, we have been working hard to continue the development of the show. A grant from H2007 allowed us to hold two workshops with professional cast and directorial input from Hilary Brooks and James Brining.

The company presented “Whisky Kisses” – A Musical in the Making at the inaugural Drama Na h-Alba Theatre Festival in Inverness in October 2007, marking the latest step in that process. This event featured a rehearsed reading of excerpts from Whisky Kisses including five new songs plus material from the original Highland Quest final showcase. The presentation also focused on a “Musical in the Making”, with contributions from the professional team involved in the project to date. This offered a fascinating insight into the journey a home-grown Highland musical has taken from original idea to a show on the brink of full development.

Hilary Brooks was again in the driving seat as MD and cast members from the Ullapool showcase, Alyth McCormack, Pamela Byrne, Ron Emslie, Barrie Hunter and Richard Conlon performed the rehearsed reading. Jim Bryce also helped out in his actor capacity!

MacMusical

The entire Highland Quest process was recorded by Endemol, with Don Coutts from Cromarty in the Director's chair. The results were shown in a BBC TV documentary "MacMusical", broadcast in November and December 2007. "Whisky Kisses" featured in all 3 episodes. The series followed the progress of all the entrants as they were whittled down from 150 to the 5 Teams that battled it out in the Final showcase event in Ullapool in July 2006. The prize was a full production of the winning musical to open the new One Touch Theatre at Eden Court. Right Lines narrowly missed out on the top prize, pipped at the post by "The Sundowe" written by the Kielty Brothers. However, the popularity of the show did not go unnoticed…

"If we wanted to choose one show that would guarantee to sell every seat on a three week run and a four week tour, it would be Whisky Kisses".

Quote from Colin Marr, Director Eden Court made on MacMusical (episode 2).

H2007 Closing Gala – Eden Court

The H2007 management team regarded Whisky Kisses as one of the most successful projects developed during the Year of Highland Culture and accordingly, we were invited to perform an excerpt of the show at the Closing Gala at Eden Court Theatre on 12th January 2008. A sampler CD – “A Taste of Whisky Kisses” - was distributed free to members of the audience.

RSAMD

In February 2008, we were invited to workshop Whisky Kisses with the Musical Theatre students at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. As a result of this opportunity, course director Andrew Panton and the students voted to select the show as one of their showcase productions to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2008.

DONATIONS

Right Lines Productions is a recognised Scottish charity (SC034840) and as such our constitution allows us to accept "subscriptions, grants, donations, gifts, legacies and endowments of all kinds, either absolutely or conditionally or in trust for any of the objects of the Company."

We are currently setting up a fund specifically aimed at the further development of the Whisky Kisses project. The team is delighted to announce that the first donation of £1,000 was received on 19th November 2007. This was a fantastic start! Contributions to the fund will be gratefully received. Please make cheques payable to "Right Lines Productions" and send to:

Euan Martin,
Right Lines Productions (WK Fund),
Hill O’ Greenie,
Alves,
Forres,
IV36 2RB,
Moray, Scotland.

For further information

tel: +44 (0) 1343 850 492
email: euan@rightlines.net