STAGE TUBE: Michael Bruce's PORTRAIT OF A PRINCESS
By: Nicole Rosky
Speckulation Entertainment launches a star-studded music video to accompany award-winning composer Michael Bruce's song ‘Portrait of a Princess' to coincide with the launch of his debut album, Michael Bruce: Unwritten Songs. Starring West End comedic institution Julie Atherton, the video also features recent Olivier Award winner for Best Actress in a Musical Sheridan Smith, BBC's Being Human star Russell Tovey, fellow ex History Boy Steven Webb, current Jersey Boy and S Club 7 favourite Jon Lee, and Avenue Q star Paul Spicer, in a series of camp, comedy cameos.
Michael's song ‘Portrait of a Princess' has garnered acclaim from all corners of the theatre industry since it premièred in 2009 in a concert of his work at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue. The music video - which follows the ups and downs of a Princess, watching her fumble her way through life, love and everything in between - can be viewed online at www.portraitofaprincess.com and has already received thousands of hits since it was unveiled as part of a live concert celebrating the launch of the album on Sunday 20 March at the West End's opulent and prestigious Delfont Room.The song and the video pay homage to the traditional fairytale, but with a contemporary and decidedly adult twist. Billed as "a fantasmagorical work of fictional fabulosity," the film is "a frivolous, fairytale frolic intended solely for harmless, humorous purposes to lighten up an occasionally dull existence. Any likeness to any person or character, living or dead, fictional or fantastical, is entirely unintentional. Its purpose is only that the viewer be moved to mirth by a rather wayward princess and her adventures in a non-existent land." Or so says the disclaimer.Speckulation Entertainment's Executive Producer Neil Eckersley says of the video's release: "We wanted to find a way of introducing Michael's music to a wider audience. Having an audiovisual tool to do that with is invaluable and we're delighted with the result. A stellar cast, a stunning song and BAFTA winning creative team combine to provide a first for contemporary musical theatre." Michael Bruce is currently composing the music for the Sonia Friedman produced David Tennant and Catherine Tate star vehicle Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham's Theatre, having recently written the score for Josie Rourke's acclaimed production of Men Should Weep at the National Theatre. He is Resident Composer at London's Bush Theatre and orchestrator of the current Confused.com TV ad campaign featuring the well-known songs Somebody to Love and Chain Reaction.Michael Bruce: Unwritten Songs is available now at Amazon.co.uk, DressCircle.co.uk and iTunes.