Interview: 'Creating This Album Has Been a Dream of Mine!': Ben Forster on His New Album, MUSICALS GREATEST HITS

Today, Ben Forster’s album, Musicals Greatest Hits, is released. The album has songs from shows that Forster has starred in, like “Gethsemane” from Jesus Christ Superstar and “Music Of The Night” from The Phantom of the Opera, as well as others like “The Winner Takes It All” from Mamma Mia! and Wicked’s “For Good.”

Recently, we had the chance to speak with Ben about his album. We discussed what the process was like for choosing the songs, the process of recording the album and what his favourite song from the album is.

So, starting with a bit of a general question, how did you first get started in the world of theatre?

I would definitely blame my sister, who was a dancer. She used to go to dance class when I was a kid, so from when I was three or four, I remember being dragged to dance class every Saturday, and then that interest for her picked up with my parents, and we joined an amateur dramatic society. So we ended up, every Thursday, going to amateur dramatics and doing loads of shows with our local community. And actually, that's where my love was born! 

And what made you want to create this album?

Well, actually, creating this album has been such a long dream of mine! I grew up in a world totally different to now, where we didn't have social media, we didn't have all the things at our fingertips. And one of my main connections with musical theatre was albums - the CDs, the soundtracks. I remember my auntie giving me an Andrew Lloyd Webber mixtape, and I was literally in love with this music. I couldn't believe that things would make me feel! I remember listening to Starlight Express and I was like, “My god, I feel more lying in bed listening to this tape than anything else that I've ever experienced!”

So for me, the musical theatre albums were such an important part of my life that I always wanted to do it, but I didn't want to do it in a small way. And when I won the TV show, I got with a good, big manager, and I thought, “Oh, it's going to be so easy! I'll get a record deal now, and I'll be able to fulfil this dream.” And actually, even thirteen years ago, the industry had stopped investing big amounts of money into beautifully recorded orchestral albums. 

And I've tried and tried over the last decade. It wasn't until last year, where I sat down with Neil O'Brien, who owns Westway Music, and we had lunch, and he said, “What album could we do?” And I said, “I don't really want to do an album unless it's all-out.” A big, beautiful orchestra, musical’s greatest hits. I don't want to pretend I'm anything different than I am. I'm a musical geek! And he said, “Well, if you've got enough belief and love for it, let's do!” That was a year ago, so it's been quite a process, finding the right producer, the right orchestra and all that stuff, and then all the arrangements that we've made have been really exciting. So that process has been lovely, but a very long one for me!

Can you tell us a bit about the creative process that went into making Musical’s Greatest Hits?

Yeah! I mean, these are the most famous songs in musical theatre, so my brain was like, “They're not broken. They’re amazing. You're not trying to fix them, right?” They are the most famous songs because they make us feel amazing things. So it wasn't that I felt I could do a better version. I just wanted it all to be a bit more cinematic and epic. When I first sat down with the producer that we decided to use, Rupert Christie, I said to him, “Look, if this was a soundtrack to my life, I want it to sound cinematic...I want it to feel like it would meet the landscapes of all my memories and life.” And these songs all mean different things to me for different reasons. So I was like, “I really want you to concentrate on that sound and make new instrumentals. Let's add new sounds and sections that could match emotions that will be in a movie set.” And he went away, did the first arrangement, and I listened to it, and it was gorgeous! I really feel like he got it perfectly, what was in my brain.

And how did you choose the songs? I’m sure there were a lot to choose from!

I'm just hoping that Neil gives me Volume Two and Volume Three, because the list of songs was insane! There's so many things I would have included if I could have more. If I could have made it a fifteen-song album, there'd be another five amazing songs. Those songs just fit with each other. They'll individually mean something to me. And also, some of them are born from my career and things that I've never had the chance to record. The Jesus Christ Superstar that we did was such an epic version - we toured arenas all over the world and did these amazing things, and it's on DVD, but you still can't go on Spotify and hear me sing “Gethsemane,” which is weird.

I really wanted to compile my career. But also, all of them have been life moments for me. They've all, made me go, “Oh, wow, that's a really amazing song.” And they all have a certain memory. So it was just the top ten of them, but there's a top twenty, a thirty . . .  I need ten CDs, Volumes One to Ten with 100 songs!

Can you tell us a bit about what it was like to record Musical’s Greatest Hits?

Yes, recording the album was everything that I would have dreamed it could have been. We recorded with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. When you're a leading man, everything you do is because of the show that you're in, because of the cast that you're with, because everything's a compilation and a coalition of things that meet something.

But actually, doing a project like this, when I walked in the studio, there were ninety musicians all warming up, and I was like, “Oh my god, this is all for me! It's actually happening!” And this is how professional and amazing they were - there was no rehearsal. We went straight into recording! So everyone got their music - they started with “The Winner Takes It All” - and they just started playing. I couldn't speak! I'd heard these arrangements that had been made as demos for me to hear, and we worked for such a long time getting these arrangements good, but hearing them live in the room with a symphonic orchestra, it was like nothing I could actually ever put into words. It was amazing!

You were saying how normally you're performing songs for the show, but this is all for you. What was it like putting your own spin on things while still keeping to the original?

Yeah, it's quite unusual having freedom, isn't it? Andrew Lloyd Webber has been a supportive friend and mentor, but I'm also very aware when I'm in one of his shows, that what he says goes. If I decide I want to go somewhere else in “Gethsemane,” I would check with him. I'd say, “Would this be cool? Are you happy with this?” And sometimes he goes, “Put it in. I'm coming in tonight, I'll listen to it, and then I'll say yes or no.”

But with this, for instance, at the end of “Music Of The Night,” I sing it up the octave. I can hear him already going, “What on earth? Why would you choose to do that?” But I did it a few times! I did it once by accident in a show. I got to that point, and I just wanted to sing it loud. The audience had been amazing, and I wanted to just sing it out. And I was like, “Oh, that felt so good. I really loved where it went!” But I would never dare do that in the show. I'd never dare do that when I'm working with the composer on his piece. But these became my songs and my interpretations, and that's quite a different thing for me to experience. 

You also have a duet on the album with Sydnie Christmas, “Tell Me It’s Not True.” What was that like? 

She's amazing! It was everything that I wanted it to be...Her voice is absolutely amazing. Once in a generation, you get a voice that just hits and has a certain frequency. She’s like Shirley Bassey and Adele all mixed into one - the most beautiful theatrical interpretations. So when I said to Neil, “Do you think it will be possible?” I've never met her! We were following each other on social media, that's it. But I was like, “Could you ask her if she would want or consider it?” And he came back and was immediately like, “She said yes!” It's just a really beautiful version. There's something in her voice that just makes me go, “Oh, my God,” just certain things she hits and the way she opens up on certain vowels. As a singer, I just really appreciate her.

Do you have a favourite song from the album?

It goes through stages, because I worked on each song individually. My favourite songs go through different things when I'm hearing them. So I was obsessed with “The Winner Takes It All,” the first one we worked on. And then, like, when I got “For Good” back, I listened to it every day! Now I'm loving “You Will Be Found.” I've listened to that a few times every day, just because it was the last one I just got back.

It's really, really difficult. There is a version of “For Good” on there, which is a solo song, and we popped it up a little bit. It's got the orchestra on it, but it's got quite a nice, interesting vibe. I don't think anyone's heard this version before, which is quite exciting. That is really exciting for me. 

And finally, how would you describe the album in one word?

Musical! It's just musical. It's musical’s greatest hits. It's orchestral, beautiful music. I really love it, and I'm so proud. 

Listen to “The Winner Takes It All,” below.

Musicals Greatest Hits comes out on 21 November. The album will also be available on CD and can be ordered now here.