Matthew Strachan to Return to the St. James Studio This May

Award-winning composer and songwriter Matthew Strachan returns to the St James Studio for one night only with special guests to perform his latest off-beat satirical songs alongside his show numbers and Nashville tunes.

The performance is set for the St. James Studio, 12 Palace Street, London SW1E 5JA on Monday 23rd May, 8pm.

Likened to Tom Lehrer and Randy Newman, Matthew writes characterful songs about lovers, psychopaths and everyday Joes. Besides composing for film and TV - including the iconic soundtrack of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - he's written music and lyrics for three musicals and songs for Nashville recording artists.

Matthew will be joined by special guests Wendi Peters (Coronation Street, White Christmas, Oh! What a Lovely War) and Abigail Matthews (Goodnight Mister Tom, War Horse).

Each song, as in Sondheim, has the ingenious structure of a mini-play (Michael Billington, The Guardian).

Matthew Strachan grew up in show business and started writing songs when he was sixteen. After studying composition at Dartington and Goldsmiths College he began working as a composer for television gaining such credits as The Detectives, The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna, and Question Time. His award-winning soundtrack to Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? has made appearances in such varied productions as The Sopranos, About A Boy, and Slumdog Millionaire and won Matthew a total of twelve awards in the US and UK.

Following ten years of TV work Matthew spent two years in Nashville collaborating with a number of hit songwriters including Tom Kimmel, J. Fred Knobloch and Don Henry. 37203, an album featuring his Nashville material, was released in 2008. Matthew's first musical Next Door's Baby, (co-written with his wife Bernie Gaughan) premiered in London in 2008 starring Louise Gold. His most recent show, About Bill, premiered at the Landor Theatre starring Kim Ismay.

In 2014 Matthew composed the theme for the BBC Radio WWI drama, Home Front. His latest album of songs, Perfect World Now Possible was released in 2015.

IF YOU GO:

An Evening with Matthew Strachan and Guests

Monday 23rd May, 8pm

St. James Theatre, 12 Palace Street, London SW1E 5JA

Tickets are available from www.stjamestheatre.co.uk or 0844 264 2140 from £15

St. James Theatre is located a couple of minutes' walk from Victoria station. The other nearest underground stations are Victoria (on the District, Circle and Victoria lines), Hyde Park Corner (on the Piccadilly line) and St James's Park (on the Circle and District lines). The nearest rail station is Victoria.

For more about Matthew, go to www.matthewstrachan.co.uk.