My Story So Far...

My name is Hayley Hope and I belong to The Phoenix Players Drama Group in Luton. I have been involved in amateur theatre since the age of 7. 

The show that ignited my passion was Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. My late father was playing the drums and I went to many rehearsals with him. This was when I was 5 years old and I was hooked. I am sure I could recite all the songs then and they are still etched in my brain today. I have spent many happy years treading the boards and have played many parts. Some that stick out the most are ‘Belinda Cratchit” in ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘A Nun’ in ‘The Sound Of Music’, ‘A Mechanic’ in ‘Summer Holiday’ (The joys of being tall and not a principle) to name a few. Unfortunately, after a bad car accident, my onstage days are over but I am still very active with the group. I am on the committee, webmaster, poster and flyer designer, the photographer plus more which I thoroughly enjoy.                                                                                                     

Since lockdown has put a halt to our latest production along with the rest of the am-dram community. I was desperate to keep active within my love of theatre.                                       

My friend Jordan runs the Facebook group for Joseph UK tour & he approached me with an idea. He thought we could get some of the cast members together and get them to record in their own homes them singing and put together a small video. Well fast forward a few weeks and it went from a small idea to a major project.                                                                                             

We had so much interest from old cast members so we got a creative team together and with the approval of RUG (Really Useful Group) and Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice, we gained permission to produce a Highlights Concert.  The creative team includes Adam Lacey, Jordan Doolan, Laura-Duthie Coupar, Robbie Davies, Matt Longley, Nigel Wright, and myself.

This has all been put together purely on love & devotion. We have over 30 cast members including Jess Conrad OBE, Darren Day, Ria Jones, Mike Holoway, Jaymi Hensley, Zoe Tyler, Keith Jack,  Jenna Lee James and Maria Freidman. They all recorded vocals/video in their own homes after we decided on what songs, who would sing what etc. The amazing record producer Nigel Wright (who has produced many platinum albums with recording artists as diverse as Madonna, Shakatak, Mezzoforte, Barbra Streisand, Boyzone, Sonia, Take That, Sinitta, José Carreras, Robson & Jerome, Michael Ball, Sarah Brightman, The Texas Tenors, Cliff Richard, Connie Fisher, Paul Potts, Andy Abraham and Ray Quinn.), worked tirelessly to put it all together vocally for us and then we had a professional editor mix it all with the video and we had achieved something we never could have hoped for. 

The final edited version was sent through to RUG and Andrew Lloyd Webber to get their approval.  We had an online press night on Monday 6th July and the concert was then released to social media and on youtube on Friday 10th July at 6.30 pm. We did not sell tickets to view this but we have set up a "just giving" page and are donating all money to Acting For Others Charity. Details of the page are www.justgiving.com/fundraising/josephdreamconcert

The social media details are:

Facebook - Josephconcert                                      

Twitter -@Josephconcert                                                                                                               

Instagram - @Josephconcert                                                                                                       

YouTube Channel - Josephconcert