A CHILDREN’S musical, two-and a-half years in the making, enthralled an audience when it received its public premiere in Barnard Castle last week as part of a month-long community music festival.
There was standing room only at St Mary’s Parish Church on Wednesday, July 6, when Lord of the North, a musical about King Richard III was performed.
The musical, commissioned by Green Lane School’s headteacher Rob Goffee, explores Richard’s life from his earliest childhood to his final battle, as well as the legacy he left as a man and a monarch.
It was composed by St Mary’s musical director Annette Butters with lyrics by Kim Harding, chairwoman of the Barnard Castle-based Northern Dales Richard III Group.
Some 41 children from year five of Green Lane Primary School performed seven songs.
Soloists John Trevett and Abi Littlefair performed as King Richard and Queen Anne Neville, with accompaniment by a quartet of backing singers from St Mary’s Community Choir and instrumentalists from the church’s community orchestra.
