The Fields Of Ambrosia
Joel Higgins sings "Step Right Up".
The image used to symbolize the show.
The Aldwych Theatre.One of the major West End flops of the past few years in which Michael played the part of Doc. It was largely funded, written by and starred Joel Higgins, a very talented man and fantastic friend to the entire cast who, sadly, completely misjudged the way that a British audience and, more importantly, London critics would react to a musical about a traveling executioner. It was the second scene that really caused the gasps when Joel produced an electric chair and placed it in the centre of the stage and proceeded to execute a member of the cast, all this whilst singing of the Fields of Ambrosia, the heavenly place that he was about to send his victim to.
The critics were particularly vicious about the lyrics. Marti Sylvestri wrote the music of this sung through musical. It was sensationally good, although few people noticed. It seemed the subject matter of the musical blinded everyone, making a true assessment of the piece impossible. However, back to the lyrics. Joel wrote them all apart, ironically from the line "The Fields of Ambrosia, where everyone knows ya.". Yes, isn't it awful. It was suggested to him by his wife and he always intended to change it. You get used to things though and, as it was one of the first lines written, it stuck. It also stuck out like a sore thumb and the critics jumped on it with glee.
People questioned Michael's decision to take part in this show but who knows when a musical is going to succeed and fail. Joel and all the other Americans were very confident in the project and a part in a West End musical doesn't come along every day. If one could always predict the success of a musical everyone would be as rich as Cameron Macintosh and he would be a great deal richer. Why does a musical about singing trains, or one about Cats with lyrics by TS Elliot or, indeed, a sung through musical in which the lead character is crucified at the end work, when The Fields of Ambrosia failed so miserably. There were only twenty odd performances after six weeks of hard, intensive rehearsal. The one compensation was that at no time were any of the cast criticised for their performance. This was a top quality cast as I hope this extract displays. click
Joel and Christine
For more detail on this show and it's stars try Christine Andreas' web site. Christine played the female lead role of Gretchen.
If you are interested in buying the full cast recording you can order it from First Night Records.
