DESMOND J. FLANNERY'S
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DESMOND J. FLANNERY
The inspiration for "The Jackal", Desmond J. Flannery's musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale Of Two Cities, can be found in Desmond's love of theatre and his involvement as a cast member of the long running West End hit Jesus Christ Superstar at the Palace Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue. Desmond played several roles while understudying the principal part of Pilate & also appeared at many top venues throughout the United Kingdom & London's famous West End.
Almost simultaneously, he wrote, musically arranged and performed original material for Capital Radio, London, broadcasting to an estimated audience of 15 million people. Out of those sessions came the classic ballad "April Lady".
Upon returning to Australia, he came into contact with the Barry Veith Big Band and thus began a fruitful alliance, with Desmond on numerous occasions fronting the band, not only in its own right, but also in support of international artistes the like of jazz greats, Dizzy Gillespie and Thad Jones.
Continuing his creative pursuits throughout the late 80's and early 90's, Desmond co-wrote, arranged and produced the Wee Sing Australia musical catalogue of children's recordings, which proved to be a consistent seller not only in Australia, but also across Asia.
Two attempted musicals followed, Arfur & Terry - Back On Track!, a full-scale musical adaptation [in conjunction with Max Wright] of the internationally acclaimed and long running TV series Minder and The Third Degree, the story of an adopted man's crusade to connect with his biological family and discover his true identity.
In 1997, one of Desmond's songs ["Nowheresville"] was nominated for best song in the category of jazz/blues at the Australian Songwriters' Association's prestigious annual song awards.
Live performance still remained of prime interest however and Desmond appeared in the role of Frank Sinatra in The Ultimate Event - a critically acclaimed tribute to the music of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jnr and Liza Minnelli.
The Jackal has been in development since 1995 and the inaugural performance of the work will take place in March 2001 at the New Tuners Theatre, Chicago.
A CD of selections from the show, featuring an exciting ensemble headed by John Wood, John Waters, Russell Morris and Normie Rowe - and starring Lorenzo Iannotti in the title role - is also now available.
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