Katey Lovell

It's no great secret that I love a musical, so I was thrilled to hear Sheffield Theatres were putting on a new original production.  Since the opening night I'd heard only good things about the show and last night I finally got to see what the fuss was about for myself. A contemporary musical set in Sheffield, 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie' is the story of sixteen-year-old Jamie New who wants a career as a drag queen (despite his psychometric careers testing inexplicably suggesting his future lies elsewhere).  More than anything, he wants to wear a dress to his leavers' prom.  Inspired by real-life events, this coming-of-age musical about friendship, family and acceptance has a definite northern flavour which will appeal to anyone who enjoyed the dry wit of 'The Full Monty'.  That easy humour, along with a belting score written by Dan Gillespie Sells of The Feeling and Tom MacRae, makes for a fast-paced rom...

Despite the best of intentions I've not managed to keep up my weekly musical blog posts.  I'm sorry!  Life's become rather busy lately - the day job has been hectic and I've also had deadlines for editing and proofreading the novella I wrote over the summer (more news on that very soon.  I had a sneaky peek at the cover art for it this week and am totally in love.  It's the perfect sibling for the cover of 'Singalong').  The first draft of next summer's novel is also due with my editor at the start of December so I've been fervently tapping away on my laptop to try and get it ready to send. However, I'd have loved to have found time to write about Grease as it's one of my very favourite films and also Chicago , which my husband and I saw on Broadway during our honeymoon in 2005.  I wish I'd had chance to write about how West Side Story makes my heart hurt, and how when I wa...

The third meeting of The Singalong Society for Singletons has the group gathering to watch one of my very favourite films.  The Sound of Music is a musical my mum and I watched together on the small screen many, many times throughout my childhood and teens.  She first saw it at the cinema with my dad, and as well as the film we also had the soundtrack (on vinyl, naturally) and the sheet music - these were songs I knew inside out from a young age.  It's probably why I still hold them close to my heart. Julie Andrews is absolutely spectacular as keen-but-hopeless nun Maria and I never fail to be moved by the blossoming romance between Maria and Captain von Trapp.  Add to that the humour, the heartbreak and the beautiful score, and it's plain to see why The Sound of Music has lasted the test of time. Treating my mum for her 70th birthday Whilst the film remains ever-popular, I've also been fortunate enough to see the sta...

It's Friday 16th September, which means one thing - it's time for Monique, Issy, Hope and Connie to settle down to watch Disney's The Lion King ! From the moment I decided to write a book about musicals, I knew I had to include The Lion King .  It's one of my favourite musical films, with a winning combination of a nigh-on perfect score, angst and humour in equal measure and a plot that'll have you hooked from start to finish ('This one was based on Hamlet, you know,' [Mon] continue[s], gesturing towards the TV.  'And no one would dare to call Shakespeare piffle.  He's the greatest playwright that ever lived.')  I have fond memories of watching it at the cinema when it was first released and my DVD copy is rather well-worn. But although the film is incredible in its own right, nothing can compare to the glorious spectacle that is The Lion King on stage.  The costumes, the lighting, the puppetry...it's a full-on feast for any fan of ...

Today is September 9th.  It's the last day of the first week back at school.  Teachers, teaching assistants and parents are crying out for an evening with a glass (make that a bottle) of wine and something decent to watch on the tellybox.  That's certainly the case for Monique Brown and Issy Jackson.  They've found the first week back an exhausting struggle and can't wait to kick back, put their feet up and watch their favourite film.  Ah, yes...what is their movie of choice?  Well, it's actually Disney's modern classic Frozen, a pretty apt choice seeing as the terraced house they share in Sheffield's Cardigan Close is so cold that it could double as a fridge freezer.  I'm a parent of an eight year old. I've been subjected to Frozen more times than I care to remember, and as much as I love musicals I have to be honest and say it's not one of my favourites. I'm sorry!  Whether it's because 'Le...

It's now just five weeks until The Singalong Society for Singletons starts winging its way onto ereaders everywhere, which is really, really exciting (but also a smidge terrifying too).  So I think the time has come for me to tell you a bit more about it! The Singalong Society for Singletons is the story of Mon, a twenty-something teaching assistant whose long-term boyfriend Justin has moved to Chicago for a year with his job in banking.  Mon shares a terraced house with her teacher workmate Issy who longs for a loving partner and child more than anything in the world.  They spend their evenings drinking wine and watching Frozen, their comfort-film of choice, until one night when Mon's sister Hope unexpectedly arrives on their doorstep with her own relationship woes... The young women find that when your heart is breaking, there's nothing better to do than sing it out and The Singalong Society for Singletons is born!  Mon, Issy, Hope and Mon's be...

I'm absolutely terrible at keeping this blog updated, especially at the moment. I'm busy trying to finish the edits on The Singalong Society for Singletons (due to be published October 6th by Harper Impulse at Harper Collins), working on a secret project you'll find out about later in the year and also trying to crack on with my second novel (to be released next summer, if I ever finish writing it!)  It feels like I'm not blogging at all lately and I miss it. I don't want to only be around when I'm promoting new releases.  There's more to me than just writing (not much more, to be fair.  But there is more), and that's why I'm hoping to spend more time blogging about other things I enjoy - I'm not sure how regularly I'll get to do it, but it's a plan! Some of you may be aware of Books with Bunny , the blog I started in 2013 to talk about all things bookish.  There are hundreds of reviews, interviews and book related pos...