At the end of his very own annus horribilis, Sir Paul McCartney is about to revisit happier times. The former Beatle is planning to make a stage show inspired by his working-class childhood in Liverpool. "It is based on Paul’s classical work The Liverpool -Oratorio," explained Kate Robbins, Sir Paul’s cousin, who is working on the adaptation. "Paul will approve every note as musical director." For the 64-year-old it has been the year when divorce proceedings began between him and his second wife, Heather Mills, and when, in a legal submission, the model-turned-campaigner accused him of drunken and abusive behaviour towards her. "The project has been delayed by divorce worries," admitted Miss Robbins. Sir Paul composed The Liverpool Oratorio, his first classical work, with Carl Davis in 1991 to commemorate the city’s 150th anniversary. The story loosely follows the path of the musician’s life, with the main character, Shanty, who was born in 1942 in Liverpool, marrying his sweetheart, Mary Dee, after the death of his father. McCartney was deeply affected by the death of his mother, Mary, in October 1956, when he was 14. Shanty and Mary Dee are forced to deal with the rigours of balancing a happy marriage and their careers, in the same way as Sir Paul and his first wife Linda – reportedly, the couple spent a total of less than a week apart during their 29-year union, despite their demanding commitments. During a quarrel, Mary Dee reveals that she is pregnant and, after surviving a near-fatal accident, gives birth to their son. Linda was four months pregnant with McCartney’s first child, Mary, when they married at Marylebone Register Office in 1969. This was not the first time McCartney’s childhood had been the inspiration for his music: his 1967 song Penny Lane was named after a road in Liverpool in which both he and John Lennon were said to have played as children. McCartney’s upbringing was far from affluent. At his wedding to Heather Mills in 2002, he referred to its poverty. "Back then, I’d have had a wedding just to get the rice," he said. "My trousers were so thin, if I sat down on a penny I could find out which way up it was – heads or tails." Although theatres in the West End of London are expected to compete to stage the new musical, Sir Paul may decide to open it in his home town during Liverpool’s year as the European Capital of Culture in 2008.
Daily Telegraph
I bet when it finally hits the stage it is going to be amazing!
