Time (musical)

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Time is a musical with a book and lyrics by Dave Clark and David Soames, music by Jeff Daniels, and additional songs by David Pomeranz.

Derived from the 1970s musical The Time Lord by Soames and Daniels, it focuses on contemporary rock musician Chris Wilder, who has been transported with his backup singers and band from a concert to the High Court of the Universe in the Andromeda Galaxy. In light of mankind's strides in space exploration, The Time Lord Melchisedic (loosely based on the title character in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who) has decided the time has come to examine Earth's people to determine what role they will play in the quest for universal peace, and Wilder and his band are called upon to defend their planet.

The heavily-amplified multi-media event relied heavily on special effects, including a holographic floating head named Akash that served as a narrator throughout the show. The interior of the Dominion was gutted and reconstructed to accommodate the massive steel set with hydraulic lift designed by John Napier.

The West End production, directed and choreographed by Larry Fuller (assisted by Arlene Phillips), opened on April 8, 1986 at the Dominion Theatre, where it ran for two years. Cliff Richard starred as Wilder, Jeff Shankley as Melchisedic, and Dilys Watling as one of the tribunal judges, with a pre-filmed Sir Laurence Olivier as Akash. David Cassidy replaced Richard later in the run. Sonia Jones was also a replacement in the Time musical and played opposite David Cassidy.

A concept album was released in the United States by Capitol Records and EMI for the rest of the world (now out-of-print). In addition to Richard and Olivier, it featured Freddie Mercury, Julian Lennon, Leo Sayer, Ashford & Simpson, Dionne Warwick, John Christie, and Paul Miles-Kingston. Olivier's spoken "Theme From 'Time'" was released as a single in some countries and was a surprise hit on the Australian charts, reaching #27.