The “two Ians” met during a production of “Billy” in 2010, staged by the Waveney Light Opera Group, in Beccles, Suffolk. In 2011 they tentatively began work on ideas for a musical based around a school reunion. Nine months later they had a basic plot mapped out, five songs and a few pages of script. It was at this point that fate stepped in, WLOG suddenly found itself without a show for it’s next Spring production so the two Ian’s offered to fill the gap. This meant they had only six months to finish the show, but after a lot of late nights and hard work they brought the show in on time and began work on the production of “The Reunion”.
It was seen by the NODA President Derek Grattidge, who loved the show and later awarded it NODA’s only National prize, the coveted President’s Cup. The show was licensed to NODA and has now had successful productions in England, Scotland and Wales.
Soon after the two Ian’s began work on a new musical based around a wedding. This time WLOG were pleased to offer the two Ian’s an opportunity to stage their new work and it was performed to packed houses in April 2016. Stagescript's owner David Waters was invited to the Premiere and was so impressed with what he saw and heard that he offered The Best Man a place in the Stagescripts catalogue.
Ian Cook
My musical career began at the tender age of 10 miming to Jailhouse Rock in the Cub Scout gangshow, and I never looked back. I have always been involved in making music of various sorts and have performed in a variety of semi-pro bands.
In the 80‘s I became fascinated with song writing, recording and production and started a small recording studio. In 2005 I appeared in an amateur production of “Little Shop Of Horrors” and, much to my surprise became completely besotted with the magical world of musical theatre. I have been involved with my local society, the Waveney light Opera Group, ever since.
Ian Newton
I was born in Manchester and educated in Derbyshire and I have always loved composing and playing music. When I was eighteen, I trained as a secondary school music teacher at Wolverhampton Polytechnic where I co wrote a short operetta with a fellow student, which wet my appetite for a more substantial work a few years later. The title of this second work was 'Making Sense', although I am not sure that it ever did!
Since moving to Suffolk in 2007 I had been looking for someone to write with and I was fortunate enough to find Ian Cook living only half a mile away.
