Donnelly, Wakefield And More Back PARADISE LOST Kickstarter Campaign!

Memphis star Killian Donnelly has joined fellow West Enders Charlotte Wakefield and Matthew Wycliffe in backing an online crowd funding campaign to raise money to produce a studio album of a new British musical.

Paradise Lost, inspired by Milton's poem, tells the story of the downfall of Heaven's once much adored Angel Lucifer against the backdrop of the approaching civil war in Heaven, where a romance between an ambitious young angel Angelis and the Handsome Captain of Heaven's army Michael is added for good measure. Written by actor and composer Lee Ormsby (currently Pumbaa in Disney's The Lion King UK Tour) and lyricist Jonathan Wakeham, it has been gathering fans and supporters daily through a dedicated social media drive.

Killian and his co-stars recorded three tracks early in July at the legendary Palace Theatre Studios (ex-home to the long running smash hit Les Miserables) which are being used as a basis for the campaign which they hope will see the project successfully funded enough to finish a full double CD concept album in time for a Christmas release on the SimG record label.

The show itself was first written almost 20 years ago, but due to other commitments sat on the shelf until it was discovered by director Hugh Wooldridge (Chess In Concert, Night of 1000 Voices), who guided the writers over the last four years in producing a brand new and exciting musical for today's theatre audiences which they've turned to Kickstarter to fund.

Said Ormsby: "Ultimately it's our dream to see the new version as a full stage production, but with funding as the first major obstacle to getting any musical off the ground, and current economic conditions, it's virtually impossible right now."

With the recent closures of big shows like Stephen Ward and From Here To Eternity, the wariness of backers and producers in funding new work has meant artists have turned to alternative funding sources, and sites like Kickstarter.com have proved time and again to be the way forward; Jersey Boys' star Jon Boydon raising over £16,000 for his second solo album, and The Pajama Game being particularly notable successes of crowd funding.

In line with Kickstarter.com guidelines, it's an "all or nothing" scenario. Artists have a set number of days to reach target where pledges are made in return for project rewards. Since its launch on September 6, Paradise Lost has seen almost 70% of its project funded, but if the goal of £8000 isn't raised before October 17th, all pledges get cancelled and the album doesn't get made.

Two-time Olivier Award nominee Charlotte Wakefield (Spring Awakening and Regent's Park's The Sound of Music) commented, "There is a real need and hunger from audiences for new musicals right now, so it's time unknown shows were given a chance, and this is the perfect risk free way people can be involved. It would be fantastic to achieve similar successes of early "album first" shows like Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Chess and War of the Worlds. All funds we're hoping to raise all will be used towards studio hire and CD production costs."

Killian Donnelly who is about to take the lead of Huey in the Broadway transfer of Memphis and has appeared in The Commitments, Tom Hooper's Les Miserables movie and The Phantom of the Opera, is taking on the role of Lucifer, with Matthew Wycliffe (Jersey Boys, The Commitments, Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story) as Michael, with Charlotte Wakefield as Angelis.

Find out more at the official Kickstarter page for the project.