Ellis, Tompsett, Clarke and Varla to Record Only You Can Save Mankind

By Adam Hetrick
17 Mar 2009

West End Wicked stars Kerry Ellis and Oliver Tompsett will lend their voices to the studio recording of the sci-fi musical Only You Can Save Mankind.

Based on the book by Terry Pratchett, Only You Can Save Mankind has music by Leighton James House and lyrics by Shaun McKenna (Lord of the Rings). A portion of the proceeds from the album will benefit the Alzheimer's Research Trust at the behest of Pratchett, who suffers from early onset Alzheimer's.

In addition to Ellis and Tompsett, the recording of will also feature Sharon D. Clarke (We Will Rock You), Zubin Varla (Jesus Christ Superstar) and cellist Zoe Martlew.

Press notes for the musical, which received a 2004 production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, read: "As the mighty alien fleet from the very latest computer game thunders across the computer screen, Johnny prepares to blow them into the usual million pieces. And they send him a message: We surrender. They're not supposed to do that! They're supposed to die. And computer joysticks don't have 'Don't Fire' buttons. But it's only a game, or is it?"

Representatives for the musical state that a 2010 U.K. tour and subsequent West End transfer of Only You Can Save Mankind are in the works. The recording is produced by Neil Brock and features orchestrations by Tom Deering.

Only You Can Save Mankind will be available for download in June by visiting pjsmprints.