Parenthood to make West End debut at the Iris Theatre in Covent Garden
Published: 10:00, 29 April 2019
A musical mother and father are taking their show to a West End stage.
Peter and Emily Moody, of Merivale Grove, Walderslade, will see their comedic, all-singing, all-dancing script performed this Friday, May 3.
Called Parenthood, it is the first musical the married couple have written and it was performed at MidKent College, Gillingham, in November.
Now, the Moodys are looking forward to seeing their story come to life at the Iris Theatre in Covent Garden.
The audience will see multiple parents’ journey from the moment of conception through to school, dealing with teenagers, an empty nest and grandparenting.
Mr Moody said: “Having children who are at the end of school and one five-year-old means we’ve experienced most things.
“It is based on experiences but it is nothing too specific - hopefully our friends and family will still talk to us after they’ve seen it.
“We had a really warm reception at MidKent College so fingers crossed it will go well.”
"It is supposed to be about the hard parts of parenting and then poking a laugh at them..." Mr Moody
It was favourable reviews from the MidKent performance that helped them get to the West End.
After the show at the college in November, lots of theatre-goers tweeted and posted on Facebook favourable reviews, and its reputation grew.
Then Mr Moody entered in a competition called the Xmas Factor in December. He wrote a Christmas song called Drifting, which he and his wife Emily performed in the final.
That competition was run in conjunction with the Iris Theatre. They approached the Moodys, said they liked to help first-time writers and offered their performance a slot.
Between them Mr and Mrs Moody have three children. Mr Moody has a 17-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son from a previous relationship. He and Emily have a five-year-old son called Tommy.
The Moodys are both very musical - Mr Moody is a private music tutor and Mrs Moody is an amateur dramatics lover.
Mr Moody said: “There are lots of funny bits.
"It is supposed to be about the hard parts of parenting and then poking a laugh at them.
“People said they laughed and cried - there are some parts that are very sentimental.
“We wanted to put our musicality to good use but also it was a way for us to spend more time together.”
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Rachel Dixon