Mario Frangoulis & Steve Balsamo - You Raise Me Up

West End star Steve Balsamo announced for 100 Voices charity concert at Llanelli's Ffwrnes

West End star Steve Balsamo announced for 100 Voices charity concert at Llanelli's Ffwrnes


ONE of the West End's biggest male stars will be coming to Llanelli with plans revealed for a huge charity concert.
Following the success of last summer's 100 Voices charity variety night, the show will return next month with an even bigger bill of acts.
The show is the brainchild of Llanelli lad Dale Francis, a musical theatre enthusiast who has used his connections to help to raise cash for local charities.
Last year's show raised money for the Welsh Guards Benevolent Fund and Ty Bryngwyn Hospice.

The charities are close to the 28-year-old's heart as he lost his brother in the forces and his mum to cancer.

He hopes to up the charity effort this year to further boost local causes.

Mr Francis said: "It was going to be a one-off extravaganza last year, but with the success and the sum of money we raise for charity there was no reason we were going to let it go.
"From this year we are going to try to grow and grow and grow."

Taking place on August 29 and 30 Llanelli's Ffwrnes, the show will featuring everything from vocal talents to comedians and TV dance troupes to all round entertainers.
Swansea-born Steve Balsamo is one of the stars of the night.

He made his name in the theatres of the West End and is highly regarded for one of the best portrayals of Jesus in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar.
Mr Francis said: "Lloyd Webber himself even said he was one of the most talent guys he had worked with.

"Steve Balsamo has a massive following, and nobody can sing Gethsemane like him.
"I thought it would be nice, as there have been so many amateur productions of Jesus Christ Superstar, that people could come and meet him.

"I think he is the most talented male musical theatre star ever."

Other stars will include Britain's Got Talent dance acts Pre Skool and Nu Sxool.
There is also Karl Morgan from the band Who's Molly, who has just released a single about Swansea City and has been on tour with Steps.
But this is by no means the extent of the range of acts performing on the night.
Mr Francis said he was particularly pleased to have Denny Twp involved as compere for the show.
"He was the one that discovered me back in the pantomimes, so it's nice to be back working with Denny again," he said.
Tickets for the event are £15 and are available from the Ffwrnes box office, or from the 100 Voices website

"It's going to be a night of pure variety," Mr Francis added.
"There's something that is going to whet everyone's appetite."

        

The remarkable journey of Steve Balsamo takes a new twist

From Jesus Christ Superstar to The Famous Farter: The remarkable journey of Steve Balsamo takes a new twist

•  july 6th 2014 
• By Nahan Bevan

Welsh singer Steve Balsamo signs up for kids' musical about 19th century French fartiste

Steve Balsamo

He shot to fame as the Son of God.
But now, to paraphrase Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Steve Balsamo is about to prove he’s not the Messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy.
That’s because the former Jesus Christ Superstar singer is developing a new project with an altogether less than divine subject matter – farting.
The 43-year-old West End wonder from Swansea is working on songs for a new kids’ musical about a professional flatulist – or “fartiste” – and he hopes audiences won’t think they stink.
“A mate of mine called David Boyle, who’s an actor and ex-Disney illustrator, tweeted me about a children’s book he’d written called The Famous Farter and asked me if I wanted to write the music for a bilingual stage version,” said Balsamo.
“I bought a copy of it for my little girl Izzy, who was about eight at the time, and she loved it – so I jumped at the chance.”
Boyle’s book is based on the true story of 19th century French baker Joseph Pujol, who discovered he had the ability to control his abdominal muscles in a way that allowed him to break wind at will.
Going under the stage name Le Petomane, he became an international celebrity and performed in all the great opera houses around Europe, playing tunes like O Sole Mio and the French national anthem with his bottom.
“He even performed for Queen Victoria, but gave it all up when WWI broke out to open a biscuit factory with his wife,” said Balsamo, who added that he’s also roped in his songwriting friend Christian Phillips and actress and presenter Caryl Parry Jones – both of whom worked on Children’s Bafta-winning film Rhestr Nadolig Wil – to help bring his vision to life.
“We’ve got numbers like Don’t You Steal My Thunder, Hey Mr Fartypants and Whoops, Pardon Me! I’m sure the little ones will love them.
“We’ve tried to emulate the classic vibe US tunesmiths like Sherman Brothers conjured up for such films as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – although we had a little more trouble in working out where we were going to get our fart noises from. In the end we decided on a mix of trombone and general raspberry blowing sound effects.”
So, they weren’t tempted to record their own personal contributions then?
“If we were do you really think I’d admit it ?” he laughed.
And plans are underway to showcase the production at Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre later this month.
“The guys there are co-producing it with us and we’ve managed to get funding from the Arts Council of Wales.”
Is he worried about the title offending anyone?
“Not really, because everyone we’ve told about it breaks into a big grin the second we mention what it’s called,” said Balsamo.
“It seems, whether you’re young or old, farting is just funny.”