Geordie Stuart Brayson may have been left frustrated in his efforts to realise the full potential of his home-town composition, but he is taking the US by storm

NORTH-EAST composer Stuart Brayson, who recently saw his musical From Here To Eternity with lyrics by Sir Tim Rice win great acclaim in London’s West End, has just returned the US.

From Here To Eternity is being prepared for Broadway and a try out of the new version of his show received sensational reviews at the prestigious Ogunquit Playhouse, in Maine.

This follows a sell out run of the musical last year at Finger Lakes Festival of Musicals in Auburn, New York state.

Gateshead-born Brayson says he is very excited by how the Americans are reacting to the story.

“The Americans are a very patriotic lot and the musical seems to resonate far deeper than even we could have imagined. They are on their feet before the end of the finale applauding like crazy.

"One night a soldier stood up and saluted during one of the songs; it really does send shivers down your spine.”

The musical, based upon the best selling novel by James Jones which is set in Hawaii in 1941 on the lead up to Pearl Harbor, was also filmed for cinema release. This movie of the London production was shown across the UK, Europe and America to great acclaim, and the subsequent soundtrack recording reached number one here in Britain.

Brayson also wrote a musical called King Pit, set in a mining community in 1912 in his native North-East and previewed songs from this show at The Sage Gateshead.

One of the songs , Geordies and Proud, was performed by South Shields born Joe McElderry.

Brayson says he still has plans to stage the full show at some point but has been left disappointed by the lack of local producers and backers who "promised a lot but never delivered".

“The concert of King Pit was sensational and very moving. We had a colliery band, rock band and local community choir. It was an epic evening. The reaction was as good as I have seen for a new work. A long standing ovation. Lots of tears and pride. It’s a great story and I like to think a good score.

"However it’s been difficult since to find a producer who will support the work and take it all the way. I still hope this will happen as I do feel an honest work that covers the regions heritage and those brave souls who worked in and lost their lives down the coal mines is well overdue.”

This week will see another milestone for the local pop singer turned musical theatre composer. The movie of From Here To Eternity the Musical is to be available to be streamed for the first time across America via the leading New York based company Broadway HD. The streaming will become available today - December 7 - which is the 76th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

Brayson says: “Its terrific news and quite an honour. I’m very proud of the film of FHTE as I believe it is quite groundbreaking and very cinematic. A lot of musicals don’t work at all on film but I think ours does as it’s such a great story. I hope that more young people in America and globally will now take this opportunity to see and enjoy From Here To Eternity via their phones, laptops, TVs, tablets whatever.

"It’s also quite controversial as a lot of stuffy traditionalists believe live broadcasts or streaming of theatre shows to be bad thing. I disagree. It’s progress and the future of theatre. Nothing beats a live show but this is a great alternative. Especially if you are short of a few bob. Theatre tickets can be ridiculously expensive.”

  • From Here To Eternity the Musical will be available to stream via Broadway HD at http://www.broadwayhd.com from today. You can follow Stuart Brayson on twitter at @StuartJBrayson