DUKE SPECIAL has just announced a string of shows that will take place in November 2019 including Manchester and London.
In December 2018, Duke played some very special shows performing a retrospective of his work to date in Dublin, Belfast and London – the London show was his first headline show at the beautiful Union Chapel and saw him play with a selection of very special guests, including Iain Archer, Romeo Stodart, Thomas Truax and David Ford.
This year he will return to Union Chapel in London with a different set of special guests, and the show at Manchester Royal Northern College of Music will also feature special guests.
By nature Duke Special (aka Peter Wilson) is a curious person. He is curious about theatre, books, music, poetry, art, love, life, redemption, death, 78RPM records and most recently, gardening! All of this is evidenced by the variety of musical adventures throughout his career. As well as releasing records and touring the world, his creative talents have seen him involved in a diverse array of projects. These include writing the music for and appearing in Deborah Warner’s critically acclaimed 2009 production of ‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ at London’s National Theatre, presenting a documentary on the life of ’50s megastar Ruby Murray and being commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to write a series of original songs based on photographs for their exhibition of the photographers Stieglitz, Steichen, and Strand.
More recently Duke has ventured into the world of musical theatre, joining forces with stand-up comedian Andrew Doyle. Together they brought a brand new adaptation of ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ to the Lyric Theatre in his native Belfast. They then collaborated on ‘Paperboy’ – a heart-warming musical drama, based on the memoirs of Tony Macaulay and set against the backdrop of 1970s Belfast. In 2016 Duke was appointed as the Artist In Residence at the Lyric and as part of this residency, he worked on writing a musical adaptation of Huckleberry Finn, based on songs written by Kurt Weill, which was previewed at the Lyric in May 2018. This year, he is working with writer Bob Kelly on a new musical adaptation of the Patrick McCabe novel ‘Breakfast on Pluto’, which will premiere at the Galway International Arts Festival in July.
in 2017, Duke Special released his latest studio album, ‘Hallow’ – a beautiful collection of songs entirely based on poems by Belfast poet Michael Longley. His poetry is full of gentleness, honesty, mischief and love, and peppered with a cast of artists, animals, flowers, friends and long forgotten soldiers. As ever, Duke Special mined a new seam of inspiration, always trying to get to the bottom of what it means to be human.
In December 2018, Duke played some very special shows in Dublin, Belfast and London – the London show at the beautiful Union Chapel saw him performing a retrospective of his work to date with a selection of very special guests, including Iain Archer, Romeo Stodart, Thomas Truax and David Ford.
In November 2019, he will return to Union Chapel with a different set of special guests, as well as performing in Manchester, also with special guests, all yet to be announced.
LIVE DATES
Friday 22nd November – Manchester Royal Northern College of Music
Saturday 23rd November – London Union Chapel
Tickets on sale here.
