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 Chiasmus Productions Ltd.
Latest news 14.9.2008:
Nicol and Ville are delighted to announce  that three songs  we recorded this year have reached the top finals in the BRIT and BBC sponsored UK Songwriting Contest 2008, beating 6,000 other entries to make it into the top 5%.  Our thanks to Emma Finlay for singing them so beautifully.
 
A new photos section (”kuvat” in Finnish) has been added to the following page.
 
Our June showcase was reviewed in UkTheatre by Elspeth Rae.
She said that she was ”...in for a pleasant and informative hour and a quarter.”
”Although obviously done on a small budget, this did not stop the creators from putting on a very professional showcase.”
She concluded with: ”...a very promising score with certain songs such as ‘Join the Stasi: Be a Star’ and ‘Island in Time’ being of a particularly high standard, led me to believe that with the right production backing.....this could be a very successful and exciting new musical.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
About us
 
 
”Our” Singers
Emma Finlay
Emma sings on:
No Man´s Land Alley,
Danger In The Dark, Would It Be Such A Crime?, Toilet Talk, Let´s Get Hitched, It´s Only A Rumour, Nowhere To Hide & Girl In Love, Reaching Out For More & La Leyenda Negra
 
Abbey Addams
Abbey sings on:
Solstice Street, Cloud Nine Descending, Damn & Toilet Talk
 
Russell Hawkins
Russ sings on:
No Surrender, Let´s Get Hitched, Toilet Talk, Saturday Night, Join The Stasi, All On Our Side & Feel Like Driving A Tank Through Their Plan
 
Alex Weatherhill
Alex sings on:
Would It Be Such A Crime? & Saturday Night
 
 
Stephen Weller
Stephen sings on:
Halt! Who Goes There? & A Child Of The System
Lars Rehm Chiasmus Productions is a dynamic and growing theatre company enjoying making musical and theatrical magic in an exciting age of cross cultural creativity. Founded and directed by multi-award-winning songwriters Ville Hildén and Nicol Walsh, we aim to produce high quality, well crafted musicals, plays and multi media presentations for the 21st century.  Our shows aim to speak to, involve, move, and inspire audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Above all, we seek to entertain.
Forthcoming projects include ” A Knock At The Door”, a musical about about coming of age in 1980s East Berlin. ”A Knock At The Door” had its West End premiere Showcase at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London on 25th June 2008. For DVDs please contact the address below.  Further selections of songs and scenes from the show will be performed later this year, dates to be confirmed.
About ”A Knock At The Door
 
 
Competitions
 
 
 
A Knock At The Door
Sir Tim Rice wrote to tell us that he thinks our show "sounds lively and cheerful", and that:
 
" The ideas are original and the music intriguing so a theatrical presentation, even at a simple level, should be entertaining" and that he wishes us well.
 
ville(at)chiasmusproductions.co.ukmailto:ville@chiasmusproductions.co.uk?subject=Mailmailto:ville.hilden@welho.com?subject=Mailshapeimage_13_link_0
nicol(at)chiasmusproductions.co.ukmailto:nicol@chiasmusproductions.co.uk?subject=Mailmailto:ville.hilden@welho.com?subject=s%C3%A4hk%C3%B6postin%20aiheshapeimage_14_link_0
Contact
 
 
Hear our ”pop” songs here:
 
 
Or our ”theatrical” numbers here:
 
 
Nicol and Ville are delighted to announce that in March 2007 we have been admitted to the Great American Song Contest's highly prestigious Hall Of Fame. Our songs Mind The Gap and They Served The Working Class have won First and Third Prizes in this year's contest, as well as winning Two Outstanding Achievements In Songwriting Awards. We also won a Top Finalist placing and Honor Award for a third song, Join The Stasi: Be A Star . Here is what their respected panel of exceptionally talented songwriters and producers had to say about us:
 
" Nicol and writing partner Ville Hilden focus their considerable talents creating highly distinctive songs for Chiasmus, a performance group that presents plays and musical theater."
”Congratulations on your excellent songs. It's a real pleasure to hear such inventive and original songwriting.”
 
A great deal of the credit for all of our awards belongs to Russell, Emma Finlay, Abbey Addams, Helen Power, Alex Weatherhill and Stephen Weller as it is their brilliant vocals and talented character interpretations which bring our songs to life.
 
 
 
Claire Dodin
Claire sings on:
Nowhere To Hide & Ask The Stars
 
 
Helen Power
Helen sings on:
Spooky Love Songs
Tricia Stewart
Tricia sings on:
Nowhere To Hide & A Surprising Day
 

A Knock At The Door  is set in East Berlin during the run up to the fall of the Berlin Wall  in 1987-9.  
An early genesis of this show was submitted to three theatres with a reading/ workshop service. 

Suzanne Bell, the artistic director at the Liverpool Everyman wrote back saying they read it:
"with interest. We felt it was a gripping and theatrically exciting piece of work with strikingly vivid imagery and a strong sense of the production coming through the script".
The  artistic director at the West Yorkshire Playhouse  commented:
"this one is bursting with energy and enthusiasm, ambitious and highly enjoyable. The composing team work well together, with some excellent music and "Join The Stasi" a particularly strong anthem"

A Knock At The Door  Then had a two hour working session  in the Novello Room at Theatre Royal Drury lane with John Sparks from the Academy for New Musical Theatre and Mercury Musicals. He told us that our show is "exciting, stageable and should hold wide audience appeal" holding, he thinks,  "particular interest for young people in their teens and twenties."

My collaborator and I have recently recorded a sound track demo with a small but very talented cast of musical theatre performers. 
8  different songs from  A Knock At The Door have so far  taken aong writing awards and prizes in major international songwriting competitions. 

Some more about the show:

Set in East Berlin during the 1980s, A Knock At The Door is a passionate love story, interwoven with social and political satire, a touch of human tragedy and moments of pure farce. As the dramatic tension builds, fear mingles with laughter as we take a surrealist look at the illogicalities of life in a police state where walls, quite literally, have ears and even the moon could be a secret Stasi spy. Nothing here is ever quite what it seems.

The action centres around a group of cadets and their leaders, whose well planned lives are changed dramatically by the arrival of a mysterious stranger in their midst. A story of idealism, hope and love in adversity, the dynamics of the plot reflect the growing tensions in the Eastern Bloc during the run up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the show closes with the mixed emotions of East Berliners as the seemingly unshakeable system which has been their “reality” for so many years falls apart. Celebrations and rejoicing, yes. But just who will get the happy ending?
2 Outstanding Achievements in Songwriting Awards 2007
2 Honour Awards and Top  Finalists in the Great American Song
Contest 2007-2008
1st Place Winners in The Great American Song Contest 2007
3rd Place Winners and Top Finalists in The G.A.S.C. 2007
Winners in the Unisong International Songwriting Contest 2005-6
Twice 2nd Place Winners in the UK Songwriting Contest 2006
Top 10 Finalists in the USA Songwriting Competition 2007
2 Outstanding Achievements in Songwriting Awards 2006
Winners of 5 Major Awards in The G.A.S.C. 2006
Three x Top Finalists in the UK Songwriting Contest 2008
Five x Top Finalists in the UK Songwriting Contest 2006
Four x Top 20 Finalists in the Unisong Songwriting Contest 2006
Twice Top Finalists in the UK Songwriting Competition 2005
Top Finalists in the Unisong Songwriting Contest 2005
Name To Watch Out For in the American Lyric Writer Awards 2006
Look for us in The Great American Song Hall Of Fame 2007
Nova Skipp
will be playing Liesel
Justin Giles
will be playing Anton