Rick Wakeman: Journey to the Centre of the Earth Tour 2014

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of his landmark concept album, Rick Wakeman extends the Journey To The Centre Of The Earth 2014 tour. This epic stage show will be at the Pavilions on 26 April 2014.

Based on the novel by Jules Verne, which will also mark its 150th anniversary in 2014, the album is one of the rock era's landmark achievements - a record that sold 15 million copies and rewrote the rules.

Rick Wakeman and The New World Symphony Orchestra, accompanied by The English Chamber Choir and the English Rock Ensemble, will celebrate this anniversary with a state of the art, dramatic, live presentation of this epochal, classical-rock crossover work. The ‘Journey To The Centre Of The Earth’ tour has already grown from 5 to 7 dates and now, due to popular demand, embarks on an expanded Journey around the UK with 14 shows.

"This is the start of a new Journey," says Rick Wakeman, "the original score for the album had been lost for so many years, making any new performances impossible. but after it turned up without warning , we managed to restore it and add previously missing music that was not included in the original performances.  It has taken another half decade to develop it into this tour, but I can't wait to take Jules Verne's magnificent story on tour again."

Presented in 2 parts, the first half will be Rick, alone on stage, telling the story of the original album - from the inspiration to the many trials and tribulations that made the record and world tour almost as challenging as the great adventure the story depicts.  Based on his acclaimed Edinburgh Festival show this year, Rick and his piano bring the often hilarious and unlikely tale to life in his own irrepressible style.

Then, the second half will relive the thrill for the millions who grew up with the original album and the many film and TV adaptations of the novel, and introduce Wakeman to a new generation of concert-goers, as well as his loyal fans.

Tickets on sale now!

To book visit www.plymouthpavilions.com or call the Box Office on 0845 146 1460.

The Story:

Rick Wakeman's 15 million selling Journey To The Centre Of The Earth sits alongside the most successful concept albums of the rock era including The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper, David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell. Its release in 1974 was arguably the high watermark of the progressive rock genre, currently enjoying a well-documented revival and hugely influential on the likes of Radiohead, Elbow and Muse.

2014 also marks the 150th anniversary of Jules Verne publishing the original, Voyage Au Centre De La Terre, the best loved of his fifty-four Voyages Extraordinaires novels which also included Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea and Around The World In Eighty Days, timeless works that have been adapted time and again for the big screen.

Rick's original album featured the London Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir, conducted by David Measham, Journey To The Centre Of The Earth was first performed and recorded live at London's Royal Festival Hall in January 1974. Issued three months later, its success defied everyone's expectations, including those of Wakeman's label. The album went on to enjoy gold and platinum sales across the globe.  Journey To The Centre Of The Earth was also nominated for an Ivor Novello Award.

For many years, the original conductor's score for Journey To The Centre Of The Earth was thought to have been lost, making any attempt to revive this seminal work impossible. However, in 2008, Wakeman took delivery of a box that arrived out of the blue from Australia. At the bottom, he found the original Journey To The Centre Of The Earth conductors score that had suffered severe water damage. With the help of conductor Guy Protheroe, he repaired and revisited the compositions and put them in a form that enabled him to celebrate its anniversary in an appropriate manner. Engaging The New World Symphony Orchestra and The English Chamber Choir as well as actor Peter Egan,( best known for both his Shakespearean work as well as his role as Paul in the British sitcom Ever Decreasing Circle)s, he recorded a new studio version of Journey To The Centre Of The Earth at London's famed Abbey Road Studios. In November 2012, the expanded work was published as a limited edition in a fan-pack, together with a copy of the 1974 Royal Festival Hall concert programme, and has since became a collector's item.