From Southwick to the West End stage (From The Argus)

From Southwick to the West End stage

5:40pm Thursday 25th October 2012 in News By Kimberly Middleton, Acting chief reporter

A multi-talented musician has swapped his DIY home recording studio in Southwick for the stages of the West End.

But Dominic Ferris admits he still likes to return to the secret garage studio and burn the midnight oil writing his own musicals – to stave off boredom.

The 27-year-old has been working with top names in musical theatre including Harvey Weinstein, the producer of Billy Elliot the Musical, and Tony and Olivier Award-winning Rob Ashford, who directed Shrek the Musical.

Dominic has been assisting the conductor, working as a vocal coach and playing the piano and keyboard for the world premiere of musical Finding Neverland.

Based on the Oscar-winning film which starred Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet and Dustin Hoffman, the musical is due to grace West End stages in the spring.

The semi-biographical story follows the life of Peter Pan creator Sir James Matthew Barrie.

This week Dominic, a former Hurstpierpoint College pupil who went on to study at the Royal College of Music, returned to the comfort of his family’s garage studio.

He said: “I do a lot of recording at home, I like writing musicals. I burn quite a lot of midnight oil.

“It’s quite an important thing to do as a musician – you can’t just be a concert pianist.

“You have to be as versatile as possible. And I get bored very easily if I’m doing the same thing for a long time.”

Dominic is back in Sussex ahead of a one-off fundraising concert.

The Rotary Club of Brighton event Dominic Ferris and Guests is taking place at Hove’s All Saints’ Church on Saturday, November 10 from 7pm.

Celebrating the club’s centenary, the charity gala will feature West End’s Dirty Dancing and Chess star David Erik, soprano Tulay Uyar, Indonesian pianist Elwin Hendrijanto and violist Elliot Corner.

The fundraiser is for Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital and Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Tickets cost between £10 and £12.50 from 0844 870 0887, www.brightontg.com/tickets or on the door.

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