Heathcliff

Heathcliff is a 1996 musical conceived by and starring singer Cliff Richard based on the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. It is focused on the character of Heathcliff and the story is adapted to fit with the musical staging and production. The musical attempted to fill some gaps in Heathcliff's personal story by expanding plot elements implied by Brontë's novel, which were included chronologically. All of the dialogue in the show is from the novel, although some parts were transposed to better fit the manner in which it was performed. The music was composed by John Farrar with lyrics written by Tim Rice. The book is by Cliff Richard and Frank Dunlop. As a forerunner to the theatrical presentation, in early October 1995, Richard released the first single, "A Misunderstood Man", followed later in the month by the studio album Songs from Heathcliff, consisting of ten songs from the musical, five featuring Olivia Newton-John in duets. Three more singles followed, "Had to Be" (a duet with Olivia Newton-John), "The Wedding" (a duet with Helen Hobson not on the album) and "Be with Me Always". Rehearsals for the musical took place during the summer of 1996 in Camden, London, before moving to Earls Court 2 for production rehearsals featuring the stage sets and full band. Several public previews were held at Earls Court before the show moved to the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.