Coronation Street fans rediscover ill-fated musical and demand producers 'bring it back' - The Mirror

Coronation Street fans have rediscovered a long-forgotten musical based on the ITV soap featuring its stars and demanded that it is revived for the next big anniversary

Coronation Street fans have demanded the revival of a forgotten musical based on the ITV soap. The long-running programme celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010 and at the time, the cast recorded an album titled Rogues, Angels, Heroes and Fools, with music and lyrics by Trisha Ward.

Musical numbers reference famous moments from the soap's history, including He's My Man, which documented an infamous catfight between Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) and Elsie Tanner (Pat Phoenix), whilst other tracks explored early episodes and further storylines that involved Jack and Vera Duckworth, serial killer Richard Hillman and Raquel Watts amongst others. The grand finale of the musical is a number called Eh Chuck, which lists scores of iconic characters like Gail Platt, Ken and Deirdre Barlow, Annie Walker and Ena Sharples, along with several others.

The album was made into a stage musical in 2012 known as Street of Dreams, penned by Corrie scriptwriter Damon Alexis-Rochefort, and opened at Manchester Arena in May 2012, but was cancelled after just two performances and has never been seen since. The production featured big names like Paul O'Grady as the narrator, as well as Kym Marsh, who at the time played Michelle Connor on the show, Curly Watts icon Kevin Kennedy and Katy Cavanagh, who was known to fans as Julie Carp.

Prior to finding television fame as Rovers barmaid Glenda Shuttleworth, Jodie Prenger had a successful career in theatre, having beaten Jessie Buckley to the role of Nancy in Oliver! through the BBC talent show I'd Do Anything, and more than a decade before she arrived on the cobbes on-screen, she played Elsie Tanner in the musical.

One fan took to Reddit upon rediscovering the rare album, which is available to stream on Spotify, having obtained a copy in its original CD form. In response, another user said: "I’ve listened to this album and think some of the tracks are actually really good! (My personal favourites are I Know What It Feels Like, He’s My Man and Woman Stanley Woman)

"Interesting fact: The stage show you mentioned only opened for ONE NIGHT! (essentially a pre-show to get initial reactions) then was supposed to change a few things based on that response… but they just never ended up opening to the public at all. Also Jodie Pregner was in it (that’s right, the one and only Glenda Shuttleworth) as a young Elsie Tanner. Seems she was always destined to be in Corrie after all."

Another fan suggested that the show could come back for the programme's next big anniversary, as they pointed out the "big mistake" that led it its early closure.

They wrote: "This is excellent, and a crying shame that the musical itself, Street of Dreams, only got two performances before being cancelled.

"I think their big mistake was that they expected it to sell out arenas rather than theatres. They really should bring it back as it's a real love letter to the history of Coronation Street. Perhaps for the 70th?" The musical was not produced by ITV, and the broadcaster had licensed the Coronation Street brand to Reckless Entertainment for the stage adaptation. In the weeks following its initial postponement, several cast members claimed they had not been paid for their work.

At the time, John Ward, director of the now-defunct Reckless Entertainment, had hoped that the show would see the light of day again but that is yet to happen.

Shortly after the closure, he told The Stage: "Despite artistic difficulties with key personnel on the opening performances in Manchester, the public appetite for the musical remains undimmed. We are working very hard to bring Trisha Ward's original concept for the musical to the stage in 2013." The unearthing of the musical comes just months after fans who attended An Audience With Coronation Street learned of a bizarre episode of the ITV soap that was set decades into the future.

This Morning star Sharon Marshall was in charge of the proceedings, and interviewed stars William Roache (Ken Barlow), Jack P Shepherd (David Platt), Jane Danson (Leanne Battersby), Patti Clare (Mary Taylor) and Jimmi Harkishin (Dev Alahan) about their time on the nation's favourite street. But the audience were in for a very special treat when Sharon introduced the futuristic skit as she warned them that it may be the only copy left.

All set in the Rovers Return, and filmed on the programme's old set at Quay Street in Manchester, viewers watched as it emerged that Sarah Platt (Tina O'Brien) had married a cyborg version of Ken.

At this point, he would be nearly 120 years old, whilst Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey), who would be around the same age, had won the lottery four times and created several clones of his long-suffering wife Vera (Liz Dawn), including a "slightly modified" lingerie-clad one he referred to as Bedtime Vera, and Cooking Vera, who stormed into the pub to remind him that his tea was ready.

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