Chapters in the Life of Rex Roman: The Story So Far... Part 1 of 3
 
History in the Life of Rex Roman PT1 of 3: 2006-09 Sep 2006 Having returned from an 8 month tour of Germany professional musician Simon Ash has an idea. Why not create a whole fantasy world of comedy and music, avoiding cheesy West End dance troupe cliches, by doing something completely different. Rex Roman is born... Apr 2007 Armed with a story in audio book format and lots of specially arranged music to fit the narration, Simon goes for dinner with Pink Floyd’s manager. They discuss the idea of a show that should compete with We Will Rock You and Mamma Mia. Simon is given positive feedback and encouraged to write a novel about the story for his stage show. May-Dec 2007 Simon writes Chapters in the Life of Rex Roman in 3 weeks and then spends 6 months re-writing, editing and making plans to publish the novel. Plans are put in place to follow publication with some live shows based on the novel to test public reaction. Jan 2008 Simon writes an early draft script for the live show based on his novel. Feb 2008 Ahead of the novel’s intended release date, we receive an injunction banning us from naming and shaming a famous Hollywood actor who has an unhealthy obsession with poultry. Mar 2008 A compromise is agreed with the Hollywood star, and various other British television celebrities, and a deal is struck on what can actually be printed. The novel’s manuscript finally goes to the printers. Apr 2008 A live show to celebrate the launch of the novel enters rehearsals. Pre-orders for the novel come flooding in. May 2008 21st May 2008. The novel returns from the printers and is distributed to all those who have pre-ordered a copy, purely based on word-of-mouth rumours. Jun 2008 The first ever live shows play for 2 nights in the 338-seat capacity venue The Wilde Theatre, Bracknell, Berks as an experiment to see if the idea works. It does and novel sales go through the roof with 50% of the audience buying a copy after the show. Many of the other members of the audience seem to already own a copy. The band spend 30mins signing copies of the novel in the foyer. Rex Roman is up and running. Jul 2008 Extra musical material for the live show is recorded and catalogued for future use. (The band play 100% live with no tapes or sequencers. What you hear is all talent, no tricks.) The feedback from the live show has been exceptional and so the show is expanded with even more bonkers ideas rehearsed for future performances. Props are ordered and purchased. Aug 2008 The quiet summer sees plans being made for shows in 2009 and a podcast series. Rex Roman grants Simon Ash permission for the show and offers his full support but due to timing commitments won’t appear in the stage show. Sep 2008 Due to public demand a NEWS & BLOG page is added to the Rex Roman website. Overwhelming sadness falls over us on hearing about the passing of Rick Wright of Pink Floyd. Oct 2008 6th Oct 2008. The first-ever game of Speed Monopoly is held at Starbucks in Bracknell. Three Rex fans attend and play on the special, customised Rex Roman Monopoly Board. Chapters in the Life of Rex Roman debuts on Amazon.co.uk and within weeks becomes an Amazon bestseller. Plans are made to print 1000s more copies to follow the very limited initial run which is destined to become a collector’s item. A pair of Rex Roman’s unattractive old underpants are auctioned off on eBay and fetch a tidy price. Michael Jackson gave us the idea. Discussions begin to produce a German language version of the book. Four chapters from the book (Ch11-14) are recorded to form the basis of The Rex Roman Podcast series. This audio is then gradually cut up into a 12 part series throughout October/November with some star appearances scheduled for the extra stuff added at the start and end of each podcast. The full 8-piece band of talented musicians heads out to Suffolk to play a special show in The Fisher Theatre, Bungay. Simon Ash, author of the novel and MD of the stage show, appears on BBC Radio Suffolk / BBC Norfolk & BBC Cambridge. Nov 2008 Despite Chapters in the Life of Rex Roman being released via a tiny publisher the book is now stocked in 25 specially selected stores (mostly Waterstone’s) and listed on all the major retail websites that anyone is likely to purchase from. All of this with absolutely zero pounds spent on advertising and promotion. The whole advertising budget was blown on legal fees back in Feb/Mar. Limited availability of copies restricts the book’s expansion so the 2009 edition is finalised ready to print. This one includes a quote from Simon’s lifetime hero & drumming inspiration - Nick Mason. The first Rex Roman Acoustic Pink Floyd Set gigs play in small pubs. Books sell and a 4-piece band tests out some arrangements, all for fun. Dec 2008 The PODCAST series begins on the Rex Roman website. More live shows are confirmed for 2009. Nick Mason of Pink Floyd is set to appear in a classic podcast episode to be broadcast in Jan 09. Simon appears on Radio Suffolk with the legendary Graeme Mac. This website is updated and adds more new features, more podcasts. Feedback is coming in from all over the globe. The cult of Rex is growing. Follow the story in the link below Jan 2009 onwards:

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