McCurdy, Stephen
Stephen McCurdy, formerly of Christchurch, is a musical director with a number of stage and feature film scores to his credit.
Mr McCurdy’s musical interests go back to his high school days in Christchurch when he played cello and a variety of brass instruments in an orchestra. “I was a pretty serious cellist,” he says.
He worked with the Court Theatre and with university productions, playing the trumpet in Mervyn Thompson’s Christchurch production of “Marat Sade” with such illustrious cast members as the young Sam Neill. He moved to Wellington and Downstage Theatre Company in 1975, scoring a variety of incidental music to their Shakespearian productions, “Songs to Uncle Scrim” and others.
During this time he wrote the musical score for the feature film, “Middle Age Spread,” and also wrote scores for a few small films.
He went to Australia in 1980 and spent a year playing in piano bars until returning to Auckland to score lan Mune’s “Dracula” for the Mercury Theatre.
In March, 1983, he travelled to the United States and Europe on a Queen Elizabeth II grant, taking in as many musicals as possible. It was while he was in London that he heard about the show “Heroes.”
After his return in mid--1983 he worked constantly, scoring music for the feature films, “Came a Hot Friday” and “Shaker Run,” the television series, “Heroes,” and music for the Katherine Mansfield film which the director, John Reid, shot in Paris with Sir John Gielgud and Jane Birkin.
- Press, 31 October 1984
