When Saturday Comes: 'I've created musical of famous Sean Bean film - but you can't see it in Sheffield'
Sean Bean movies may not usually be the material you’d associate with musical theatre.
But one of Sheffield’s most famous films, made in the city and which starred the high profile actor from Handsworth, is set to go on stage, West End style, later this year.
When Saturday Comes, which starred Bean alongside fellow big names Emily Lloyd and Pete Postlethwaite, has been given the musical treatment by one of the movie’s biggest fans, who has written the script and has it booked in at venues across Yorkshire.
The film was the story of Bean’s character, brewery worker Jimmy Muir, and his fight to play for his beloved Sheffield United.
It was filmed at locations all across Sheffield and Rotherham, including the Blades’ Bramall Lane stadium.
Now, fan and producer Deano Jones, who produces shows all over the county, has written a string of songs for a stage version, with titles including I’ve Got a Trial, This Is It, and When Saturday Comes.
He is now auditioning for the cast before a run of shows this summer, in towns including Rotherham, Halifax and Scarborough. However, at present, there are no plans for it to be performed in Sheffield, the city where the film was set.
Deano said the original writer of the film, James Daly, is delighted with the idea of a musical.
He said: “I saw James at a screening of the original film at The Showroom, in Sheffield, and said we’d love to turn it into a musical. He said ‘go for it’”
“I produce shows, and it is the 30th anniversary of the film this year. So we are making a musical version.
“The closest it comes the Sheffield is Rotherham, at the Montgomery Theatre. I would have absolutely loved it to be at the Lyceum, in Sheffield, but we couldn’t get that over the line.
“I really hope Sean Bean hears about it, as I’d love to get him to record an intro for us, as a voiceover.
“The script is there, the music is there, and we’re casting now. We want people from Yorkshire, and Sheffield would be ideal.”
Deano himself is originally from Gloucester, and now lives in Lincolnshire.
But he fell in love with the film as a youngster.
Now aged 39, he said: “I loved football, and I loved underdog stories, so I thought it was so my thing when I saw it on the shelf.”
It also turned him into a Sheffield United fan.
He said: “I loved Sheffield United on the back of the film, and loved watching them get into the Premier League.
“Now James is excited to see his film turned into a musical.”
It is not Deano’s first plan related to the film.
He had previously written a sequel, and was initially optimistic that it would be made.
But initial interest in the project was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in 2020. It was also felt that it would be difficult to get Sean Bean involved because of the number of projects he had.
He had written the script while recovering from injuries suffered in a car crash.
Deano says the premise of the film does not seem so unlikely now, and says he thinks the story of Sheffield-born England international Jamie Vardy, who made it as a top, premier league winning footballer, later in life, is a similar tale to When Saturday Comes.
Anyone who wants to audition for the show or book tickets can log onto its website, https://whensaturdaycomesthemusical.co.uk/.