Skip to navigation Skip to content

History

March 2011

On March 14 a double-CD of the music from the ballet The Most Incredible Thing is released under the name Tennant/Lowe. It contains the full performance score of the ballet with orchestrations by Sven Helbig.

2011 March

On March 17 the ballet The Most Incredible Thing has its first public performance at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. Its genesis can be traced back to a week in where, by chance, two initially unrelated events took place. Ivan Putrov, a principal dancer at the Royal Ballet whom the Pet Shop Boys had got to know through Sam Taylor-Wood, called Neil to ask whether they would write a piece for him to dance to. Two days later, before Neil had even had a chance to ask Chris, Chris called to say that he’d just read a story in a new translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales that he thought would make a great ballet: “The Most Incredible Thing”. This eventually led to the Sadler’s Wells production, choreographed by Javier de Frutos and starring Ivan Putrov, Clemmie Sveaas and Aaron Sillis. All ten performances sell out.

May 2011

On May 27 the Pet Shop Boys appear at the Sunderland Stadium of Light, joining Take That at their invitation as “special guests” on their first reunion concerts as a five-piece on what will be the biggest British tour ever – 29 British stadium shows – followed by a short European leg. “45 minutes of intensity,” says Chris.

December 2011

On December 31 the Pet Shop Boys appear at a New Year’s Eve concert on an island in Sydney Harbour.

On this day

1997

Chris and Neil work on their musical, watch TV, and (according to Neil) ‘probably’ get drunk.

2005

They work on the song ‘One-Way Street’ and write ‘Girls Don’t Cry.’

2009

The Pet Shop Boys’ new single, ‘Love etc.’ has its official debut on BBC Radio 2.

2011

They work on the song ‘Invisible’ and then watch two episodes of the U.S. sitcom Frasier, the entire series of which they have on DVD.

2013

Neil is one of several celebrities in attendance at this evening’s concert by Kraftwerk at the Tate Modern in London, part of the influential German band’s eight-night residency at the famed art gallery. At each show Kraftwerk plays one of their albums in its entirety; tonight’s show focuses on their seventh album, The Man-Machine.

2018

BBC Radio 5 presenter Adrian Chiles discusses the classic silent film Battleship Potemkin on his show this morning. He includes a recorded telephone interview with Neil and a few brief excerpts from the score that the Boys had composed and recorded for the film more than a decade before.