York School’s performing arts director is heading to London’s West End to see his own play on stage.

Spencer Williams, the performing arts director at York School in Monterey, is going to London, where on Sept. 5 in West End’s Adelphi Theatre, he will present the musical he co-wrote with his writing partner, Shenelle Salcido. For Tonight is rooted in his Welsh family history and Williams’ own great-great-great-grandfather’s handwritten journal. The musical’s motto is: “To be born Welsh is to be born with music in your blood and poetry in your soul.”

Expect not only Welsh, but also Romani motifs – traditional choral, indie-pop, folk and Romani style melodies and rhythms. Blending folk fiddle and bluegrass music, the musical cast gathers 18 performers, a 10-member chorus and an eight-person band. It will be directed by Nick Evans.

While For Tonight’s timeless love story can be seen only one night – and in London – there’s a concept album of the show of 26 songs already available for streaming. Prior to this, For Tonight has been in development at New York Musical Theatre Festival, New York Theatre Barn, Queensbury Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Michigan State University and Isle of Man’s Gaiety Theatre.

At York, Williams has produced shows such as Chicago, Frozen Jr. and the spring 2023 amateur premiere of the Off-Broadway musical Alice by Heart. He also directs the York Choir and Chamber Choir and teaches music history class and ukulele. He is passionate about musical theater and loves to introduce his students to it and see how it changes their lives.

While working on the musical and the concept album, Williams reached out, consulted and worked with both Welsh and Romani people.

Weekly: How did it all start?

Williams: We wanted to do something new and original, not based on books or movies. Around 2012, I learned about my great-great-great grandfather’s journal. He immigrated to America in the 1840s from Wales, through Liverpool. He lost parents young to an unknown disease. Cholera was a huge issue back then. He came from a small town in North Wales. The main character of For Tonight is based on him, Haydn.

Tell us about Haydn.

There are three siblings left. Thomas, the oldest, lives in the past and feels responsible for the family. Henrietta, the youngest, represents the present. Haydn is the dreamer representing the future. He goes to Liverpool and falls in love. In our version, he falls in love with a Romani woman. There was so much prejudice against Romani people back then. The Romani girl is willing to break some rules, but she also loves her family.

Who is your writing partner?

Shenelle Salcido. We both grew up singing. Since she is in Utah, we worked on the musical on Zoom and Google Docs a lot, working collaboratively on lyrics and music. I typically have an idea in my head, she sits up at the piano and we start.

How long did it take to write the musical?

Ten years. I started to gather information about Welsh Romani people, the language, the music style, which is different from Spanish Romani people. A lot of those traditions were passed down orally.

Is this a total premiere or just a London premiere?

We first developed it for the New York Music Festival. We also showed the full version for three weeks in Houston in 2019. Then the current producer, [Tony nominee] Blair Russell, joined and then the pandemic hit and everything stopped.

Has the musical changed since then?

Yes, it definitely changed. It’s not only different, but it has three new songs. We’ve been working very hard.

Why London?

Because of the story. The dream was always to bring it to London. The show should live there.

And the concept album?

It was an incredible experience. We had a 20-person ensemble and people were singing from their bedrooms. The music producer was in London and he put it all together. Joseph Purdue mixed and produced the audio to make sure the computer sounds like an orchestra.

What do you want our readers to know about York School?

That we are not only good at math and science, but we have a lot of cool things happening.

FOR TONIGHT will be produced at 7:30pm Friday, Sept. 8 at the Adelphi Theatre in London. Listen to the For Tonight album online at fortonightmusical.com