Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus was a 1992 concept album by Jeff Wayne and others, telling the story of Roman gladiator, Spartacus. It starred Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones (in her first recording role), Fish, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and others. It was also the first Jeff Wayne release that is not related to his musical adaptation of The War of the Worlds. Based on a story outline by Jeff Wayne, the script was written by writer Brian Sibley and playwright John Spurling with Sibley responsible for the tracks in 'Animal & Man', 'The Eagle & the Hawk' and 'The Appian Way' and Spurling largely responsible for those in 'The Parting of the Ways' and 'The Last Battle'. Also starring in the album is Chris Thompson and Jo Partridge, who appeared in The War of the Worlds. Originally, Thompson had a singing role, but his song was dropped from the final version of the album. It is rumoured that Thompson possesses the only copy of his song. The artists for the album were Gino D'Achille, Christos Achilleos and Andrew Wheatcroft, art directed by Richard Evans