[citation needed] From an early age Hughes was an active member of the amateur dramatics scene in his home town of Thurrock, starring in numerous roles including Sidney Carton in a musical premiere of A Tale of Two Cities, Riff in West Side Story, and Billy Bigelow in Carousel.
The comic song, entitled 'It's What He Would’ve Wanted', written with composer Scott Dean, tells the story of ‘Jimmy The Fox’ whose corpse is ‘borrowed’ from the undertakers on the eve of his funeral for one last bender in Soho.
[3] Here he honed his lyric-writing craft under the tutelage of such esteemed theatre practitioners as Jeremy Sams, Charles Hart, Tim Sutton, David Firman, Mark Warman, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.
The show was co-produced by Pins & Needles Productions, Kenny Wax Family Entertainment, and TC Beech, with songs written in collaboration with composer Luke Bateman.
[10] At the Book, Music, Lyrics Workshop, Hughes met composer Joseph Finlay and bookwriter Michael Conley, his collaborators on Superhero, which premiered at Southwark Playhouse in June 2017.