Yesterday was the 2024 biannual conference on the UK Musical Theatre industry created by Musical Theatre Network (MTN) and Mercury Musical Development (MMD). It was opened by the amazing Nica Burns who has done so much over the last few…
Tag: musical theatre
British Musicals – thinking of audiences in the UK
I’m not sure if, in my lifetime, there has ever been such a variety of British musical theatre in and around London’s glittering West End. The old warhorses are still looking strong, but there are some new thoroughbreds exciting the…
EdFringe No 4 – What they did for love
In a Fringe which is rich in autobiographical stories – whether solo shows or in scripted drama – A Chorus Line is maybe the ultimate theatrical blend of life stories. Created from the testimony of auditionees in a rehearsal studio…
Sad to report
This week has seen the death of two international champions of Musical Theatre, the first the Dean of the Tisch School course for Musical Theatre writers, Sarah Schlesinger, and the second a much less well known global figure but a…
Saudi Musical Theatre Family
Tomorrow I celebrate the end of a 17 week programme with Saudi performers and designers working in London, Perth, Edinburgh, Riyadh, Dammam and now Jeddah. An audience of management from the Theater and Performing Arts Commission (think Arts Council without…
Infinite patience and creativity
There’s a magic in puling together a show with a new Ensemble who have never worked together, with minimal rehearsal, 6hrs on stage before a performance in front on an invited audience. The UK/US creative team in Dammam have an…
The Producing rollercoaster (and bumper cars)
Sometimes it is cathartic to read a book where the roller coaster is so much more extreme, the bumber cars are brutal, and the end is never in sight. Especially good when on a theoretical international roller coaster with some…
Quiet reflections on international projects
It is some years since I spent 5 weeks embedded in a country where I don’t speak the language, am in my hotel room as an office for most of the day, and then moved by car to a rehearsal…
Saudi MT – inspiring music
Every nation on earth has music and stories, and many combine these into artforms which are have many names but in the UK would be thought of as Musical Theatre embracing opera, musicals, music theatre and a whole host of…
Exploring bilingual Musical Theatre creativity
Over the last few months I have been working with the Theatre and Performing Arts Commission in the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture to develop training programmes in Musical Theatre for aspiring professional performers. This is one of three talent…