Paul Taylor-Mills has revealed the line-up of West End stars who will perform in the Night Caps concert series that will form part of MT Fest UK, the festival of new musical theatre at The Other Palace in February 2019.
Described as an opportunity for audiences to get to know some of the country’s eminent musical theatre stars through ‘the songs that shaped them, songs they might never get to sing, and songs from new works’, the informal late-night concert series will run for the length of the two-week festival.
The stellar line-up features: Nathan Amzi’s (Heathers, Haymarket Theatre, Aladdin, Prince Edward Theatre); Luke Bayer (Everyone’s Talking About Jamie, Apollo Theatre); Louise Dearman (best known as the only actress to have played both Glinda and Elphaba in Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre); Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Murder Ballad, Arts Theatre, In The Heights, King’s Cross Theatre); Evelyn Hoskins (Carrie The Musical, Southwark Playhouse); Rob Houchen (Eugenius! The Other Palace); Sophie Isaacs (Heathers The Musical, The Other Palace and Haymarket Theatre); Emma Kingston (Evita, international tour, In The Heights, Southwark Playhouse and King’s Cross Theatre); Claudia Kariuki (School of Rock , New London Theatre, Ragtime, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Jordan Luke Gage (Bat Out Of Hell, Dominion Theatre); Laura Pitt-Pulford (Flowers for Mrs Harris, Chichester Festival Theatre, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and Tosh Wanogho-Maud (Dreamgirls, The Book of Mormon, West End).
Taylor-Mills, the leading independent producer who followed his two-year tenure as artistic director of the popular London venue by taking on the role of affiliate producer, unveiled plans late last year for the showcase for new work by both emerging and established writers.
Also featuring talks by experts in the field and the concert performances, the festival is due to run from Monday 11 to Saturday 23 February. The centrepiece will be a Taster Menu of eight new musicals, each presented as a 45-minute semi-staged ‘sharing’ in the studio at The Other Palace.
The musicals – AA, Nerds, First Date, Porn The Musical, But I’m A Cheerleader, Bloody Bloody Jessica Fletcher, The Astonishing Return of…The Protagonists, and Killer Queen – range from brand new commissions from Taylor-Mills, to re-worked Broadway shows and new musicals developed by Taylor-Mills as part of his role as affiliate producer at The Other Palace.
Commenting on his plans for the festival last year, Taylor-Mills said: “Over the years I’ve been fortunate to meet writers and composers from all over the world, and this festival is about putting their work front and centre and celebrating the process of creating new musicals.
“It’s vital to ensure the musicals seen on our stages in years to come remain relevant, entertaining and boundary-pushing, and this means giving writers the opportunity to put their work in front of audiences.
“So, MT Fest UK will open the doors to the process of creating new musicals, allowing audiences to see pieces from across the world at various stages in their journeys. Come play, discover, learn – you never know where these musicals may end up!”
Angela Thomas
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