Leading independent theatre production company Metta Theatre’s new musical The Little Prince will receive its world premiere with a circus-style Christmas season at Taunton Brewhouse in December.
Written and directed by Metta’s artistic director P Burton-Morgan, with Candida Caldicot as composer and featuring a community ensemble drawn from young people across Taunton, The Little Prince will run from 6-30 December.
Announcing the production, Burton-Morgan said: “We’re thrilled to partner with a local Somerset venue, the wonderful Taunton Brewhouse, to present the world premiere of this new British musical – a show that we have been developing for four years.
“Candida’s music is enchanting, and the circus is absolutely spellbinding. For both lovers of the original story and those coming to it for the first time this will be the most delicious of festive treats – brought to life with all our trademark imagination and visual spectacle.”
Taking its inspiration from Antoine De Saint Exupery’s much-loved story, theatre fans were given a taste of the new musical last year with the release of a six-track EP of songs from the show written and recorded during the last lockdown accompanied by a short film featuring shadow puppetry produced in association with Little Angel Theatre.
Metta has also announced the imminent release of the second season of its digital musical series CELLS. Also written and directed by Burton-Morgan, with music by Ben Glasstone, CELLS was created with Metta patron Clive Rowe in mind.
Olivier Award-winner Rowe (In The Willows, Guys and Dolls) and rising star Lem Knights (School of Rock, Billionaire Boy) return for the second season which will be released on 21 March. They are joined by Natalie Hope (The Commitments, West End, Legally Blonde, Leicester Curve) for the digital series which features musical direction by James Cleeve. The creative team also includes director of photography Jon Dickinson with sound mixed and mastered by Simon Small and film editing by Will Reynolds. Cleve also features on keys, with Paul Moylan on double bass and Curtis Volp on guitar.
The second season has been produced in partnership with three major regional venues – Royal & Derngate Northampton, the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch and the Taunton Brewhouse.
Commenting on the project, Burton-Morgan, the winner of the 2020 Writers Guild of Great Britain Award for musical theatre bookwriting for In the Willows, said: “We’re delighted to be revisiting our digital musical CELLS and releasing Season Two with the introduction of a third character. With the first season having been seen by over 42,000 people across YouTube and Facebook, it’s wonderful to hopefully reach even more audiences digitally with the next instalment of this intimately moving story. Taken together both seasons make up a full-length piece and we’re in conversation with several venues about bringing the stage version to live audiences in 2023.”
Following on from the 2020 launch of environmental consultancy Metta Green, founder Will Reynolds is now also an expert mentor for the Theatre Green Book set up to support producers and green teams.
Over the pandemic, Metta released a range of digital content including five cast albums and seven music videos/short films. In December 2021 Metta premiered new musical THE RHYTHMICS at Southwark Playhouse, but the show’s debut run was cut short by Covid. The production will be revived in 2023.
Angela Thomas
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