The Other Palace and Turbine Theatre have unveiled the eight new musicals due to be showcased in The Other Palace Studio and at the Turbine Theatre during MTFestUK 2023.
MTFestUK at The Other Palace
Featuring music, lyrics and book by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy and directed by Andy Fickman, Dark Lord reunites the team behind the hit show Heathers for a wizarding tale based on the award-winning books by Jamie Thomson.
Sherlock Holmes and The Poisonwood is the latest work from Metta Theatre’s P Burton-Morgan and Ben Glasstone. Written and directed by Burton-Morgan with music by Glasstone and lyrics by Glasstone and Burton-Morgan, the rock musical pits electric guitar-playing Sherlock against tech billionaire Jan Moriarty.
Annabelle Lee Revak’s feminist musical Train on Fire recounts the story of Kitty Marion, the German-born suffragette who came to Britain with dreams of singing success and became one of the prominent members of the women’s rights movement.
Sarah Henley will direct the pop-flavoured Precipice. The tale of five 30-something friends boasts a book by Tori Allen-Martin and songs by Adam Geber and Allen-Martin.
MTFestUK at The Turbine Theatre
Actors Jodie Prenger and Neil Hurst provide the book for The Government Inspector. Featuring music and lyrics by Faceplant Theatre’s Catriona Gisby and Maxwell Tyler and directed by Andrew Beckett, the musical takes its inspiration from Nikolai Gogol’s 19th century satirical comedy, changing the setting to 10 Downing Street.
Featuring music by Aaron King, book and lyrics by Sam Norman, and created with Neil Butler and Genevieve Welch, Come Dine With Me takes its title and inspiration from Channel 4’s long-running, competitive cooking reality series.
Another cult classic 1990s Christian Slater film provides the basis for musical Pump Up The Volume. Based on the screenplay by the film’s director Allan Moyle, the story of a teenage shock-jock features music by Jeff Thomson and book and lyrics by Jeremy Desmon. Dave Solomon directs.
Olivier nominated Bend It Like Beckham star Preeya Kalidas makes her debut as a musical theatre creator with Out The Box. Featuring music and lyrics by Kalidas and Craig Shenton, and a book by Kalidas and Arun Blair Mangat, the piece is described by Kalidas as a one-act musical about a British Asian woman and is an exploration of self-love, culture, relationships and empowerment.
Due to return to London from 30 January until 11 February, the fifth instalment in the popular annual celebration of new musical theatre will feature four ‘sharing’ performances of each new piece in workshop format which will be open to audiences.
Commenting on the line-up, producer Bill Kenwright said: “I remain thrilled that we can continue to grow and nurture new musical theatre writing across both The Other Palace and The Turbine Theatre, to establish and grow the next generation of musical theatre. Several MTFestUK pieces have gone on to fully staged productions, which is a testament to the function of both our theatres to provide space and support to allow new work to be explored.”
Paul Taylor-Mills, artistic director at The Other Palace and The Turbine Theatre, added: “We are thrilled to expand MTFestUK to showcase such a broad range of musical theatre writing at both The Other Palace and The Turbine Theatre. Utilising both venues to support and develop new musical theatre will allow these eight pieces to engage with a wider audience and strengthen the synergy of two venues dedicated to the development of new work.”
Launched by Taylor-Mills in late 2018 as a showcase for new work by both emerging and established writers, the inaugural season of MTFestUK season was staged at The Other Palace in 2019 where he was then ensconced as artistic director, with the second and third seasons moving to the leading independent producer and artistic director’s new venue The Turbine Theatre.
Angela Thomas
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.