Picture: Mark Senior
Following its acclaimed world premiere run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the winner of this year’s Musical Theatre Review Best Musical Award, Hot Mess is heading for London to play a transfer season at Southwark Playhouse.
Created by the team behind the hit musical, 42 Balloons – Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote – the musical will become the first production from the New Musical Theatre Department at Birmingham Hippodrome to transfer to London when it plays Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 16 October until 8 November 2025.
Presented by the Birmingham Hippodrome in association with Vicky Graham, the musical which re-imagines the relationship between Earth and Humanity as a tempestuous romance stars Danielle Steers (SIX The Musical, The Cher Show) and Tobias Turley (the winner of ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream).
Alongside the MTR award. Hot Mess also won the Fringe First award in recognition for exceptional new writing, the Popcorn Writing Award 2025, The List magazine’s International Fringe Encore Series prize and was included in The Stage’s Fringe Five.
Directed by Coote and co-orchestrated by Godfrey, the production’s creative team also includes Paul Gatehouse (sound designer), Joe Beighton (musical supervisor and co-orchestrator), Alexzandra Sarmiento (movement director), Shankho Chaudhuri (set and costume designer), Ryan Joseph Stafford (lighting designer), Issie Osborne (musical director), Deirdre O’Halloran (dramaturg), Lex Kaby (intimacy director), Charlie Smith (associate sound designer), Caroline Mirfin (costume supervisor), James Ashfield (producer), Vicky Graham for Vicky Graham Productions (executive producer), Finlay Carroll (assistant producer), Callie Barter (stage one trainee producer), Emily Humphrys (deputy stage manager) and Christopher Ball and Emily Obasohan (production managers) with casting by Pearson Casting.
Commenting on the production’s success, Deirdre O’Halloran, head of new musical theatre at Birmingham Hippodrome, said: “The success of Hot Mess at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows that audiences are hungry for bold and innovative original stories that reflect the big issues of our times. Our creative team poured their hearts into this show and we are so proud that it has connected with so many people. This is a terrific first chapter of this show’s life and we can’t wait to see how it grows.”
The artistic director and CEO at Birmingham Hippodrome, Jon Gilchrist added: “We are enormously proud that work by the New Musical Theatre Department of Birmingham Hippodrome is receiving acclaim on a national stage less than two years after the department’s inception. Birmingham Hippodrome is thrilled to be part of a new musical theatre ecology in the UK that is beginning to thrive. We are excited to continue to make meaningful contributions to the development of new work for years to come.”
Hot Mess is produced by Birmingham Hippodrome. The production was commissioned by Vicky Graham Productions who co-produce in partnership with Aria Entertainment/TRW Production. The principal supporter of Hot Mess is Charles Holloway.
Angela Thomas
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