Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year 2026 at the Sondheim Theatre, London. Another triumphant event that both celebrated the genius of Stephen Sondheim and showcased emerging talent of an exceptionally high standard.
Tag Archives | Darren Clark
Precipice – New Diorama Theatre
Precipice continues at the New Diorama Theatre, London until 13 December 2025. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ Like all the best science fiction, the parallels to the present day make for the most resonant scenes.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Original West End Cast Recording
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Original West End Cast Recording First Night Records, Warner Classics). Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ An achingly human piece of musical storytelling in its own right.
World premiere of Precipice – cast and full creative team
The ensemble cast and full creative team have been unveiled for November’s world premiere of Precipice at London’s New Diorama Theatre.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Fiddler on the Roof each win three prizes at the Olivier Awards 2025
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Fiddler on the Roof were among the most awarded shows at the Olivier Awards with Mastercard at London’s Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Beverley Knight and Billy Porter.
The Jolly Christmas Postman – Royal & Derngate, Northampton
The Jolly Christmas Postman continues at Royal & Derngate (Royal Theatre) until 31 December 2024. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ Jesse Jones’ perfectly-pitched production complements the timeless wonder of Christmas, capturing the hearts and minds of young and old alike.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Ambassadors Theatre
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button continues at the Ambassadors Theatre, London until 15 February 2025. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ A boisterous and cheerful production that’s undeniably good fun.
Clare Foster joins the cast of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clare Foster will play Elowen Keene opposite the previously announced John Dagleish as Benjamin Button in the West End production of the award-winning musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
John Dagleish to star in West End’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Olivier Award-winner John Dagleish will take on the title role in the award-winning musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Ambassadors Theatre from 10 October.
How Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year supports the next generation of musical theatre writers
As well as being an opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow performing classic works by the great Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year also proudly shines a spotlight on new writing.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Southwark Playhouse Elephant
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button continues at Southwark Playhouse Elephant London until 1 July 2023. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Southwark Playhouse return for Benjamin Button musical
Following a limited world premiere run in 2019, the Celtic musical based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s haunting The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will return to the Southwark Playhouse in May.
New UK Musicals: Live in Concert – The Other Palace
New UK Musicals: Live in Concert at The Other Palace, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ In the UK, new musical theatre writing, and particularly new British writing, is something of a Cinderella – it tends to get overlooked. With the West End filled with established long-runners and an endless cycle of […]
New UK Musicals concert announced
West End stars Tyrone Huntley (Jesus Christ Superstar, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Anoushka Lucas (Oklahoma, Young Vic), Michael Rouse (A Christmas Carol, Old Vic) and Gemma Sutton (Follies, National Theatre) will appear alongside a new generation of performers in a special concert celebrating new UK musicals early next month. Produced by Darren Clark for […]
Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year 2022 – 12 finalists announced
The Stephen Sondheim Society has announced the 12 finalists in the running for the 2022 Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year (SSSSPOTY) contest. Returning to the West End for the first time since the competition’s two-year Covid-enforced hiatus, the nominees will take to the stage of the Sondheim Theatre during the gala final […]
The Wicker Husband – Watermill Theatre, Bagnor
The Wicker Husband continues at the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor until 26 March 2022. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ One can only assume that fate has played a manipulative role in The Wicker Husband, finally having its long-awaited run at the Watermill Theatre this month. From the first reading of writers Rhys Jennings and […]
Full cast for Watermill’s The Wicker Husband
Full casting has been unveiled for the highly-anticipated return of folk-flavoured musical The Wicker Husband to Newbury’s Watermill Theatre next month. Joseph Alessi (The Lorax, Old Vic and Toronto) will take on the role of Cobbler with Gemma Sutton (Sweet Charity, The Watermill) as Ugly Girl, Olivier Award winner George Maguire (Sunny Afternoon, West End) […]
Dates in 2022 announced for Watermill’s The Wicker Husband and Our Man In Havana
Newbury’s Watermill Theatre has confirmed rescheduled dates for the folk-flavoured musical The Wicker Husband as part of its 2022 spring season. The musical which had its world premiere run at the distinctive Berkshire venue in early March 2020 cut short by the pandemic, will now return to complete its run from 11-26 March 2022. Based […]
New musical On Hostile Ground to be released as online series
New musical On Hostile Ground will initially be released as a free series of music videos online from 16 February as part of Northampton’s Royal & Derngate Made in Northampton 2021 season of original new musical theatre. Co-created and directed by Charlotte Westenra with lyrics by Darren Clark, a book by Juliet Gilkes Romero and […]
New UK Musicals launches online singing contest
Singers of all ages and backgrounds are being invited to enter a new singing competition aimed at promoting the work of new musical theatre writers. Launched by online sheet music hub New UK Musicals in partnership with theatre companies Perfect Pitch, ALP Musicals, music school The Sing Space and new website 10Glo, the online competition […]
Royal & Derngate announces four new musicals for 2021
Northampton’s Royal & Derngate has unveiled plans to premiere four new musicals as part of its Made in Northampton 2021 season. Three original musicals will debut on stage with a fourth appearing online in the culmination of a three-year development project involving a national consortium of partners in support of 150 artists. Innovative theatre company […]
In The Wings to return to showcase six new musicals
The popular In The Wings series of shows which featured the first live performances in a theatre with a live band since the Covid-closedown will return for a further six weeks of episodes later this month. Filmed from 3-6 June 2020 in strict accordance with social distancing rules, In The Wings launched online on 12 […]
New musicals sheet music site to launch
Performers and fans of new UK musicals will be able to purchase sheet music from their favourite shows with the launch of a new store of digital sheet music next week. Launching on Monday (1 June), New UK Musicals is the brainchild of Darren Clark, the multi-award-winning composer and lyricist of new shows The Wicker […]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: A New Celtic Musical – Southwark Playhouse
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button continues at Southwark Playhouse, London – until 8 June 2019. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ In true Benjamin Button style, I’d like to start with my conclusion: this gorgeous new piece of British writing is a must-see – a magical, heart-rending show that will renew your faith […]
Southwark Playhouse run for Hope Mill’s Aspects of Love plus new musicals Stay Awake, Jake & Benjamin Button feature in 2019 season
Hope Mill Theatre’s hit version of Aspects of Love, and the world premiere of a musical based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, will be among the Southwark Playhouse’s final productions to play the Playhouse’s current London site. Due to take up residence in two purpose-built new theatre spaces in late […]
The Wicker Husband – The Other Palace
A showcase performance of The Wicker Husband took place at The Other Palace, London. The Wicker Husband, with a book by Rhys Jennings and music and lyrics by Darren Clark, is based on a short story of the same name by Ursula Willis-Jones. It tells the story of The Ugly Girl, a hardworking fisher woman […]
Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year and Stiles + Drewe Prize – Novello Theatre
When The Stephen Sondheim Society, with encouragement from legendary Sondheim interpreter Julia McKenzie, launched the first Student Performer of the Year competition at what is now the Leicester Square Theatre, only ten musical theatre students applied to take part. Not surprisingly, all ten qualified for the final! Now, in the tenth anniversary edition, a record […]
The Wicker Husband wins first ever Stiles and Drewe Mentorship Award
Olivier Award-winning writing duo George Stiles and Anthony Drewe have announced the winners of their newly-expanded Stiles + Drewe Prize 2016. Now in its ninth year, the Stiles + Drewe Prize for Best New Song is joined by their first ever Mentorship Award, supported by Music Theatre International (Europe). Darren Clark and Rhys Jennings win the Mentorship Award with the new musical The Wicker Husband. The writers will receive 12 months of […]
The Wicker Husband – the inside story on bringing a new musical to life
The Wicker Husband is a musical theatre work-in-progress being brought to life by actor and book-writer Rhys Jennings and composer-lyricist Darren Clark. This nascent show takes its inspiration from a short story of the same name – a folksy fable in the style of a fairy tale – self-published online by Gloucester writer Ursula Wills-Jones. […]
