Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) and Stiles and Drewe have announced the finalists in the running for 2026’s Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize.
Tag Archives | George Stiles
Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize 2025 – the finalists
Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) and Stiles + Drewe have announced the finalists in the running for 2025’s Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize.
The Three Little Pigs – Curve Leicester and Touring
The Three Little Pigs was reviewed at Curve Leicester. The tour continues until 2 May 2026. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ We highly recommend you go, in fact we’ll huff and puff if you don’t.
Becoming Nancy – Birmingham Rep
Becoming Nancy continues at the Birmingham Rep until 2 November 2024. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ Absolute feel-good entertainment guaranteed to make you smile, Becoming Nancy will hopefully help a new generation to find their authentic selves and their communities.
Becoming Nancy – cast recording tracks released and cast confirmed
Brimingham Rep has released selected tracks from the cast recording of Becoming Nancy ahead of the musical’s UK premiere this autumn.
Jerry Mitchell to direct and choreograph UK premiere of Becoming Nancy
Double Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell (La Cage Aux Folles, Kinky Boots) will direct and choreograph the UK premiere of the new musical Becoming Nancy at the Birmingham Rep this autumn.
Host and performers for Stiles + Drewe and Mercury Musical Developments 2023 Best New Song Prize concert
Award-winning performer Rob Madge (My Son’s a Queer (But what can you do?), Timpson The Musical) will host the Stiles + Drewe and Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) 2023 Best New Song Prize Concert.
Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize 2023 – the finalists
Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) and Stiles and Drewe have announced the finalists in the running for this year’s Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize.
Union Theatre to stage first London revival of Betty Blue Eyes
The first London revival of Betty Blue Eyes will also be the first in-house production at the Union Theatre since Covid. Running from 29 March until 22 April 2023, the royal-themed musical comedy will provide the perfect prelude to the King’s coronation.
Music Review: The Three Billy Goats Gruff – Stiles and Drewe
THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF – Original Cast Recording (SimG Records) Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The music score is a delightful mixture of bouncy numbers for the goats and some more macabre tunes for the Troll.
Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize – The Other Palace
The first prize at the Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize went to a very deserving Flora Leo for ‘One Last Request’, adding to the composer-lyricist’s ‘Voice, Vision & Potential’ prize won at the same event last year.
First star performers announced for Stiles and Drewe Best New Song concert
George Stiles, Anthony Drewe and Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) have unveiled the first group of West End favourites lined up to perform the songs in the running for this year’s Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize later this month.
Twelve finalists for 2022 Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize
George Stiles, Anthony Drewe and Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) have announced the finalists in the running for this year’s Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize.
Identical – Nottingham Playhouse
Identical continues at Nottingham Playhouse until 14 August 2022. The production will then play a transfer run at The Lowry in Salford from 19 August until 3 September. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ Based on the 1949 book Lisa and Lottie (which itself inspired Disney’s The Parent Trap franchise), Identical tells […]
Identical – full cast announced
Full casting has been unveiled for the eagerly-anticipated Identical ahead of the new British musical’s long-awaited debut this summer. Directed by Olivier and Tony Award-winner Trevor Nunn, the musical story of twin girls who change places in an attempt to bring their divorced parents back together will feature Emily Tierney (Wicked, Ghost), James Darch (The […]
Trevor Nunn-directed Identical musical finds it trio of twin stars
Following a five year talent search and multiple auditions across the UK, the team behind the Trevor Nunn-directed Identical has revealed the three sets of identical twins selected to star in the new British musical which makes its long-awaited debut this summer. Due to receive its world premiere in Nottingham from 26 July until 14 […]
New musical Identical to debut at Nottingham Playhouse in 2022
The Trevor Nunn-directed new British musical Identical will make its long-awaited debut at the Nottingham Playhouse next summer two years later than originally planned. Co-produced by Nottingham Playhouse and Kenny Wax Ltd (producer of the Goes Wrong shows and Six) the musical based on the best-selling book Lottie and Lisa which inspired the hit 1961 […]
Rave reviews as Six begins its Broadway reign
The Queens are the toast of New York after Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’ hit British musical Six finally arrived on Broadway 18 months later than planned. Already entering the history books as the first new musical to open on Broadway following the pandemic, the show which recently moved into its new West End home, […]
First West End artists announced for Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize concert
George Stiles, Anthony Drewe and Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) have announced the first group of West End stars lined up to perform the songs in the running for this year’s Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize at London’s Hackney Empire on 10 September 2021. With more star performers to be announced, the concert will […]
Stiles + Drewe 2021 Best New Song Prize shortlist announced
George Stiles, Anthony Drewe and Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) have announced the finalists in the running for this year’s Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize. Awarded on an annual basis to a member of MMD, the UK’s largest membership organisation dedicated to developing new musical theatre writing, the winner of this year’s award will […]
Just So – Watermill Theatre, Bagnor
Just So continues at the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor until 4 September 2021. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ The third and final production of this outdoor summer season on the Lawn continues to bear witness to the Watermill’s views on sustainability, diversity, ecology and everything that has come into sharper focus since […]
Summer tour dates for Unusual Theatre Company’s The 3 Little Pigs
The Unusual Theatre Company’s hit production of Stiles and Drewe’s The 3 Little Pigs is heading back out on the road for the summer. Directed by Victoria Gimby (associate director for Rock of Ages UK tour) with musical direction by Flynn Sturgeon (Soho Cinders, Charing Cross Theatre), the family-friendly production will visit Stanley Arts in […]
Extra 11 weeks for Six at the Lyric Theatre
The eagerly-anticipated West End temporary transfer run of Six at the Lyric in Shaftesbury Avenue has been extended by 11 weeks into April 2021. Subject to the upcoming announcement on which tier London will fall into following the end of the current national lockdown, the critic and crowd-pleasing show should become the first West End […]
Six drive-in shows cancelled due to local Covid outbreaks
The eagerly-anticipated drive-in performances of hit musical Six has been shelved amid fears of more localised lockdowns due to Covid-19. Just days after the Government used the show as an example of the type of live entertainment performance which could take place following the relaxation of some of the lockdown rules, Live Nation Entertainment has […]
Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize
Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize 2020 – a virtual concert streamed online via YouTube. While the annual Sondheim Student Performer of the Year contest fell victim to Covid-19, the Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize which has run alongside it since 2008 was happily saved with the bonus of top musical theatre […]
All-star line-up for Stiles and Drewe Prize online concert
A host of West End stars have been enlisted to perform the shortlist of 15 compositions in the running for the 2020 Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize in a virtual concert to be streamed online next Sunday (5 July 2020). With musical direction by Steve Ridley, the songs will be performed by: Allyson […]
Casts announced for MTFestUK at the Turbine Theatre
A number of West End stars have been lined up to appear in each of the new musicals chosen to feature in the programme for Paul Taylor-Mills’ MTFestUK at the Turbine Theatre next month. Running from 3-15 February 2020 at the newly opened venue on the banks of the Thames in Battersea, the second MTFestUK […]
Luke Bayer and Millie O’Connell are cast in Soho Cinders at Charing Cross Theatre
West End stars Luke Bayer and Millie O’Connell will head the cast when George Stiles, Anthony Drewe and Elliot Davis’ re-imagining of the Cinderella story, Soho Cinders, returns to London later this month at the start of a nine-week season at Charing Cross Theatre. With music by Stiles, lyrics by Drewe (Mary Poppins, The Wind […]
Just So – The Musical – Barn Theatre, Cirencester
Just So – The Musical continues at the Barn Theatre, Cirencester until 13 January 2019. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ It is 33 years now since composer George Stiles and lyricist Anthony Drewe, then students at Exeter University, won the first-ever Vivian Ellis Prize with the musical Just So, currently settling in as the […]
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance – Betty Blue Eyes
Betty Blue Eyes was performed by Trinity Laban Musical Theatre students at Stratford Circus, London. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ Betty Blue Eyes is set in the post war austerity of 1947 at the time of Princess Elizabeth’s marriage to Prince Philip. Meat is severely rationed and people are pretty fed up. Then some local bigwigs […]
West End Wind in the Willows musical to play in cinemas at Easter
Cinema audiences across the UK and Ireland will get the chance to see the musical re-working of the classic The Wind in the Willows this Easter. Captured live during the show’s limited London Palladium run last year, the multi-camera production will be shown in high definition and surround sound at selected cinemas nationwide over the […]
Aled Jones joins Stiles and Drewe to celebrate Watermill 50th
George Stiles and Anthony Drewe will join forces with Aled Jones next Sunday (15 October) for a special event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Watermill Theatre. The multi award-winning writing partners will return to the venue where they worked on productions including the Olivier Award-winning Honk! and Just So early in their career, in […]
The Wind in the Willows to be released in cinema and online
West End musical The Wind in the Willows, which recently ended its limited summer season at the London Palladium, has been filmed for cinematic, television and online releases. Based on Kenneth Grahame’s treasured novel, the production opened on 29 June, brought to the stage by producer Jamie Hendry in a new adaptation with book by […]
The Wind in the Willows – London Palladium
The Wind in the Willows continues at the London Palladium (booking until Saturday 9 September 2017). Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ Appearing at last weekend’s benefit concert for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, composers George Stiles and Anthony Drewe introduced themselves as: “the chaps with two musicals in the […]
Honk! – Union Theatre
Honk! continues at the Union Theatre, London until 22 April. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Having just left the Union Theatre and its revival of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe’s family-friendly Honk!, I’m not surprised that the show won the Olivier for Best Musical back in 2000, beating Spend Spend Spend […]
The Wind in the Willows press launch – London Palladium
The London Palladium will play host to the definitive musical theatre version of Kenneth Grahame’s book The Wind in the Willows this summer, according to producer Jamie Hendry. The musical features music by George Stiles and lyrics by Anthony Drewe, who are no strangers to adaptations of classic children’s stories from Honk! and Just So […]
Half a Sixpence – booking extended into September
For the second time booking has been extended for the critically acclaimed West End transfer of the Chichester Festival Theatre and Cameron Mackintosh production of Half a Sixpence. Tickets for show at the Noel Coward Theatre are now available until 2 September. An extra midweek matinee performance on Thursdays at 2.30pm will also be added from […]
Half a Sixpence – Chichester Festival Theatre
Half a Sixpence continues at Chichester Festival Theatre until 3 September. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The revival of this 1960s hit musical has not just been given a facelift, but major surgery. Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes has gone back to HG Wells’ original novel and radically reconstructed the show’s book, while George Stiles […]
Interview – George Stiles and Anthony Drewe on a Chichester double and nurturing new writers
Travels With My Aunt, which has just opened at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester, is the latest in a string of acclaimed shows by one the UK’s most successful show-writing partnerships, GEORGE STILES and ANTHONY DREWE (George and Ants). The pair met 30-odd years ago at Exeter University and went on to compose award-winning shows across […]
Travels With My Aunt – Minerva Theatre, Chichester
Travels With My Aunt continues at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester until 4 June. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ For the first of its musicals this season, Chichester Festival Theatre has looked to the combined and proven talents of composer George Stiles and lyricist Anthony Drewe, along with book writers Ron Cowen and Daniel […]
The Wind in the Willows – open auditions to be held
Open auditions are to be held in London and Manchester for this autumn’s major new musical theatre adaptation of the family classic The Wind in the Willows. Adapted for the stage by the high-powered team of Julian Fellowes, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, The Wind in the Willows is due to receive its world premiere […]
New Stiles and Drewe award will support original musical theatre writing in the UK
Olivier Award-winning writing duo George Stiles and Anthony Drewe are to offer an annual award to help support and develop new musical theatre writing in the UK. For its first three years, the award will be fully funded by the world’s leading theatrical licensing agency Music Theatre International (MTI), to coincide with the opening of […]
Interview – George Stiles and Anthony Drewe on being partners in rhyme
This summer has seen the opening of The 3 Little Pigs, the brand new family musical from multi award-winning British songwriting duo GEORGE STILES and ANTHONY DREWE. Stiles (music) and Drewe (book and lyrics) have put their own musical twist on the retelling of this classic fairy tale which will play at the Palace Theatre until Sunday 6 September […]
Mary Poppins begins UK and Ireland tour at Leicester Curve in October
Disney and Cameron Mackintosh have revealed that their multi award-winning musical Mary Poppins will embark on a tour of the UK and Ireland, opening at Leicester Curve on 13 October 2015. Mackintosh said today: “It’s hard to believe that it is already 11 years since Mary Poppins first landed on the London stage. My goodness… time flies even faster than our beloved Nanny! I’m […]
The Writers’ Playground – Union Theatre
The Writers’ Playground, An Evening of British Writers, was performed at the Union Theatre, London. One of the biggest problems that up and coming musical theatre composers have is getting a wider audience to hear their work, to gauge their feedback, and to develop their skills as a result. Comedians (and to a lesser extent, […]
Anything Can Happen – St James Theatre
A workshop presentation of Anything Can Happen, a revue celebrating the songs of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, took place at the St James Theatre, London. Composer George Stiles and lyricist Anthony Drewe have been creating musicals together for 30 years now. So a revue which aims to catalogue those three decades in a two-hour […]
Stiles and Drewe and Gavin Creel in Singular Sensations line-up
In a further coup for this spring’s season of Edward Seckeron’s Singular Sensations, musical theatre songwriting partnership George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (Mary Poppins, Betty Blue Eyes, Just So, Honk!) and Gavin Creel – who originated the role of Elder Price in the US national tour of The Book of Mormon, a role he continues in the West End production – […]
The New Musical Project – finalists revealed
A new musical theatre initiative will take place next year, which sees six new musicals produced to a workshop performance, with the winner being taken on to a full production. The New Musical Project, based at the Leicester Square Theatre, has invited would-be writers and composers to submit new, unpublished or never previously performed one-act […]
The Three Little Pigs entertain young and old
Reviewed at the Greenwich Theatre, London. Written by the Olivier Award-winning team that bought young audiences Honk! Just So, Mary Poppins, Betty Blue Eyes and Soho Cinders, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe’s European premiere of the well-known children’s story The Three Little Pigs is a sweet and simple tale, complemented by a sophisticated and appealing score […]
