Making a Musical: The Future of British Musical Theatre

A special live recorded episode as part of London Podcast Festival, King’s Place.  Raising Gays is an original 90-minute musical inspired by interviews with parents of queer people. In the Somerset town of Little Malden, Jenny Bennet’s world shifts when her thirty-year-old son comes out of the closet. Finding google rather lacking (absolutely terrifying), she’s determined to support him and h...

Meet Edna: she’s 14, she’s a misfit, and she’s in love with Harry. There’s just one problem: Harry’s in the world’s biggest boy band, has 38 million fans, and doesn’t know she exists. When Harry’s band announces a tour stop in Edna’s hometown of Sydney, Australia, she knows this is her destiny – her one chance to meet him. But how on EARTH will she get Harry’s attention?! And exactly how far is sh...

Inspired by Sir Thomas Malory’s 15th-century prose Le Morte D’Arthur, Avalon follows the classic tale of the tragic destiny of soon-to-be King Arthur and his half-sister Morgan, through the lens of our wizardly narrator, Merlin. After the death of King Uther, the knights and nobleman of the land devise a plan to fill the power vacuum left in his stead. They agree that whoever wields the power to p...

Jaz’ parents have vanished. Now, with the help of teenage inventor Melanie, she must work out where they’ve gone and how to get them back. And what’s going on with those ninja teddy bears. And who they really work for. And how she ended up in the middle of a plot for world domination. And how to get out of this mess. Eek.   This is a completely bonkers musical adventure for childish grownups...

It’s 1967 – There’s a change in the breeze. A new contraceptive pill is available, same-sex relationships are legal and second-wave feminism is in full flux. Against this new era, four friends navigate life at St Anne’s Convent School. But as opinions collide and feelings towards one another shift, the group’s final year doesn’t play out as planned. A poignant, new coming-of-age musical that explo...

It’s the eve of the mayoral election, and the kids of Hamelin aren’t happy. The mayor and owner of the local pie factory has imposed a music ban, and to make matters worse, there’s a serious rat problem. But, there have been whispers of a mysterious rat catcher in town. Can this curious stranger help Hamelin to find its voice once more?  Pied Piper is a raucous musical re-imagining of a medie...

It’s 1979 and David Starr is unquestionably one of the smartest, most talented sixth-formers in East Dulwich – he’s got a wild imagination, a vocal range to die for, and a bedroom plastered with posters of his beloved pop idols: Blondie, Sting, and Kate Bush. But being smart, talented, with a great taste in music may not be enough to get him through secondary school, where, to his great surprise,...

Faced with the backdrop of the First World War, the insular residents of Bryher can no longer escape the realities of life beyond the islands. It takes the innocence of youth – in the shape of plucky young Gracie Jenkins, and her sailing companion and confidant Daniel Pender – to try to blow apart the fear and hatred that threatens to destroy their community, lifting a powerful curse in the proces...

Feral Monster is a banging new musical about an unremarkable teenager. With a soundtrack mashing up grime, R&B, soul, pop and rap, the show follows Jax and her noisy, opinionated brain as they navigate love, identity, class and family. "We're trying to tell a story that is queer, that is Welsh, that is rural." Bethan Marlow. Commissioned and produced by National Theatre Wales. Featuring songs...

In Redcliffe, Bristol William is feeling the pressure to find a wife whilst also being the breadwinner to his family. His mothers nagging doesn't help. When he meets Richard, he unlocks a world he had never dared to explore before and it’s clear there is no going back. Based on the true events of William Critchard and Richard Arnold in 1753, Redcliffe is an epic tale of forbidden love during the p...

Season 5 Making a Musical: The Future of British Musical Theatre Podcast Lineup Making a Musical podcast returns for Season 5 with an exciting lineup! Each episode will feature music and exclusive interviews with the writers and creatives of new musicals at varying stages of development. Episodes to be released from 22 April 2024. Avalon The Old Legend, A New Musical   Music & Lyrics by C...

A one-woman musical about the highs and lows of a life devoted to creating art. Our story follows Marie-Berthe Cazin, a Parisian ceramist in her mid 40s, as she prepares her house for the visit of Henrietta Tirman; renowned artist and her estranged best friend. As she does so, she begins to reminisce, and dream about what could have been. Featuring songs 'Talent’ performed by Alex Young and ‘Spark...

8 women join a local songwriting group called The Circle to make music but end up making connections that change their lives. Featuring songs 'Drown Without Water’ performed by Poppy Morgan and ‘Let the Women Eat’ performed by Sharon Rose. Rachel Walker Mason (she/her) Music & Lyrics A GRAMMY considered artist, finalist in Stiles and Drewe Best New Song 2023, recipient of a British Citizen Awa...

Past and present intertwine in this new folk musical about the history, bravery, and sacrifices of our lifeboat communities. Witnesses to a tragedy in 1886, Charles and Marion Macara unite to support a town in grief, inspiring a nationwide movement set to forever change the tide of fundraising. Current day crew member, Shannon, balances her new family responsibilities with an inherited sense of du...

Alice Haywood is a woman in her 70s who, despite growing up as an incredibly accomplished pianist and moving from Australia to London to study, found herself in an abusive and controlling marriage, unable to exercise any control over her own life. Now, with the recent death of her husband, and through a friendship with her younger neighbour, Emily, Alice refinds her purpose, and goes on a journey...

Usually avoid public bathrooms? Here's one you won't want to miss! This award-winning new musical follows four unlikely strangers who find themselves trapped together in a gender-neutral public toilet. With an hour to kill until maintenance arrives, the group navigates unexpected challenges, pungent opinions and some seriously sticky conversations. Featuring songs 'Minute by Minute’ and ‘Nervous D...

Meet the stand-ins behind the scenes at the Oscars – a group of actors who play the parts of the celebrities in camera rehearsals leading up to the big day. Hopping from the Dolby Theatre to LA’s bohemian coffee hotspots, this musical features a crew of loveable theatrical personalities who are living the life-adjacent to fame and asks, what does it really mean to "win"? Featuring songs ‘Hollywood...

Summer is over. GCSEs are looming. But Year 11s are only talking about one thing: babies. Not real ones... but the plastic simulator dolls they’ve been given to keep alive for a whole entire week. With a blistering pop rock score, this brand new British musical follows nine students as they discover that becoming a parent means changing more than just nappies. Friendships are tested, dreams are qu...

Based on the true story of George Mallory and his quest to conquer Mount Everest. Though lost to the mountain forever in 1924, later discoveries reignited the possibility that George may have succeeded after all - including a missing photo of his wife that he’d promised to leave at the top. From the north-west of England, to the heights of the Himalayas, Mallory On The Mountain follows George thro...

Long before Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, Hook and Wendy, Tinker Bell had a story of her own. Tinker Bell has fled Neverland which has been taken over by Hook and his Pirates and seeks refuge with the Kensington Garden Fairies, but new threats await her in this new world and Tinker Bell must use her talents to save her friends and find her way back home. Featuring songs ‘Things I’ve Done Wrong’ (worki...

Based on F Scott Fitzgerald's short story, this musical takes place in a sleepy fishing harbor on the north coast of Cornwall and tells the story of Benjamin Button, born as an old man in rather unusual circumstances. The story of this show reverberates around the singular message that we should make the most of the time given to us.  Featuring songs ‘When ‘Ere She Looked at Me’ performed by...

An unfaithful adaptation of the Collodi classic Pinocchio with protagonist Geppetto at its heart, PIN takes a dystopian Tim Burtonesque look at a society defined by technology. With a score inspired by Little Shop of Horrors and Danny Elfman classics, PIN is a comical and heartfelt answer to our increasing isolation and a rallying cry for humanity to shine through. Featuring songs ‘Trust In Gravit...

When The Lights Come Up written by Michaela Betts & Bea Holland: A dazzling place where magic is made and dreams come true. Anything is possible and everyone is welcome….or are they? Immersive club theatre that is funny, a little bitter-sweet, and almost entirely true.  A wry and real look at the allure of the bright lights and the bewildering price of fame. Featuring songs ‘When You Fall...

Train on Fire is a story about feminism's legacy, told through the lens of a woman erased from history. Kitty Marion, the woman in question, was a singer-turned suffragette at the height of the women's suffrage movement in 1900s London. Every actor in the show shares the role of Marion, passing the legacy (and the burden of it) between each other. We follow her path to radicalisation, and see just...

Kurt - 27, a musician, a poet and alive? Does every soul have the chance to be saved or is our destiny predetermined? Kurt may find that music holds the key as our band ‘The Fates’ plead with him on a melodic journey through his life. Arriving at a junction in time, Kurt confronts the fray in the thread of his very existence. Earth to Kurt is a moving and surprising look at the journey to the afte...