Birmingham Hippodrome’s new musical theatre department has announced its first full production, The Jingleclaw, a festive family musical created for three- to seven-year-olds.
Written by Robyn Grant and Tim Gilvin, The Jingleclaw is set in a cosy village in the snowy mountains. It tells the story of young musician Astrid and a mischievous forest creature, the Jingleclaw.
Grant said, “we're so excited to be one of the first teams working with this incredible new musical theatre department as the Hippodrome continues to grow as a beacon of new British musical theatre.
“Tim and I are both incredibly passionate about bringing new audiences to musical theatre, so who better to start with than the next generation of budding stars and theatregoers.
“The Jingleclaw is a silly, joyful, magical show in which we're creating our very own winter monster in a format which feels fresh, vibrant and funny. We're packing the show with amazing puppets and props, audience interaction, larger-than-life characters and tunes you'll be singing all the way home.”
Gilvin added, “I spent my university years in Birmingham, so it's a total joy to be returning to the city and bringing an array of eclectic, fun, festive bangers to tell the story of The Jingleclaw. Expect balladeering bats, choral carols and a good old dose of festive rock and roll that will have our audiences dancing in their seats.”
Chris Sudworth, the Hippodrome’s creative director, commented, “The Jingleclaw is our first full musical theatre commission and marks a really exciting moment in the Hippodrome’s commitment to developing new musicals and new work in the West Midlands.
“Robyn and Tim are two of the brightest talents in UK musical theatre. They bring their characteristic joy, playfulness, naughtiness, lyrical and musical invention—but for a family audience—to The Jingleclaw.”
The Jingleclaw will be the first in a series of musicals for children produced by the Hippodrome under the My First Musical banner.
Deirdre O’Halloran, the Hippodrome’s head of new musical theatre, said, “we’ve been thinking about the future of musical theatre and it felt natural for our first production to be creating something special for our youngest audiences.
“While there are lots of fantastic children’s shows produced each year with music in them, few are designed specifically as an introduction to musical theatre, and so the idea of My First Musical was born. We hope that productions under this banner will provide those magical goosebump moments for young audiences that lead to a life-long love of musical theatre.”
The Jingleclaw will run in the Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio from Thursday 12 December until Saturday 4 January 2025.