Birmingham Hippodrome’s New Musical Theatre Department has announced its first opportunity for musical theatre writers.
Its musical theatre writers group will be open to musical theatre artists across the UK. It will give five writing teams the opportunity to develop a new musical over the course of 12 months.
Beginning in April 2024, the writing teams will attend monthly sessions led by writer and dramaturg Victoria Saxton along with composer and musical director Tim Sutton. Each member of the writing teams will receive a bursary of £2,000 as well as travel expenses to attend sessions at the Hippodrome.
The writers will also be able to share their work with an audience at two points during the year and will receive ongoing mentorship from the Hippodrome’s New Musical Theatre Department after the project ends.
There will be three dedicated submission windows each year which will enable artists to pitch ideas for development and production. The first window is open now, with the department planning to expand its network of musical directors, arrangers, sound designers and sound engineers.
Deirdre O’Halloran, head of new musical theatre at the Hippodrome, said, “the long-term aim beyond the 12-month course is for us to provide sustained support for musical theatre artists, including commissioning and developing ideas for production. There are so many brilliant musical theatre artists in the UK and we can’t wait to get started.”
Further information is available at the Birmingham Hippodrome web site.
Meanwhile the Hippodrome has raised more than £34,000 as part of its annual festive fundraising campaign, The Big Give Christmas Challenge. The money will go towards providing all 28 special educational needs schools in Birmingham with tickets for their students to attend a relaxed performance.