The British Theatre Guide Links: Mercury Musical Developments

New Links

Date: 28/04/02

Mercury Musical Developments

The Mercury Musical Development site goes live on 30th April, but I was allowed a sneak preview so I can give BTG readers advance notice of what it has to offer.

As the site says, Mercury Musical Developments exists to support writers and composers of musical theatre, both in the UK and worldwide. It has been formed by the merger of the Mercury Workshop, celebrated for producing multi-collaborative musicals, as well as over 30 musical workshops, and the New Musicals Alliance, provider of musical theatre training and education. Its Associates are writers of musicals (librettists, lyricists and composers) and it has Theatre Associates -theatre companies, producers, directors, publishers and so on, all of whom benefit from a concentrated wealth of exciting new musical theatre.

MMD partners with other organisations. Previous partners have included the Royal National Theatre Studio, Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts, the Royal Academy of Music, Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop in Los Angeles, New Tuners Theatre in Chicago and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre in New York, whilst current ongoing Partnership Projects include a continuing relationship with the Royal Academy of Music in London.

The site is divided into five sections: 2002 (the current development programme), Admin (details of the organisation), Onstage (details of associates and their work), Box Office (where you can see Associates' work, plus national theatre news), and Backstage, a passport-protected members' area.

Within this five-part (six, if you inclde the guest book) structure, there is a whole host of valuable information. Within the members-only area, for instance, visitors will find:

Details of all MMD's upcoming events
Details of worldwide competitions, awards, workshop groups.
Details of Arts Councils, unions and other support groups in the UK and worldwide.
Guidelines on finding an agent, publishing deals, production deals, sending unsolicited scripts, setting up your own workshops, and more.
Information about legal issues such as copyright, royalties, signing collaboration agreements, and more.
Exercises and techniques used by professional writers and composers.
A private message board for associates to connect with each other for support, advice and discussion.
A comprehensive list of internet links tailored specifically to the needs of musical theatre writers and composers.

The organisation offers a reading service, musical salons, writing seminars, a West End showcase of new work produced by the development programme and special help for young writers.

An open invitation to join is offered to those who are eligible:

A writer / composer who has reached the showcase/performance stage of an industry recognised musical theatre workshop programme, festival or competition in the UK or overseas
A graduate of a recognised musical theatre writing course in the UK or overseas
A writer / composer whose work has been published by an established publishing company in the UK or overseas
A writer / composer whose work has received a professional production (London, regional, fringe or overseas)

Those whose work has received a production not covered by the above criteria (e.g. amateur production) can apply to MMD for further details.

It's a useful site, even for non-members, but the contents of the members-only section make it very worthwhile for those who are eligible to join.

It's a framed site, although it does offer the alternative of a non-frames version to those who aren't keen on frames (more should do this!) and it provides a way out of being trapped in a referring site's frames. The design is simple (thank goodness!), with a quiet and harmonious colour-scheme, and navigation is clear. You can go to anywhere in the site from anywhere directly, with none of this time-consuming (wasting?) having to go back to the home page to move on.

Well worth a visit if you're keen on music theatre.