Birmingham Hippodrome is inviting audiences to experience a “snippet” of six musical theatre projects in development at its first new musicals showcase.
The showcase will include extracts of shows created by the theatre’s Musical Theatre Writers Group. Formed in 2024, the group compromises six writing teams developing original new musicals under Birmingham Hippodrome’s mentorship, led by writer and dramaturg Victoria Saxton and composer and musical director Tim Sutton. The Hippodrome’s new musical theatre department will also present sneak previews from other projects in development.
Audiences can expect “a mixture of local and national musical theatre talent performing extracts from exciting new musicals”. Shows will range from romantic comedies to R&B absurdist courtroom dramas.
The showcase will be hosted by Brummie actor Alex Cardall who was seen as The Moon in Robyn Grant and Tim Gilvin’s The Jingleclaw at the Hippodrome at Christmas 2024. He also played Nicholas in the UK tour of Joe Orton’s What the Butler Saw, also in 2024.
Deirdre O’Halloran, head of new musical theatre at Birmingham Hippodrome, said, “the new musicals showcase is a moment to celebrate the achievements of the UK’s first in-house musicals department. From workshop productions to talent development, we’re proud of the interventions we’ve begun to make in the musical theatre landscape.
“Now it’s time to look to our future. We’re excited to invite audiences into the process of the original works in development by our cohort of incredibly talented composers, book writers and lyricists.”
The showcase will be held in the Patrick Studio at the Hippodrome on Thursday 6 March, with performances are at 1:30 and 7:15PM. Further details are available at the Birmingham Hippodrome web site.