Arts Council England is to invest more than £684,000 in a Northampton Royal and Derngate project which will produce four original musicals.
Over the next three years, Royal and Derngate will work with a consortium including China Plate, Improbable, Mercury Musicals Development, Musical Theatre Network, Perfect Pitch and Scottish Opera to “create a step-change in the way new musical theatre and opera are created for mid-scale venues”.
The consortium will support a diverse range of writers, composers and theatre-makers to create a series of original commissions, a festival showcasing a range of new touring musicals, a symposium focusing on musical theatre and opera and a variety of artist development programmes.
Royal and Derngate will create and distribute free a new musical via sharing platforms including YouTube.
James Dacre, Royal and Derngate’s artistic director, said, “we look forward to leading this consortium in addressing the barriers that have prevented the production of new music theatre specifically designed for mid-scale regional touring.
“As the distinctions between musical theatre, opera and plays with music are increasingly blurring, we’ll support at least 150 artists to create a diverse range of truly original new work. These are exciting times.”