Multi-award winning producer Nica Burns OBE is the force behind the Rising Stars Festival which will see twenty-three producers make their West End débuts.
Their seventeen plays, musicals, concerts and events will be produced over the summer in Nimax’s six London theatres: the Apollo, Duchess, Garrick, Lyric, Palace and Vaudeville.
Nica Burns said, “I am delighted to be welcoming into the spotlight a galaxy of talented young producers—our rising stars making their West End debuts. Entrepreneurial, adventurous, creating shows during our lockdown days to entertain and inspire, attracting stellar performers. Usually behind the spotlight, few understand what a producer does. Without them, there are no shows. If these enterprising producers are the future of the West End, it’s looking good.”
The producers are Chris Steward, Shanay Holmes, Katy Lipson, Ameena Hamid, Adam Lenson, Tom Duern, Kirk Jameson, Jack Maple, Chris Marcus, Damien Stanton, Piers Cottee-Jones, Jamie Chapman Dixon, John-Webb Carter, Shaun McCourt, Robin Rayner, Hugh Summers, Greg Barnett, Krystal Lee and Sarah Evans.
A trailblazer for the reopening of theatres, Burns will have all Nimax’s long-running shows in business by the autumn with thirty-four productions currently on sale. As they open The Rising Stars Festival programme will run with a new summer programme.
- May: Drag Queens of Pop at the Vaudeville Theatre, producer David O’Reilly
- May–June: Cruise at the Duchess Theatre, producers Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, Jamie Lambert and Eliza Jackson for Lambert Jackson Productions
- May–July: Death Drop at the Garrick Theatre, producers Ameena Hamid, Jamie Chapman Dixon and John-Webb Carter for Carter Dixon Productions
- May: Roles We’ll Never Play at the Vaudeville Theatre, producer Thomas Duern
- May: An Evening with Kathy Burke at the Lyric Theatre, producer David O’Reilly
- May: Intermissions Live at the Vaudeville Theatre, producers Alice Fearn & Kirk Jamieson
- May–July: Monday Night at the Apollo at the Apollo Theatre, producers Greg Barnett and Hugh Summers for Wild Mountain Productions Ltd
- May: Public Domain at the Vaudeville Theatre, producer Adam Lenson
- June: The Show Must Go On! at the Palace Theatre, producers Chris Marcus and Damien Stanton for Theatre Support Fund+ and Jack Maple and Brian Zeilinger for MZG productions
- June: Alyssa, Memoirs of a Queen! at the Vaudeville Theatre, producers Robin Rayner and James Quaife for New Frame Productions
- June: An Evening With Arlene Phillips at the Duchess Theatre, producer David O’Reilly
- June: West End Musical Celebration at the Palace Theatre, producers Shanay Holmes and Chris Steward for West End Musical Productions
- June: West End Live Lounge at the Lyric Theatre, producer Shaun McCourt
- June: The Distance You Have Come at the Apollo Theatre, producers Sarah Evans for Sevans Productions and Krystal Lee
- June: The Wonderbirds Live at the Duchess Theatre, producer David O’Reilly
- July–August: Wonderment at the Palace Theatre, producers Stephen McGill, McGill Productions, John-Webb Carter and Jamie Dixon, Carter Dixon Productions, Piers Cottee-Jones, Piers Cottee-Jones Entertainment
- September–October: The Last Years at the Vaudeville Theatre, producers Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, Edward Prophet and People Entertainment Group, with Dan Looney, Adam Paulden and Jason Haigh-Ellery for DLAP GROUP