This month our Musicals Youth Theatre (MYT) group put on their show Dreamland in the Patrick Studio for two nights. The show was a musical riff on Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream set during the declassification of Area 51.

Birmingham Hippodrome’s Youth Musical Theatre group have been working on ‘Dreamland’ since January 2024. A launch workshop was held where our Learning Artists revealed Dreamland as the show they would be learning and performing. During this session the group were able to practice one of the songs, get to grips with parts of the choreography and act out a couple of scenes to help them get to know the musical.

This year, MYT was fortunate to have Ugly Bucket come in for a one-off workshop on clowning, helping the young people to connect with their inner silliness and free their ‘clown’, fitting perfectly with the abstract nature of the show.

Working on theatre and performance skills is an important part of Youth Musical Theatre’s sessions. Course leaders encourage participants to take responsibility for their roles, making notes of tips and tricks. Socialising also plays an important part in sessions, helping the group become an ensemble, and ultimately, making the show a more enjoyable experience for the young participants.

The comedic elements of Dreamland were welcomed by the cast who really enjoyed the ‘fun’ and ‘playful’ themes within the show. Although it is challenging to learn and perform a lesser-known musical, this also provides complete creative licence for young people, allowing them to visualise and embody their characters.

Once the performance week arrived, the actors had access to high quality technical sound and lighting. The lighting and technical design really elevates their stunning stage work and allows them to perform in a professional setting. This year the group included a band which continued to raise the bar. The opportunity of performing in a studio space with the tech and band helped everyone feel valued and professional!

This is what three young actors had to say about their experience performing in Dreamland:

“This is the most accessible show we’ve done with MYT and it’s been great to feel so comfortable and safe with my own access needs. We’ve got BSL and AD on the Saturday show, something that’s really important to me.”

“I’ve never got to be in a show this big before, it’s so exciting to get to do a show with such professional level tech, props and a live band!”

“It’s a really great experience and we get to learn how to do things, like performing with microphones which I’ve never done before.”

Hippodrome Musicals Youth Theatre is a group of incredible young people aged between 7-16 years, this was their annual performance. Click here to find out more about MYT at Birmingham Hippodrome.

Young People and Community Manager, Mathilde Petford, said: “This year’s Hippodrome Musicals Youth Theatre show was a huge success. We worked with our members over 7 months to pull together an all singing, all dancing two act musical: no mean feat! For the first time in MYT history, our young people performed with a live band which just elevated the whole show. Our in-house set, props and lighting design really helped the show stand out and provided our young people with and incredibly professional experience.

It’s been so wonderful to watch the confidence of the cast grow and grow and to see them giving it their all on stage had me with proud teary eyes on more than once occasion. It’s also been a huge blessing to get to work with so many talented, creative and caring Hippodrome staff who contributed above and beyond to make the whole process the best possible experience for our young people.”

If you would like to see something similar, next month, our Patrick Studio will host British Youth Musical Theatre’s performance of Unbound. Click here to read about this new musical inspired by 80s rock and witchcraft!