Welcome to Birmingham Hippodrome’s department for developing and producing new UK musicals.
This is the UK’s first in-house New Musical Theatre department. The team focus on developing musical theatre talent, alongside commissioning, presenting and producing new musicals on Hippodrome stages and beyond.
We are proud that our department resides in one of the most diverse cities in the UK. Artists and audiences are at the heart of this department and we seek to represent Birmingham and the UK within the work we develop on and off stage.
What the department does:
Musical Theatre Writers Group
The MT Writers Group launched with its first cohort in April 2024.
Over 12 months, six writing teams will receive:
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- A £2,000 bursary per individual, as well as travel expenses
- 10 taught sessions led by writer and dramaturg Victoria Saxton and composer and musical director Tim Sutton
- Peer learning with the other members of the group as they share their work in progress
- Mentorship from the Birmingham Hippodrome team
Applications for this scheme have now closed.
RIFFS
RIFFS are one-week residencies at Birmingham Hippodrome where writers can begin work on new projects, or creative teams can get together to think through and action changes at pivotal moments in the development of a new piece of work.
Workshops
Our team will be supporting the development of new musicals by providing workshopping opportunities for companies and writing teams to explore their work in development with casts of professional performers.
Commissions
We will also be commissioning work for the Hippodrome’s three stages – our intimate 200-seat Patrick Studio, our beautiful 1800-seater main house, and our festivals and off-site programme.
The department’s first commissioned musical, The Jingleclaw, written by Robyn Grant and Tim Gilvin, will premiere in the Patrick Studio in December 2024.
Partnerships
We are proud to be continuing to nurture new musical talent alongside partner venues and companies.
REWRITES, run in partnership with The Lowry, MAST Mayflower Studios and Norwich Theatres is a twice-annual touring platform for new musicals in development.
The Musical Theatre Darkroom is presented by China Plate, Birmingham Hippodrome, Musical Theatre Network, Mercury Musical Developments and Royal & Derngate, Northampton. The project brings together experienced musical theatre practitioners and writing teams / artists from global majority backgrounds to collaboratively interrogate traditions, models and approaches to making musical theatre.
How to get involved:
Submission windows
We have submission windows for different aspects of Musical Theatre development open at different points in the year.
Current submission windows:
Programming
Open: Mon 19 Feb – Fri 29 Mar 2024
This window has now closed.
Projects in Development
Open now: Wed 1 May – Fri 14 Jun 2024
This window has now closed.
Our open calls and opportunities will also go out on X and Instagram (@BrumHippodrome), and on our website so keep an eye on all of our channels!
Invites
We are keen to see new musicals of different scales and various stages of development!
As a small team working on a national scale, we are not able to make everything, but we travel to see new work whenever and wherever possible. Getting in touch with around four weeks’ notice helps give us more chance of attending events outside of the Midlands.
To invite our team please fill out the form below – we will respond to all invitations and aim to let you know in advance if we are able to attend.
Edinburgh Fringe 2024
We will be at Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 and are excited to see new musicals. If you are bringing your work to the festival, then let us know via the form here.
Our team are keen to get to know new musicals on a variety of scales and stages of development. We’d love to hear about your show so let us know when and where your performances are happening. Please be aware that we are a small team and will not be able to respond to every invite.
Images from This Is A Love Story Workshop Performances, Feb 2024. Photos by Manuel Harlan.
Images from MT Writers Group Launch, Apr 2024. Photos by Angela Grabowska.