THE TEAM Editor Sarah Kirkup Assistant Editor Julia Rank Ar t Editor Heather Woodley Editorial Assistant Jonathan Whiting Sub-editor Lisa Martland Publisher/Editorial Director Martin Cullingford Marketing Director To n y H a l l Marketing Manager John Barnett Marketing Assistant Oscar Faulkner Editorial Consultant Edward Seckerson Production Manager Kyri Apostolou Studio Manager Chris Charles Production Director Richard Hamshere Subscriptions Director Sally Boettcher Managing Director Ravi Chandiramani CEO Ben Allen Chairman Mark Allen SUBSCRIPTIONS UK: 0800 137 201 Overseas: +44 (0)1722 716997 subscriptions@markallengroup.com ADVERTISING Commercial Director Esther Zuke +44 (0)20 7501 6368 esther.zuke@markallengroup.com Title Manager Clifford Gagliardo +44 (0)7766 508458 clifford.gagliardo@markallengroup.com
CONTRIBUTORS Rebecca Applin award-winning composer Tim Bano joint chief critic for The Stage David Benedict London critic for Variety, columnist for The Stage Jason Carr composer, orchestrator Sarah Crompton critic for The Observer/WhatsOnStage, podcaster Daz Gale reviewer Thom Geier New York-based critic Scott Matthewman reviewer for Musical Theatre Review/ The Reviews Hub Jim Munson reviewer for BroadwayWorld Elaine Paige performer, presenter, broadcaster Jack Pepper composer, writer, presenter Julia Rank reviewer for London Theatre/ WhatsOnStage Edward Seckerson writer, broadcaster, presenter, podcaster Joe Stilgoe singer, songwriter, pianist Jonathan Whiting composer, music graduate Matt Wolf London critic for International New York Times, author
Brenner
/ Marc
Persson
/ Johan
Starlight Express/Detlef Overmann
/ ©
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Welcome
The ture is bright for The ture is bright for new grassroots musicals new grassroots musicals
For our launch issue in October 2022, I had the pleasure of writing a feature on nurturing the next generation of Musical Theatre writers. During the course of my research, I spoke to representatives from UK- and US-based organisations, from Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) and Musical Theatre Network (MTN) in London to the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) in New York, as well as smaller set-ups – and a whole new world opened up to me: a world where creators spend years honing their cra (o en while holding down other jobs), never knowing if their work will reach an audience.
So it’s thrilling that, in recent months, some of these grassroots projects have not only come to fruition but have truly been allowed to shine. Take Operation Mincemeat from creators SpitLip. For my 2022 feature, I spoke to Matthew Eames at The Lowry, who told me how he’d given this ‘little show that’s perfectly beautiful’ a platform at his Rewrites Festival; an excerpt was subsequently presented at BEAM 2018 (co-produced by MMD and MTN), whereupon investors came on board. It subsequently had runs at three London fringe venues (the New Diorama, Southwark Playhouse and Riverside Studios), before transferring to the West End in 2023 where it’s still running. Plus, it took the Best New Musical Olivier this April. It really was a David-and-Goliathstyle triumph – a fact not lost on the creators, who were visibly overcome as they came up onstage.
Music Theatre (BYMT) for its New Music Theatre Award; BYMT was another organisation I spoke to in 2022, when director Emily Gray told me: ‘Our mission is to give the writers space to make their show the best it can be.’
And then there’s Jim Barne and Kit Buchan’s Tw o Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). It was called The Season when it showcased at BEAM 2018 (what a year that was for BEAM!), and now it’s landed at the Criterion Theatre. This gorgeous two-hander, performed by Sam Tutty and Dujonna Gi , is another example of, to quote Eames, ‘a little show that’s perfectly beautiful’. When I spoke to Bronté Barbé and Rebekah Hinds of Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder! for a recent podcast, they were in awe at the success of this musical comedy by Jon Brittain and Matthew Floyd Jones which, like SIX, began life at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. With it now coming to the Ambassadors Theatre for a short run (it makes way for Darren Clark and Jethro Compton’s Th e Curious Case of Benjamin Button, another success story!), the pair advocated fringe theatre as well as big, celebrityled shows because ‘it can grow into something special’. There’s space, then, for both. Which is why, this issue, we’ve chosen the fabulous Charlie Stemp as our cover star, to talk about his role in the Golden Age classic Kiss Me, Kate. Inspired by the upcoming premiere of Mean Girls, we also explore the trend in campus musicals. And, in a trip down memory lane, I delve into the origins of Starlight Express, as a new version comes to Wembley.
But it doesn’t stop there. This issue, we review 42 Balloons, which has just finished its premiere run at The Lowry following three concerts in 2022. The producers include Andy and Wendy Barnes, who helped propel Marlow and Moss’s SIX to its current dizzy heights, and the charity Perfect Pitch, dedicated to developing British musicals.
Surely this isn’t the last we’ll hear of this 1980s-set musical based on the true story of a truck driver flying in a heliumballoon-propelled chair above LA…
It’s certainly not the last we’ll hear of composer Jack Godfrey, whose musical Babies is soon to run at The Other Palace. Serendipitously, this musical began its life when Godfrey and book writer Martha Geelan submitted a song to British Youth
Funnily enough, I opened my first-ever editorial with a nod to that very show, and how it kickstarted a life-long love of musicals. At that point, we didn’t know what the future would hold for Musicals but, buoyed by the launch issue’s success, we became a regular bi-monthly publication, and now I’m delighted to reveal that, from October, we’ll become a monthly magazine! And all of this is down to you,
our loyal readers – for which I thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Editor, Musicals sarah.kirkup@markallengroup.com
INTRODUCING THIS ISSUE’S FEATURED CONTRIBUTORS…
Chris Bartlett is a freelance arts journalist and scriptwriter who has been reviewing theatre since the late 1990s. He has written for and worked as a sub-editor for publications including The Stage, Musical Theatre Review, Heat, New Woman and Radio Times. He is currently an Assistant Commissioner for the Radio 4 podcasts and digital team. You can read his review of 42 Balloons on page 46.
Lisa Martland is a writer and editor who began her career with a decade on staff at The Stage newspaper as critic, chief sub-
editor and deputy editor. She is the founder/publisher of one of the UK’s top theatre websites, Musical Theatre Review, which recently celebrated it s 10th anniversary. Lisa is also a reviewer and sub-editor for Musicals Magazine. Read her review of Opening Night on page 50.
Linda Winer was chief theatre critic and arts columnist of Newsday from 1987 to 2017. She taught critical writing at Columbia
University’s School of the Arts and hosted the ‘Women in Theatre’ series on CUNY-TV. She has judged the Pulitzer Prize for Drama 10 times, five times as panel chair. Read her review of Illinoise on page 54 and her double review of Lempicka and Suffs on page 56.
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