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 will 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:
MT Writers Group
A Musical Theatre Writers Group will launch with its first cohort in April 2024.
Over 12 months, five 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.
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:
Introductions
Mon 4 Dec 2023 – Fri 15 Jan 2024
Right now, we would like to expand our network of Musical Directors, arrangers, sound designers and sound engineers. If you would like to introduce yourself to us, please email us at the link below.
Birmingham Hippodrome is committed to diversity and inclusion, so we are particularly interested in hearing from artists with these specialisms who are from underrepresented backgrounds. We are also invested in providing opportunities within our region so we are also very interested in hearing from Midlands-based artists with these specialisms.
Programming
Will open: Mon 19 Feb – Fri 29 Mar 2024
If you would like to present or co-produce work in Birmingham Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio between Feb and Mar 2025, this submissions window is your opportunity to be considered for a slot.
Projects in Development
Will open: Wed 1 May – Fri 28 Jun 2024
Want to develop work at the Hippodrome? During this window, we would like to hear from teams at various different stages of development – from a pitch idea to a polished draft.
More information to follow.
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.