MTFestUK – The new musical theatre festival
One festival across two venues: The Other Palace Studio and The Turbine Theatre
During the two-week festival from 30 January to 11 February 8 shows will showcase across the two venues. The shows will be presented in workshop form, some of the shows are abridged, and some only showcase their first act, allowing the audience to peek at the various stages of the shows.
Shows playing at The Other Palace Studio:
A Jaffa Cake Musical 30 Jan – 1 Feb
Writer by Sam Cochrane, arrangements by Rob Gathercole, directed by Ali James, musical director Bianca Fung
Cast: Sam Cochrane as Kevin, Emily Kitchingham as Katherine, Harry Miller as Jake, Alex Prescot as Judge, Katie Pritchard as Tax Man
Inspired by the 1991 tribunal which determined the true identity of a Jaffa Cake, the multi-award winning Gigglemug Theatre (Timpson: The Musical, RuneSical, Scouts! The Musical) bring you a brand-new family-friendly musical comedy about the nation’s favourite cake (I mean, biscuit…?).
Both 2 Feb – 4 Feb
Music and lyrics by Declan Bennett and Olivia Broadfield, book by Declan Bennett
Cast: Declan Bennett and Nimah Perry
Both. A delicately powerful and intimate new musical that whispers the end into the limelight. When love doesn’t last forever it foretold, who will we choose to be? When our Both becomes one, will we fight or are we gone? When we’re Both up against the wall, do we give up or give it all?
Tit Swingers 6 Feb – 8 Feb
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Abey Bradbury and Sam Kearney-Edwardes, directed by Conor Dye
Cast: Abey Bradbury, Sam Kearney-Edwardes and Max Kinder
Anne Bonney and Mary Read – polyamorous queer pirates named the Hellcats of the Seven Seas for their various vicious and notorious crimes…who fought with their tits out.
They’re tired of living in the shadow of Blackbeard, Captain Kidd and Calico Jack – the Tit Swingers are here to write their own sea shanties and become the immortal legends they know they deserve to be.
Plastered 9 Feb – 11 Feb
Book, music, and lyrics by Randy Rogel, developed/co-created by BT McNicholl, directed by Jerry Zaks, presented in association with La Mirada Theatre of the Performing Arts, presented with the support of Al Gough, Beth Corets and Kevin Ryan
Cast: Jacob Fisher as Beatnik, Peter Gallagher as stage direction reader, Peter Hannah as Maxwell, Jenna Innes as Beatnik, Miriam-Teak Lee as Carla, Gina Murray as Mrs Swickert, Rory O’Malley as Walter Paisley, Quinn Patrick as Leonard Desantis and Ian Virgo as Detective
Another little shop, another big problem. At a ‘50s San Francisco coffee house, a struggling beatnik sculptor accidentally creates a new style of art that thrusts him into fame and fortune as trouble mounts … in this twisted killer comedy musical inspired by an outrageous Roger Corman flick!
Shows playing at The Turbine Theatre:
Romy and Michele The Musical 30 Jan – 1 Feb
Written by the film’s screenwriter Robin Schiff, score by Gwendolyn Sanford and Brandon Jay, directed by Kristin Hanggi, musical director Emily Marshall, based on the Touchstone film Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and the stage play Ladies’ Room written by Robin Schiff
Produced by special arrangement with Barry Kemp, Peter Schneider, Lawrence Mark, and Stephen Soucy
Cast: Femi Akinfolarin as Mike, Laura Baldwin as Romy White, Jarrad Biron Green as Sandy Frink, Millicent Blair as Michelle Weinberger, Jordan Kai Burnett as Heather Mooney, Connor Carson as Billy Christianson, Evangeline Jarvis Jones as Christie Masters, Deena Kapdia as Kelly Possenger, Anna MacLeod as Lisa Luder and Kingsley Morton as Toby Walters
For most of us, the idea of reliving high school is nothing short of a nightmare. That’s why if we ever do return, even for just one night, it has to be in style.
When Romy and Michele are invited to their 10-year reunion, they hatch an outrageous scheme to reinvent themselves and impress their former classmates.
Bling 2 Feb – 4 Feb
Music and lyrics by Elliot Clay, book by Tori Allen-Martin, directed by Sarah Henley
Cast: Roxanne Couch as Sacha, Rosanna Hyland as Samantha, Idriss Kargbo as Ryan, Jessica Lee as Lucy and Olivia Mitchell as Jenny
It’s 2008, season two of Keeping Up With The Kardashians is airing, Britney’s made her comeback and a group of teenagers are about to steal $3 million worth of belongings from Hollywood celebrity’s homes.
BLING is inspired by the unbelievably true events that saw the most unlikely criminal gang manage to shake Hollywood to its core.
REDCLIFFE 6 Feb – 8 Feb
Book, music and lyrics by Jordan Luke Gage. Directed by Josh Seymour
Cast: James Darch as Richard, Jess Douglas Welsh as Abigail, Chris Fung as Landlord, Jordan Luke Gage as William, Emma Lindars as Landlady and Rebecca Lock as Mother. Graduate ensemble: Elena Bluck, Ellie McAspurn, Rees Parry, Jonathan Peniket
In Redcliffe, Bristol William is feeling the pressure to find a wife whilst also being the breadwinner to his family. His mother’s nagging doesn’t help. When he meets Richard, he unlocks a world he had never dared to explore before and it’s clear there is no going back.
The Garden 9 Feb – 11 Feb
Music, book and lyrics by Chisara Agor, orchestration by Robin G Breeze, directed by Chisara Agor, and musical director Robin G Breeze.
Cast: Chisara Agor, Elinor Machen-Fortune, Jack Matthew
We follow Azalea, a teenage girl as she grapples with the death of her father and divergence with her mother. While rejecting her place in a concrete world that has displaced her, she plants a gifted ancient seed in the middle of her estate. A sprawling magical garden comes to life overnight, bringing the immaterial and magical even closer, along with city developers eager to capitalise on an ‘up and coming’ neighbourhood.
