Perfect Pitch Returns to West End, Ellis at FringeDate: 3 August 2009
Perfect Pitch - the showcase for developing homegrown musicals, which is supported for a third year by Whatsonstage.com – will return to Trafalgar Studios from 3 to 8 November 2009 for its second annual West End season, which follows its star-studded activities at this month’s Edinburgh Fringe.
Four musicals have been selected for inclusion in this year’s showcase in the 100-seat Trafalgar Studio 2: The Go-Between by Richard Taylor and prolific children’s author David Wood OBE; In Touch by Dougal Irvine, whose last award-winning musical Departure Lounge, also developed via Perfect Pitch, has just had a run at the Summer Play Festival in New York; Super Alice Smith, who, like Irvine, is also an established West End actor, seen last year in Never Forget; and From Up Here by Adam Day Howard, Aaron Lee Lambert, Benjamin Murray and Adrianne Salmon.
The week will culminate, on Sunday 8 November 2009, in the 400-seat Trafalgar Studio 1 next door with a one-night only concert performance of Through the Door. Laurence Mark Wythe and Judy Freed’s musical was extracted as part of last year’s showcase; this year, the full two-act show will be performed, led by Julie Atherton (Avenue Q) reprising her performance as Charlotte, a modern woman in a going-nowhere marriage who discovers a gateway to 17th-century France in her kitchen.
At this month’s Edinburgh Fringe, Perfect Pitch will present two one-hour concerts comprising sneak previews of songs from showcased and other new musicals in development. Whatsonstage.com Award winner Kerry Ellis (Wicked, We Will Rock You will make a special guest appearance, alongside other West End regulars including Kelly Price (just seen in A Little Night Music), Nicole Faraday, Tim Driesen, John Addison, Gareth Chart and host Jamie Hinde.
Perfect Pitch – In Concert takes place on 18 and 19 August 2009 at the Musical Theatre @ George Square in Edinburgh. It’s directed by John Brant, with musical direction by Paul Herbert.
Perfect Pitch was founded by independent producer Andy Barnes in 2006 as a yearly showcase for new musicals. In 2008, with the support of over 15 partners around the UK including venues, training establishments, agents and producers, Perfect Pitch expanded into a network that could not only showcase new musicals but also create opportunities throughout the year for them to be nurtured, developed and workshopped. Earlier this year, Perfect Pitch was awarded £188,860 by Arts Council England to continue its long-term aims of creating a grassroots infrastructure for developing new musical projects (See News, 16 Jun 2009). The award represents one of ACE’s largest-ever investments in musical theatre.
For more information on this year’s selected musicals and Perfect Pitch’s other activities, visit www.perfectpitchmusicals.com.
For full coverage of Edinburgh 2009, including news, gossip, reviews, blogs, features and video, visit Whatsonstage.com/Edinburgh2009- by Terri Paddock
Related Content
