Perfect Pitch Returns to West End, Ellis at Fringe
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.
