Tributes paid to director and creative Adam Lenson, who has died aged 41

Tributes have poured in from across the theatre world for director and creative Adam Lenson, who has died aged 41 from cancer.

Lenson was the driving force behind both a number of hit musical stagings and initiatives that helped champion and platform new musical writers. His work included the five-star new musical Cable Street, staged on both sides of the Atlantic, and hits like Wasted and The Rink at Southwark Playhouse.

Musical director and supervisor Tamara Saringer said in a post: “I met Adam at a random house party in 2016. he said ‘Hey. I’ve heard of you. You like new musicals right?’ And then we did our first Signal concert which inspired me and expanded my world in so many ways. I’m not sure I’d even still be in this country or have built a career in London if be hadn’t of given me that opportunity, inspired my love for new musicals and introduced me to a huge community of people I have then gone on to work with.

“That’s the impact he had on so many. “tentacle arms” someone said to me recently and I think that’s right. His reach extended so far, to so many. He was a champion, an advocate, tireless in his passion for new work that led to opportunities for so many.”

The Signal series, presented both online and in person, was a recurring opportunity for writers to test new work before it reached audiences, with names involved over the years including Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Darren Clark, Anoushka Lucas, and many more.

Beyond his direction, Lenson found success with solo fringe work like Is it Too Late Now To Say Sorry? and Anything That We Wanted to Be (about being diagnosed with stage three malignant melanoma), and left a major mark on the musical theatre theory world with his book Breaking Into Song, widely considered essential reading for anyone interested in the development of new musicals.

Annabel Mutale Reed, co-lyricist on the new version of Martin Guerre, quoted a passage from Lenson’s book in a social media tribute, saying: “‘Philosophy, art, science, emotion. A tool kit for understanding why we are alive, what connects us, what enlightens us and what consoles us. What separates us and what draws us together. What weaves and connects us. And that answer is: stories and music. By threading the two together I realised I had a way of understanding the things I had found difficult to comprehend. Why are we alive, why is there pain, why do people die? What are we here to do?'”

Writing for WhatsOnStage back in 2018, Lenson said: “Music is a part of everyone’s lives. It accompanies our first dates and our breakups, birthdays and funerals. It can take us across the world or fix us in one place. It can transport us back in time or show us glimpses of the future. I have a profound belief in what musical theatre is capable of.”

Lenson’s wife Emma Jude Harris has written his obituary in a piece for The Stage.

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