MPTheatricals, Queerly Productions, ALPMusicals & Musical Theatre Network/Mercury Musicals Development are thrilled to present MTPRIDE: an intersectional online musical theatre festival. Over three weeks, three bespoke evenings of musical theatre will explore queer pasts, presents and futures. Unlocking histories, voicing untold stories, navigating identity mazes and celebrating identities: MTPRIDE celebrates queer beings through the powerful art form of musical theatre. The season is curated by Lucy Dickson, Matt Powell & Meg McGrady, produced in partnership with MPTheatricals, Queerly Productions, ALPMusicals, Musical Theatre Network and Mercury Musical Development. Technical Production provided by theatrical.solutions.
Festival Artwork by William Lloyd
queered (Volume One)
Queered reframes existing shows and reimagines classic MT moments in completely new contexts to explore queer histories, lost stories & personal experiences. In volume one, stories of love and lust, community and identity are brought to life through new arrangements and performances of musical theatre's vast repertoire. Featuring a cast of LGBTQ+ talent, queered's debut digital performance blends live performances and spectacular recordings to create an evening that celebrates and interrogates what queer representation in Musical Theatre can be.
Director & Editor: Matt Powell | Musical Directors: Flynn Sturgeon, Sam Young, Zach Flis | Assistant Director: Ryan Wiggins | Technical Production: Adam Lenson & Chris Czoryji (technical.solutions)
Cast: Adam Raymont, Aitch Wylie, Alan Lewis, Ashley Gibbins, Charlotte Yorke, Conor Gormally, Eleanor Faye, Elliott Wooster, Emily Qualmann, Evie Rose Lane, Faye Wheeler, Freddie Love, Harrison Knights, Jo Eaton-Kent, Joash Musundi,
Jordan McMahon, Kaidyn Niall Hinds, Lucy Dickson, Matthew Jacobs Morgan, Richard Aaron, Roly Botha, Roshani Abbey, Waylon Jacobs
LGBTQ+ Representation in Musical Theatre Panel
The history of musicals has included many artists who haven't identified as heterosexual, yet the vast majority of musicals have remained heterocentric, even when LGBTQ+ characters are included onstage. In recent years we've seen a slight increase in the diversity of LGBTQIA voices and characters represented in new musical theatre, including stories with trans protagonists and non-binary characters. Sometimes this has led to new questions about representation, and who is telling whose story appropriately. What do we hope the future holds?
The panel includes Susie McKenna (Associate Director at The Kiln), JBR (JBR Management), Rikki Beadle-Blair (Team Angelica), Olivier Award winner Sharon D Clarke (Caroline, or Change), Amy Ann Kemp (Trans Voices Cabaret), Gus Gowland (Pieces of String), Dr. James Lovelock (Lecturer in Musical Theatre at the University of Wolverhampton)
Sinqueerly Me
For so long in musical theatre, Queer Womxn and Trans folk have been relegated to being nothing more than ‘The Lesbians From Next Door’ or the ‘Token Trans Character’ with little to no opportunity to explore their own stories. We have our own exciting, interesting and varied anecdotes to tell, and in the age of the Girl Power musical and increased visibility for Trans performers, the time has come for us to make our voices heard.
Our hosts Teddy Lamb (Since You’ve Been Gone) and Francesca Forristal (Dragprov, P.S. I’m a Terrible Person) will choose songs through which their own life story as an LGBTQ+ womxn/enby can be told: from queer classics, to re-imagined pop songs, and new writing. These songs will be brought to life by an ensemble of west-end experienced and up and coming queer performers, resulting in a hysterical, heart-warming and occasionally challenging show about discovering your own queer voice.
SIGNALxMTPRIDE
Bringing the festival to a close, MTPRIDE is proud to be collaborating with musical theatre director/producer Adam Lenson to present SIGNAL x MTPRIDE, a concert of queer artist driven new musical theatre. Since lockdown ALP has produced five multi-location SIGNAL ONLINE concerts that have been watched by over 40,000 people. In this special version of the acclaimed series, twelve LGBTQ+ musical theatre writers will present new songs live from their living rooms to yours.
Featuring new work from Harry Blake & Jennifer Fletcher, Roly Botha, Lewis Cornay, Francesca Forristal and Jordan Clarke, Jacom Fjedheim & Keuirm Hur, Joriah Kwame, Toby Marlow, Lucy Moss & Zak Ghazi-Torbati, Laura & Meg McGrady, Emily Rose Simmons, Robin Simoes Da Silva & Teddy Lamb, Jude Taylor & Eden Tredwell.
