Following the success of the inaugural Perfect Pitch Award for musical theatre writing in 2013/14, we are launching the second award, this time in partnership with Theatre Royal Stratford East, which will see a British writing team awarded £12,000 and the opportunity to collaborate with us on a new musical.
The winners will be tasked with writing a full draft of a new show in a 12-month period towards a professional staged reading and / or production supported and mentored throughout by Perfect Pitch and Theatre Royal Stratford East.
Theatre Royal Stratford East is a producing theatre in the heart of East London and famous for pioneering new work that reflects the great diversity and energy of London. It has been a prolific producer of new musicals for over 60 years and strives to break new ground with musicals that bring contemporary and urban music into the mainstream of British theatre. This has led to the production of a broad spectrum of acclaimed shows with its work transferring nationally and internationally. Recent productions include: The Infidel The Musical, the UK Theatre Award-nominated Glasgow Girls (with National Theatre of Scotland), Wah! Wah! Girls (with Sadler’s Wells and Kneehigh), the Olivier Award winning Pied Piper (with Boy Blue Ents), Britain’s Got Bhangra (with Rifco Arts), Reasons to be Cheerful (with Graeae Theatre Company and New Wolsey Theatre), Clockwork Orange, Takeaway, Come Dancing (Best Off West End Production – What’s On Stage Awards), The Blacks, The Harder They Come (West End and Canada and North America), the Olivier nominated The Big Life, Da Boyz and Baiju Bawra.
The award is open to all writers – playwrights, screenwriters, composers and songwriters – and no previous experience of writing a musical is necessary. Writers will be asked to apply as individuals and successful candidates will be paired up with a collaborator to begin working on a 10 minute ‘pitch’ of a new musical. The pitches will be presented to a panel of experienced judges from the musical theatre world at a finalist pitching day, where the winners will be chosen. Perfect Pitch and TRSE will provide cast, MD, director, rehearsal space and mentorship for the pitches.
The last award attracted well over 300 applicants with a huge mix of backgrounds and experience, uncovering a wealth of truly exciting talent. Our winners, Chris Bush and Matt Winkworth had never met before our shortlist event (where we begin ‘matchmaking’ writers) and Matt had never written a full musical before. We would encourage anyone with an enthusiasm for writing and passion for musical theatre to take part!
How to apply: Please download the application form here, which contains all the information on what you need to apply.
Deadline: It is FREE to enter for the award if your application reaches them by: July 10th (midnight)
There is a LATE application FEE of £25 for those that arrive after this date.
Final deadline: July 20th (midnight).
Source: Theatre Royal Stratford East e-newsletter