Musical theatre festival arrives at Hippodrome

Birmingham Hippodrome has announced a new partnership with the Turbine Theatre which will present the highly-celebrated annual festival of new musical theatre, MTFestUK 2021.

MTFestUK was first launched at The Other Palace in 2019 by Paul Taylor-Mills, followed by a 2020 season in February last year at The Turbine Theatre.

This year 's nationwide 'digital tour ' will be hosted at Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday 31 May to Sunday 6 June.

It will include a diverse selection of eight new musicals - Far From Heaven, #50days, The Man In the Ceiling, Millennials, HouseFire, Cake, Daisy and Tony! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera).

Paul Taylor-Mills, artistic director at the Turbine Theatre, said: “It goes without saying that the last year has brought immense challenges.

“At The Turbine Theatre we 've tried our best to be resilient and to try and use this time to redefine the way we work. This has involved exploring how we can extend our reach and bolster our commitment to developing new work.

“This will be the third time we 've had to reschedule this year's MTFestUK. It was important that when we came back, we came back with an even louder bang.

“With this in mind, I 'm so thrilled to share that MTFestUK will be going on a digital tour after its two-week run at The Turbine. Simply put, all 8 musicals will be filmed at The Turbine and will then live on digitally at 11 of the UK 's leading venues, including Birmingham Hippodrome.

“It highlights our commitment to ensure that the heartbeat of The Turbine Theatre is heard beyond our Battersea Power Station base. We have a truly international ensemble of actors that reflect the diversity of stories across the festival and we 're looking forward to sharing them with you in the near future. ”

A huge mix of exciting creative talent will be involved in this year 's festival, such as Tasha Taylor-Johnson, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Jack McManus, Drew McConie, Caroline Kay, Matt White, Thabo Stuck, Scott Frankel and Poppy Burton Morgan.

Casting for all productions is yet to be announced.

Chris Sudworth, director of Artistic Programme at Birmingham Hippodrome, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the Turbine Theatre and Paul Taylor-Mills on this celebration of new musical theatre, putting emerging new talent at the forefront.

“It 's only natural that Birmingham Hippodrome - as one of the UK 's most recognised venues for musicals - would host MTFestUK. It also aligns perfectly with the support we give to the development, creation and touring of new musical theatre productions that bring relevant and vibrant stories from a wider range of voices to our audiences.

“I 'd truly encourage people to join us online and experience these exciting new works for themselves. Who knows, you could be one of the first to see the next musical hit before it makes its way to the Birmingham Hippodrome stage in the future. ”

For more information or to book tickets to the festival, click here.