The line up for the second Perfect Pitch has been announced, and includes the award-winning Tir Nan Og, fresh from its Edinburgh Festival success. Perfect Pitch, which is held Upstairs At The Gatehouse from 17-28 October, is an opportunity for British writers and composers to showcase new musicals to both industry professionals and the public.
Tir Nan Og, Dave Anderson's semi-autobiographical piece which won the Dress Circle Best New Musical Award at the first Musical Theatre Matters Awards in Edinburgh earlier this year, is one of ten new shows taking part in the two-week season. Other shows included in the season are: Lost Boy (Jared Dembowski and Susannah Pearse), Slow Motion Suicide (Andrew Taylor and Desmond O'Connor), All I Want For Christmas (Luke Bateman and Katy Darby), The Boys In The Front Room (Richard Silver and Sean Hoskyn Hume), Guilt (Dougal Irvine), Tickledom (John Manders and Matt Brind), Two's A Crowd (Matt Board), Force 9 ½ (John Nicholson and Alexander Rudd) and Mac Bitch (Shrubshall and Free).
The themes covered by the musicals range from a reinvention of a classic Shakespearean text to a family tale set in a happy flower land and the story of a man who hires an escort girl to help him through a family Christmas.
Perfect Pitch is produced by Andy Barnes, who received a Society of London Theatre New Producer's Bursary in 2006. Speaking about Perfect Pitch, Barnes said: "This year's event has seen twice as many applications and a huge amount of support from the industry. The opportunity for people to see and become involved with new musicals in the early stages is very exciting and I am now working with several organisations, theatres and training establishments to help find further opportunities for these works to continue their development and ultimately compete with established musicals for a spot on the musical theatre landscape."
MA