Former star of boyband Busted, James Bourne has written a new musical Out There, which will premiere as part of Youth Music Theatre UK’s summer season.
Out There, co-written by Elliot Davis, who previously worked with Bourne on Loserville: The Musical, will play on 26 and 27 August at South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell. A tale of family, hope and never giving up on your dreams, it tells of an astronaut who mysteriously disappears in 1969, only for a troubled young man to turn up on his doorstep 40 years later with a letter that changes everything.
Since leaving Busted, Bourne has written music for pop acts including McFly, Melanie C and The Saturdays. His first musical, Loserville, is rumoured to be making its way to the West End in 2012.
Youth Music Theatre UK’s summer of shows also includes: a revival of Terry Pratchett’s Mort The Musical, about a time when death recruits an assistant, which runs at Greenwich theatre from 10 to 13 August; and the story of a Jewish children’s doctor in Nazi-occupied Poland, Korczak, which runs at the Rose Theatre, Kingston from 31 August to 3 September.
All three shows feature a cast of 40 performers aged between 11 and 21, with the cast of Korczak being led by West End star Peter Straker.
Youth Music Theatre UK gives young people interested in performing the chance to get involved and experience the thrill of performing on a professional stage. Among the performers to have progressed through its ranks are Lauren Samuels and Antony Hansen, both contestants in BBC casting shows who have gone on to perform in the West End.
MA