A STAGE KINDLY New Musical Theatre Initiative Presents GALA 9/2

The A STAGE KINDLY New Musical Theatre Initiative presents "GALA" - A Musical Celebration on September 2nd, 2011.

A Musical Celebration from A STAGE KINDLY www.astagekindly.com

In just three years, which independent theatre company has presented the UK premiere of no less than seven new musicals, and presented music from over fifty international new musicals in a series of acclaimed new-writing revues, by scores writers from countries in three continents?
Only one theatre company can boast such impressive achievements in its first three years, and with several exciting announcements to make The A STAGE KINDLY New Musical Theatre Initiative is staging an event called GALA - a one night only musical celebration at The Greenwich Theatre on Sunday 9th October, 7.30pm. Featuring highlights of their diverse back catalogue by popular demand and starring some of the brightest new stars they have discovered plus special guests, GALA is a celebration of the unique work that A STAGE KINDLY does to pioneer new musical theatre writing around the world.

Founded by Giles Howe and Katy Lipson, The A STAGE KINDLY New Musical Theatre Initiative offers unique opportunities to British and international writers independently creating new musicals.

"With the market dominated by a small number of successfully established practitioners, we feel passionate that the next generation of musical theatre writers should be given the opportunity to break into this notoriously difficult profession" says Giles Howe "and this was our reason to found the company."

Katy Lipson continues "We are delighted to have survived as an unfunded and independent organisation for three years, and to have so many exciting shows under our belt and forthcoming to celebrate. We have worked so hard to bring audiences exciting new works that otherwise may never see the light of day, and we hope musical theatre enthusiasts from all around will join us to enjoy looking both backwards and forwards over what we have achieved and are looking forward to in coming years. This is a great chance for people who have missed out on our shows to experience selections firsthand, and for people who have seen our productions live to relive some of the greatest moments from our previous shows."

Artistic Directors Giles and Katy met as students, and after writing and producing their own work for several years they founded this unfunded organisation to put their experience and expertise to good use encouraging other people with similar ambitions and creative vision. As well as five sell-out new-writing revues, they have debuted full-length works including: Slay It With Music - A murder mystery about a retired film stars movie comeback in a slasher film Soviet Zion - An epic new musical set in the Yiddish Autonomous Region of Siberia Maya - A musical drama about the final days of the Mayan empire Turkish Delight the Opera - A bizarre rock opera charting a scorned woman's revenge A Feast of Snacks - A unique collection of mini-musicals Don't Cry Butterfly - A new musical about the love affair between Puccini and Mata Hari Ballets Russes - A new musical set within the realm of the famous dance company GALA also marks the launch of a new collaboration between A STAGE KINDLY and Stage Scripts Ltd - The Musical Song Book - an online source of especially selected fresh material from new musicals for singers to use in
auditions, classes, and performances. Several other exciting announcements will be made on the night.

Director: Matthew Gould
Musical Director: Katy Lipson
Lighting Designer: Marie Kearney
With guests already confirmed to attend from several foreign countries, GALA
is a major highlight of the Musical Theatre calendar and an event that you
don't want to miss.
Tickets to Gala: £15 (£10 concs.)
Booking: 020 8858 7755
www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk