Declan Bennett to Showcase New Work at MADE IN LDN in June

Sunday June 12th marks the last of Interval Productions' current Made in LDN season, which launched at The Cockpit in March. The season has been designed to present new British Musical Theatre writing, curated and presented by Interval Productions' Creative Director, Tori Allen-Martin, and supported using public funding by Arts Council England. So far the Made In Ldn season has showcased work from twelve new writers and/or composers and now Declan Bennett joins the line up, performing in An Innocent Evening of Drinking, which is an exciting piece of new theatre that he co-created with Phil Griffin.

An Innocent Evening of Drinking is described as a fresh, creative and poetically driven piece of multi-media music theatre with a voyeuristic mood and a deeply intimate vibe. Four lost hearts looking for a space to beat in. Two hungry cities pulling them in deep. One soiled bed forcing them to wake up. 'And right there somewhere in the middle of those stairs "us" vanished and I realised you weren't walking away...you were running away..'

Declan Bennett is a singer/songwriter/actor whose love for music and theatre has propelled him across both sides of the Atlantic performing on the West End, Broadway and hundreds of music venues and festivals along the way. Declan's credits include Roger in Rent (Broadway), American Idiot (Original Broadway Cast), Guy in Once (Original West End cast), 4 UK top 20 singles, a no.1 album in 3 countries and a Brit award nomination as one third of pop group Point Break and Charlie Cotton in Eastenders. He continues to write, produce and release his own music through his label CovBoy and Declan will next be seen playing the role of Jesus in the 2016 Regents Park Open Air Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar. www.declanbennett.co.uk

Declan's Collaborator Phil Griffin graduated from Ballet Rambert in London as a dancer and choreographer. As performance director for BBC, Phil worked for artists as diverse as Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Cher & Justin Timberlake. As head of creative for the marketing department of London's MCA Records, Phil commissioned videos, photo shoots & TV performances for artists such as Mary J Blige, Mariah Carey and Destiny's Child. Extending his film work into photography & advertising, Phil has created visual campaigns that include, Rihanna, Naomi Campbell, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Paul McCartney, Dame Helen Mirren and many more. 10 million YouTube viewers tuned in to Phil's 1 hour Amex Live Concert special - Jay Z at South By South West allowing the audience access to an icon they had never seen. http://philgriffin.co.uk/

Interval Productions will also be sharing an excerpt from a work in development, Boxed, which will be a cross collaboration with various artists, including a beatboxer, actors, live band, vocalists, and songwriters including Vince Kidd, a finalist on the first series of BBC's The Voice UK. Boxed will also feature choreography and performance from Paris Green who has worked as a dancer for Cheryl Cole, The X Factor, Beth Ditto, FKA Twigs and Thriller Live (UK Tour and West End). Further casting for both shows is yet to be announced.

Explaining her decision to launch Made In LDN, Interval's founder and Creative Director Tori Allen-Martin said, "We wanted to create a collaborative environment where artists can thrive, and we are especially interested in work that sounds modern and commercial and that is set in the UK today. A lot of musical theatre fits a mould, and we're interested in seeing work that defies that. It's all tick boxes nowadays, but so few of us in 2016 fit into one, simple box. We want to find honest, raw, work that represents all shades, shapes, sizes and sexualities. We still have a long way to go ourselves but we're on the right path now and we want to invite some more likeminded individuals along for the ride. I'm so grateful to the Arts Council for backing this and also to the Cockpit who have always championed new work and offered us the platform to put on ours. I wish more venues and schemes would do the same, but I hope this venture will open some doors and shine a light on some of the incredible and diverse talent we have in this country, both on and off stage, particularly talent that might not look, act or sound like everybody or everything else."