UK's Leading Industry Showcase of New Musical Theatre Releases Nationwide Pitching Days For Beam2023

Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) and Musical Theatre Network (MTN) have announced the details of the nationwide search for the UK's most exciting new musicals in development to present at BEAM2023, the UK's biggest showcase of new musical theatre. MMD & MTN have partnered with theatres and arts organisations around the country to host 19 pitching days in 12 towns and cities across the UK, and are expecting over 300 new musicals to be pitched. No other showcase travels as far to find the new musicals of tomorrow. Each creative or team has 10 minutes to share their idea with an industry panel and from these pitches, up to 40 musicals will be selected for BEAM2023.

MMD & MTN are committed to diversifying and championing new UK musical theatre. They encourage writers of all backgrounds and identities to bring forward their ideas for new musicals or music theatre. BEAM is one of the most inclusive and accessible ways for a new musical to be discovered, aiming to showcase the breadth and variety of new musical theatre in the UK. This year, development feedback from the industry panels will be offered at a later date to everyone who pitches. To book a pitching slot and for more information of the pitching process, please go to the BEAM website (www.beamshowcase.com).

Two Pitching Masterclasses are being offered to give further guidance to teams thinking of pitching for BEAM. Anyone who is interested can register for either of these Masterclasses for free via Eventbrite. The first is an online session on Monday 8th August (7-8:30pm) with panellists including Matthew Eames (The Lowry), Steph Weller (producer), Zara Nunn (composer/lyricist), Samir Bhamra (producer). The second is an in-person event at Theatre at the Tabard, London on Thursday 1st September (7pm-9pm) with panellists TBC. Increasingly writers are asked to pitch their own work - so this is an opportunity to share top tips on how to get comfortable pitching projects and to offer specific advice for BEAM pitching.

BEAM is a key part of Mercury Musical Developments and Musical Theatre Network's mission to support the development of new musical theatre. It is a two-day showcase event, preceded by a series of pitching days through which new work and artists are identified. BEAM is designed to encourage and develop musical theatre across the UK, discovering and supporting diverse approaches to the art form, connecting practitioners and finding champions for original work. Previous BEAMs were held in 2016, 2018 and 2021. To date, over 60% of the musicals showcased have gone on to be fully staged or received further development support as a result of BEAM. Whether you're a writer, producer or supporter of new British musical theatre, you will want to be part of BEAM2023 at The Lowry, Salford in May 2023. Tickets will be on sale from early 2023.

"We are really looking forward to meeting artists up and down the country this autumn and hearing about the shows they are creating. Musical theatre can encompass so many different types of stories, disciplines and music styles and we hope to find the most exciting new work to present to the wider industry at BEAM2023." Natalia Scorer, Mercury Musical Developments

"We're living in a different world compared to the last time we travelled the UK experiencing pitches, in 2019, and it feels like audiences have an increased appetite for new musicals responding to that world, giving us opportunities to question and try to make sense of it together. We look forward to the BEAM process helping some of those musicals on their journeys to provoke, console, entertain, surprise, refresh and transform future audiences." James Hadley, Musical Theatre Network

"I've never felt a buzz quite like it... while new writing of plays thrives in theatres up and down the land, there's hardly ever been a truly co-ordinated attempt to develop and promote new musicals from the ground up. BEAM brings writers and supporters of new musicals to the same party - and makes them part of a community... It was an inspiring event - and a provocative one. The future of British musicals may well have been born in those two days." Mark Shenton, theatre critic

"BEAM is a bit like Cannes - for musicals. And the results are astonishing... brilliantly diverse material that proves musical theatre is alive and well in the UK... it is a celebration of the range and power of British writing talent." Kate Golledge, director

BEAM is co-produced by Musical Theatre Network & Mercury Musical Developments, with funding support from Arts Council England and PRS Foundation.