The Season a New Musical by Jim Barne & Kit Buchan
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PRESS RELEASE 15 March 2019 Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, announce new musical comedy by award-winning East Midlands writers A Royal & Derngate and New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, co-production The Season A new musical by Jim Barne & Kit Buchan Royal & Derngate, Northampton – Friday 1 & Saturday 2 November New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich – Thursday 5 to Saturday 16 November Royal & Derngate – Tuesday 19 to Saturday 30 November Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, have just announced their co-production of a new musical, The Season, by 2018 Stiles + Drewe Mentorship Award winners, Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, playing in Northampton and Ipswich in November. It’s Christmas Eve and Dougal has travelled from Northampton to New York for his father’s wedding. At JFK Airport he’s greeted by Robyn. Tomorrow her sister becomes his stepmother and Robyn’s dreading it. Dougal can’t wait. Thrown together for a wild weekend in the city that never sleeps, their adventure becomes a musical whirlwind of confession, frustration and excess. Will these two endearing misfits provide the ultimate test for the theory that opposites always attract? This brand new romantic comedy, filled with heart-warming and hilarious songs from exciting young writers Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, is the recipient of the 2018 MTI Stiles + Drewe Mentorship Award, celebrating the very best of emerging British song-writing talent. Jim Barne and Kit Buchan said: “We are proud and happy that The Season, the first full-length Buchan Barne musical, will be having its debut run at Royal & Derngate and New Wolsey theatres this autumn. Both theatres have been incredibly supportive and enthusiastic throughout the development process. We’ve spent the last six months workshopping The Season with Royal & Derngate and New Wolsey Ipswich, under the wing of the Stiles + Drewe mentorship programme, and we can’t wait to see Dougal and Robyn up on such well respected stages this November.” George Stiles and Anthony Drewe added: “We are both delighted that The Season, which was the winning musical in the 3rd year of our Stiles + Drewe Mentorship Award, has been selected for a full scale production in Northampton and Ipswich later this year. Over the past 9 months we have thoroughly enjoyed working with Kit and Jim on honing their story, and it is particularly gratifying when our belief in both the writers and their musical is endorsed by two of our great regional theatres.” James Dacre, Artistic Director of Royal & Derngate commented: "Since first seeing Kit and Jim’s work at BEAM 2018, it has been thrilling to collaborate with New Wolsey to develop these remarkable artists’ first full scale musical, which has so benefited from the mentorship of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.” The cast and creative team will be announced later in the year. The Season is a co-production in association with Glass Half Full Productions and Tim Johanson Productions, and is part of Royal & Derngate’s Made in Northampton season, which is sponsored locally by Michael Jones Jeweller. #TheSeasonMusical ENDS For more information please contact: Amanda Howson, Press Manager, Royal & Derngate 01604 655719, [email protected] Elise Golbourn, Interim Head of Communications, New Wolsey Theatre 01473 295925, [email protected] LISTINGS INFORMATION Royal & Derngate, Guildhall Road, Northampton NN1 1DP Dates: Fri 1 & Sat 2 November Tue 19 to Sat 30 November Times: Evenings 7.45pm (except Wed 20 November 7pm) Matinees – Thu and Sat 2.30pm (excl. Sat 2 November) No performances on Sundays and Mondays Box Office: 01604 624811 or online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk TICKETS ON SALE SOON New Wolsey Theatre, Civic Drive, Ipswich IP1 2AS Dates: Thu 5 – Sat 16 November Times: Evenings 7.45pm (except Tue 7pm) Matinees – Sat 9, Wed 13 & Sat 16 November 2.30pm Box Office: 01473 295900 or online at www.wolseytheatre.co.uk Notes to editors: Royal & Derngate, Northampton Chief Executive: Jo Gordon Artistic Director: James Dacre Royal & Derngate is the main venue for arts and entertainment in Northamptonshire, with audience members for live shows and films numbering 378,000 last year, and an additional 115,000 seeing its work on tour at over 85 venues. Named Regional Theatre of the Year in The Stage Awards in 2011 (and nominated again in 2016), the theatre won the UK Theatre Awards for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre in 2015 and Best Touring Production in 2016 for The Herbal Bed, and The Stage Ensemble Award and a Fringe First for Education, Education, Education in 2017. Alongside touring nationally and internationally Royal & Derngate’s Made in Northampton productions have transferred to the West End and Broadway as well as Shakespeare’s Globe, the National Theatre, Hackney Empire and the Lyric Hammersmith. The venue also presents a diverse range of visiting productions on both the Derngate and Royal stages, featuring musicals, dance, comedy and music, including a residency from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Royal & Derngate’s award-winning, nationally recognised Get Involved programme engages with over 21,000 participants each year, including schools, families and communities in Northamptonshire and beyond, and its two-screen cinema welcomed over 82,000 audience members to the best in world, independent, British and mainstream film. Meanwhile, the theatre’s Generate artistic development programme supports hundreds of local and emerging artists and practitioners each year. www.royalandderngate.co.uk Facebook: /royalandderngate Twitter: @royalderngate New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich Chief Executive: Sarah Holmes Artistic Director: Peter Rowe With a 400 seat main auditorium, and 100 seat studio, the New Wolsey Theatre is nationally renowned for the quality and diversity of its productions, both as a sole producer, and in collaboration with a diverse range of artists and companies. With a particular reputation for musical work, often employing actor-musicians, the New Wolsey is a leading player in the development of new musicals, staging the world premieres of It’s A Wonderful Life, 20th Century Boy, Mods & Rox, Miss Nightingale, Midsummer Songs, Oxy & the Morons and Our Blue Heaven. As part of the Arts Council England funded Strategic Touring Project Ramps on the Moon, the theatre toured the second production of the project The Who’s Tommy in 2017, winner of the UK Theatre award for Best Touring Production. Other musical revivals have included, a national tour of the Tim Firth and Madness musical Our House, Brecht and Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, an actor- musician version of Sweet Charity, Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, Made In Dagenham and Enda Walsh’ Once in co-production with the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch. The New Wolsey Theatre is committed to developing new talent and new voices. Our annual PULSE Festival acts as a spring-board for new and emerging artists, and they run an extensive Creative Learning programme providing opportunities for young people. As a not-for-profit organisation and a registered charity, they are funded by the Arts Council England, Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council as well as through the invaluable donations, individual giving and corporate support of their many friends, patrons and sponsors. www.wolseytheatre.co.uk Facebook: / NewWolseyTheatre Twitter: @NewWolsey The MTI Stiles + Drewe Award The MTI Stiles + Drewe Mentorship Award was launched in 2016 by the multi-award-winning musical theatre writing partnership George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (Honk!, Mary Poppins, Betty Blue Eyes, Half A Sixpence). It is a fully funded award given to a writer or writing team, centred around a one-week writing retreat and culminating in an industry showcase presentation the following year. In between these, Stiles + Drewe chair two ‘Progress Labs’ where the Mentorship Award recipients present a section of their musical and receive feedback from peers and a panel of professionals. The Award is generously supported by Music Theatre International (Europe). .