The Barn Theatre has announced their next two virtual musical theatre concerts celebrating the music of the award-winning musical theatre writing team Amies & Clements (Stephanie Jayne Amies and Teddy Clements) and musical theatre playwright, lyricist and director Annabel Mutale Reed as part of their ongoing series celebrating the music of British musical theatre composers The Barn Theatre Presents.
The two concerts, which will be hosted by Barn Theatre producer Jamie Chapman Dixon, will each feature performances from West End stars alongside new and upcoming performers in the industry, to maintain the theatre’s ethos of providing a platform for people starting out in the industry.
Amies & Clements are the composers behind the award-winning musical Tomorrow, Maybe and in 2016 they formed the Aardvarks’ Can’t Jump production company with their close friend and director, Kevin Jones to help workshop and support new musicals.
Annabel Mutale Reed, who is mentored by legendary Tony award-winning composer, librettist and record producer Claude-Michel Schönberg, is known for her on musicals such as the critically-acclaimed STOP (with Leo Munby) as well as her collaborations with composer Jack Trzcinski. Annabel is also known for her directorial work, which includes the recent concert production of Zorro! The Musical at London’s Cadogan Hall.
The Barn Presents: The Music of Amies & Clements will debut on 27 June 2020 at 7:30pm BST with The Barn Presents: The Music of Annabel Mutale Reed debuting on 11 July 2020 at 7:30pm BST. The line-up for both concerts will be announced at a later date.
The concerts will be released on the Barn Theatre’s Facebook and YouTube channels and will see the musical theatre writers chat with Barn Theatre producer Jamie Chapman Dixon about their careers so far, the creation process behind their songs and special appearances from some of the performers to discuss their experience rehearsing and recording from home.
The announced concerts will bring the total to six British musical theatre writers that have been celebrated as part of the series, with previous virtual concerts celebrating the music of Welsh married award-winning song-writing team Daniel and Laura Curtis, Scottish award-winning composer Finn Anderson, who was recently announced as The Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer from April 2020, and the award-winning musical theatre composer and book writer Elliot Davis.
The Barn Presents: The Music of Daniel and Laura Curtis, featuring performances by Jon Jon Briones, Alice Fearn, Nadim Naaman, Oliver Savile and many more can be watched here: https://youtu.be/kJZVqGeazEg
The Barn Presents: The Music of Finn Anderson, featuring performances by Christina Bianco, Joanne Clifton, Matt Henry, Danielle Hope and many more can be watched here: https://youtu.be/1sVYFEyJ7Vs
The Barn Presents: The Music of Elliot Davis, featuring performances by Lucie Jones, Aimie Atkinson, Aaron Lee Lambert, James Bourne and many more can be watched here: https://youtu.be/ESQfFkZUf1I
The series forms part of the Barn Theatre’s Behind The Barn Door live streaming service. Set up in March, when the theatre had to temporarily close following government guidance, the service includes a full recording of the Barn Theatre’s critically-acclaimed 2019 Built by Barn production of William Shakespeare’s Henry V, directed by Hal Chambers and starring Aaron Sidwell (EastEnders, Wicked) and Lauren Samuels (Bend It Like Beckham, We Will Rock You) and the online reimagined Shakespeare series Bard From The Barn, with Series One of thirty five episodes available on YouTube.
The Barn Theatre (registered charity no. 1174253) have launched their SAVE OUR BARN campaign, via their website and social media platforms, to ensure the Barn Theatre’s survival.
