Memorandum submitted by Fenton Gray, Artistic
Director of The Co-Active Music Factory
THE THREATENED CLOSURE OF THE BRIDEWELL THEATRE
AND FUNDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC THEATRE IN THE UK
The Co-Active Music Factory is a non-profit
making organisation that exists to promote new musical theatre
writing and nurture new musical theatre talent.
The fact that the Arts Council does not have
a musical theatre department, or even one officer specialising
in music theatre (as far as I am aware) proves the low regard
with which this art form is viewed by the powers that be. We believe
it is time for a shift in attitude towards funding for new musical
theatre.
If the Bridewell Theatre were to close, this
country would lose its only producing venue whose main artistic
policy is the development of new music theatre.
We are producing a show over Christmas and New
Year at the Bridewell Theatre. It is the UK premie"re of
a musical revue celebrating the work of London composer Charles
Miller and New York lyricist Kevin Hammonds, a writing team that
the Music Factory has been working with for four years. Their
last musical, Brenda Bly: Teen Detective, enjoyed a very
successful run at the Bridewell over the summer, and a major UK
theatre producer is planning a tour for next year, with his eventual
sights set on Broadway and the West End.
Our current production will involve over 40
people. The main company of ten are working on a profit share
basis (ie not very much), and each performance will feature guests
that (in keeping with one of our key artistic policies) combine
graduates from colleges such as the London School Of Musical Theatre
and The Royal Academy Of Music with seasoned musical theatre artists
such as Helen Hobson, Michael Praed, Paul Baker, Linzi Hateley,
Jenna Russell and Zehra Naqvi. These people are giving their services
free of charge because they believe in what we are trying to do.
The passion felt by the practitioners of this
art is tangible; we would like to see that matched by an acknowledgement
from funding bodies that the art form is both economically and
culturally important to this country.
24 November 2003
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