Joe Barros Named Artistic Director of The London Summer Music Theatre Academy

Partners for The Arts Abroad names Joe Barros as Artistic Director of The London Summer Music Theatre Academy. Conceived in 2018, The London Summer Music Theatre Academy is a rigorous young artist training program founded by producers Vincent Connor and Michael J. Polo.

The Academy aims to create a bridge between American and British Musical Theater, giving students the opportunity to study their craft at a high level under the guidance of Broadway and West End artists, including Alice Fearn (Come From Away, Wicked.), Graham Newell (Cats, Spamalot), Richard J. Hinds (Come From Away, Company), and Luis Villabon (Spanish production of A Chorus Line starring Antonio Banderas). In addition to a daily curriculum, this study abroad program takes students inside the blueprint of an original culture shifting musical being developed in real time with living playwrights. Barros has designed a program where students will have the opportunity to hone their acting, voice, and dance technique, audition skills, and will have the opportunity to perform in a developmental production of a new musical in the West End.

As the Artistic Director of New York Theatre Barn for the past 15 years and an award-winning queer director, choreographer and writer working on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally, internationally, and in film, Joe Barros brings extensive experience to his new role as Artistic Director of the Academy. Barros said, "I am excited to work across the pond and combine my passions for developing original musicals and educating future Broadway and West End performers."

This year, Barros has assembled writer Nico Juber (Millennials Are Killing Musicals, Holo) and music director Bálint Varga (The Legend of the Black Samurai) to bring to life the new musical Winner. Directed by Barros and co-written by Nico Juber and Barros, Winner is currently being developed by New York Theatre Barn, an inclusive home for original culture shifting musicals during incubation, and New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. The show will debut in the heart of the West End at The Leicester Square Theater as part of The London Summer Music Theatre Academy. Winner, which focuses on a rigged high school election in 1999, is an entirely original story based on entirely too many true events, and asks the question: If everyone's losing, who wins? Barros said, "The young actors will have the opportunity to play characters like themselves who are close to their own age and lived experience. The show's pertinent themes of queerness, queer love, and the convergence of art, policy, and advocacy create a show that feels like Jagged Little Pill meets The Prom." Producer Michael Polo says, "This show really is a perfect fit for the London Summer Music Theater Academy, and I can't wait to see it and be a part of it."

The application deadline to be a part of The London Summer Music Theatre Academy is April 1st, 2023, and can be found at londonsummermusictheatre.com

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