Youth Music Theatre UK Seeks Actors, Singers, Dancers, Musicians

Youth Music Theatre UK (YMT) , the country's biggest, most vibrant and most active music theatre company for young people, are preparing to tour the UK in January and February in search of actors, singers, dancers, musicians and stage managers to join the company in 2011.

YMT are looking for 300 young people to take part in their national programme of productions in July and August 2011. Group workshop auditions will be taking place in 19 cities in all corners of the UK and Ireland: everywhere from Plymouth to Belfast, London to Liverpool and Aberdeen. YMT expect to see up to 2000 hopefuls, who will have a 2 hour workshop to impress the Director, Musical Director and Choreographer with their acting, singing and dancing. There are also opportunities for those wanting to play instruments and to work backstage. Online applications are now open through YMT's website at www.youthmusictheatreuk.org.

Successful auditionees will have the opportunity to work with top industry professionals. Previous mentors include; Musical Director Martin Lowe, who worked with the likes of Meryl Streep and Colin Firth in Mamma Mia! The Movie; and writer James Bourne, former member of the bands Busted and Son of Dork, who has sold over six million albums and written songs for McFly, Melanie C and The Saturdays. Bourne's first show for YMT, Loserville: The Musical, has since been optioned for the West End by theatre producer Kevin Wallace and is due to open in 2011. Bourne and co-writer Elliot Davis are hoping to follow this success with their brand new show, Out There, for YMT in 2011. Other notable YMT practitioners include; Dean Austin, Musical Director currently on tour with Spamalot; award winning Composer Howard Goodall, whose show Love Story is soon to open in the West End; Musical Director Mark Dougherty who toured the world with Riverdance; Stones In Your Pockets writer Marie Jones; and critically acclaimed musical dramatist Conor Mitchell, who has worked extensively with YMT, and his National Theatre Connections commission The Dummy Tree was recently performed by the company at the Tristan Bates Theatre, London.

Now entering it's 8th year, the company boasts some impressive Alumni who are currently starring in the West End, on tour, on screen and studying at top London drama schools. Bronté Barbé and Lauren Samuels lit up Saturday evenings on BBC1 as top ten Dorothy Hopefuls in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Over The Rainbow. Lauren, who came 3rd in the competition and was described by judge John Partridge as "A producer's dream" is currently starring as Sandy in Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre. Of her experience with YMT she said "I had such a wonderful time. It helped me to grow, not only as a performer, but as a person. It gave me a real taste for the profession and made me realise how much I wanted to pursue my dream".

Other Alumni include; Lucy Griffiths, who performed in YMT's first production Amy's Wedding and starred as Marian in the BBC's Robin Hood and ITV dramas Collision and U Be Dead; Jaygann Ayeh, member of the London cast of Avenue Q; Scott Haining, who plays Nate in the latest series of Waterloo Road (BBC); Harry Lockyear who is responsible for the marketing of Shrek: The Musical which opens in May 2011; and Jamie Muscato, who is set to perform in Howard Goodall's Love Story, opening 20th December at the Duchess Theatre. Jamie made his London stage debut, along with fellow YMT alumni Jos Slovick and Natasha Barnes, in Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith. Jos played the title role of Mort in YMT's production of Terry Pratchett's show in 2007 and 2008, which the company are reviving in 2011.

YMT's Mort 2008 at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
Youth Music Theatre UK is the also the biggest commissioner of new music theatre writing in the country. Since YMT began in 2003 they have commissioned over 50 pieces of new work which have been staged at venues across the UK such as the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford; The Bridewell and The Cochrane in London; the Symphony Hall in Birmingham; and George Square as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This year YMT will be producing seven new musicals at venues across the UK including the Aberdeen International Youth Festival, South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell and the Barbican Theatre in Plymouth. Along with James Bourne's Out There and Terry Pratchett's Mort, auditionees may be chosen for a brand new, musical version of Macbeth, set in a futuristic, post apocalyptic world, or in to the moving story of Korczak, the Jewish children's author who set up an orphanage in Poland and refused to leave his children even when they were taken to Nazi extermination camps. Further details of the 2011 line up will follow soon.

Zoë Wanamaker, Rob Brydon and Peter Duncan are proud patrons and supporters of the company's work. Zoë, who has just completed a critically acclaimed run as Kate Keller in All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre is soon to perform in her 6th National Theatre production in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. Well known for her roles as Susan Harper in the BBC's My Family, she praises the work the company does, saying "YMT is an organisation which really does change lives".

Along with their productions, YMT also offer their open access 'Summer Skills' camps for those wanting to brush up on their musical theatre technique; a schools outreach programme entitled 'Music Theatre for All'; and a course for aspiring Young Writers and Composers.

The auditions are a fantastic opportunity to get involved with this national company and to follow in the footsteps of YMT's talented alumni, and work with leading industry professionals. Places for auditions are filling up fast so aspiring performers are advised to book their places as soon as possible.To book an audition please visit www.youthmusictheatreuk.org to book online or call 0844 415 4858.

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