BroadwayWorld UK Announces Edinburgh Coverage

Once again, BroadwayWorld UK will have a team at the Edinburgh Festivals, reporting on the very best in comedy, dance, drama and musical theatre.

Our coverage begins next week, and you can follow us at @BWWEdinburgh on Twitter for all the latest news.

Here, our writers preview what they're most looking forward to...

Jessica Pinkett: You can never truly predict what your Edinburgh highlight will be until you get there - last year I was very surprised to find that my favourite involved Irish dancing! Nonetheless I have a long list of shows I'm excited about, including a few famous names I can't wait to see live and some of last year's Edinburgh discoveries I just have to revisit. In the comedy department, my main must-sees are two fantastically quirky young comediennes, the UK's Josie Long and America's Charlyne Yi. As for music, the acapella group Out of the Blue are not to be missed, and for my theatre fix I will be investigating what Belt Up are up to this year. Finally, there's one show I never got chance to see last year, to much regret, so this time I won't leave without paying a visit to C Venues legend Shakespeare For Breakfast.

Michael Richardson: With so much on offer at the various festivals going on in Edinburgh throughout August, it can be hard to know what to see and when. I'm usually inclined towards ring binders and colour-coded lists, but the best that Edinburgh has to offer tends to be the stuff that people are talking about, so I find it's better just to go with an open mind and - even better - a fairly sizable wad of my savings.

As far as comedy is concerned, I have a couple of old faithfuls I know I'll want to check out - Josie Long and Susan Calman amongst them - and I've heard interesting things about Daniel Rigby. I'm also looking forward to Robin Ince's show, Carl Sagan is my God, showing as part of this year's PBH Free Fringe.

My tastes tend towards the camp, so I'm shedding glitter in anticipation of Grant Smeaton's Bette/Cavett, a 'reimagining' of the 1971 US TV talk show encounter between Dick Cavett and the glorious Bette Davis. I missed this standout from last year's Glasgay! LGBT theatre festival, and by all accounts Smeaton's turn as Bette was a highlight, but passing references to this as a play on Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon certainly has my interest piqued. I've heard intriguing things about Belgian theatre company Ontroerend Goed's Teenage Riot, so I'm hoping to catch that while I'm in the city.

Julia Hogg: Since I'm a newb to Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to say I'm excited would be an understatement! I've heard many positive stories, not only about the quality of the productions on offer but also about the general atmosphere of the city during the festival. A show which was immediately put on my must-see list is I Love You Because - I've grown to love the show from the cast recording and I know the show well, but have never had the chance to see it live before. I'll be interested to see if Out of the Bubble Theatre Company have managed to preserve the balance of comedy, plot and the stronger songs within the show when dealing with the condensed running length. Being a fan of puns and Barack Obama, I'm very much looking forward to Obama Mia! (I'm also a fan of compulsory exclamation marks in show titles). While I've resigned myself to the fact that I probably won't be seeing anyone dressed in spandex and singing Waterloo, a comedy musical production about the finAl Weeks leading up to a gripping election is unlikely to disappoint many people.

I'll also be taking myself along to Dinosaur Planet by MJ Hibbert, which has dinosaurs, robots and music...enough said. To round out my Fringe experience with some more serious subject matter, I'm also keen to see dramatic work such as My Name is Richard from theatre group Kerfuffle, which tells a story of the often tumultuous transition from adolescence to adulthood. Keen aspiring theatre techies, actors and production members alike should also take advantage of the (usually free) workshops available throughout, such as Creative Lighting 101 courtesy of Creative Lab.

Carrie Dunn: There's just too much to look forward to. There are a couple of new musicals I'm keeping an eye on - Selladoor Theatre Company provided some food for thought with their Six Ways last year, so I'll be going along to see what they're up to. And I'm going to catch up with some established shows in the hands of new companies - Spring Awakening, Nine, Little Shop of Horrors and Hedwig should be fun. And of course there are the traditional dozens of productions of Godspell - I'll get along to one or two.

I'm also developing a bit of a sporting theme - definitely want to catch Henry Blofeld, the legendary cricket commentator, in action; and there are a couple of plays that look fascinating, including Mushy Ate My Credit Card, about Sussex County Cricket Club's lengthy wait to win a championship.

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