New Musical Theatre Festival MUSICAL REWRITES Launches at The Lowry

See the WICKED and Les Miserables of the future in new musical theatre festival Musical Rewrites launching at The Lowry Wed 20 - Sat 23 September.

This season audiences in Salford will have the chance to see musicals in the very early stages of development at The Lowry. Musical Rewrites presents a series of double bills with all-singing, all-dancing new productions alongside works-in-progress with additional workshops and discussions.

Fearless, boundary breaking multi-instrumentalists, The Letter Room will present No Miracles Here (Wed 20 Sept - Fri 22 Sept) telling the story of dance marathons in the depression era of United States. Fat Rascal will present Buzz (Sat 23 Sept), an irreverent hilarious musical on the history of the vibrator. Both shows head to Salford following hit runs at Edinburgh Fringe.

A series of exciting new works-in-progress will accompany the two headliners including House of Blakewell's take on Norse Gods Thor + Loki (Fri 22 Sept), Sheep Soup's unique blend of naturalism and musical theatre in The Leftovers (Sat 23 Sept) and a musical version of the Salford venue's existing studio member's scratch night Shoots (Thu 21 Sept).

Two industry facing events sit alongside the performance programme focused on developing new musical theatre work in the North West region. A Devising Musicals workshop with Sheep Soup Productions (Sat 23 Sept, 2pm) and New Musical Pathways panel discussion with industry leaders (Sat 23 Sept, 5pm) aim to support local theatre makers develop their practice and find ways to showcase their musicals in venues locally and nationally.

Matt Eames, producer and programmer, at The Lowry said; "The UK's reputation for new musical theatre lags behind our counterparts in the US. Musical Theatre Network/Mercury Musicals, Perfect Pitch and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Other Palace are doing great things in London to help new musical writers in the South and we think we can play a significant role in the North. Musical Rewrites is a really exciting opportunity for musical theatre lovers to see new companies tell new musical stories in different ways and hopefully sow the seeds for successful West End hits of the future."

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