The Ten Minute Musical Challenge 2007

For the third year running, the Greenwich Theatre presents the groundbreaking 'The Ten Minute Musical Challenge'. Originally devised by Ellie Jones in 2005, this year's challenge will be directed by Fiona Laird. The challenge is designed to bring together composers, bookwriters and lyricists who have not worked together before, to forge new collaborations and encourage these creative teams to work fast enough to produce a ten minute musical in just one day, from the stimulus of stories in that day's newspaper.

"Many musical writers spend months racking their brains searching for the best idea, but at the end of the day all choices are arbitrary, the whim of the book writer, or the 'sure thing' dreamt up by the producer over lunch. If arbitrary is the way it goes, why don't they just pick up a newspaper and tell a story from that?"

"The competition intends to give a voice to new writers and break down barriers of exclusivity, while also providing a platform for new writing in a musical theatre industry dominated by revivals." says The Society of London Theatre. Last year saw many new productions heading over from Broadway including Wicked, Avenue Q and Spamalot, but no new musicals in the commercial West End from British writers and composers, despite the efforts of 2005's London New Musical Theatre Festival.
 
In all aspects of both programming and producing Greenwich Theatre is committed to supporting the production of musical theatre, in a cultural climate which increasingly favours commercial recognition over theatrical innovation, and the theatrical presentation of established popular music over wholly original musical theatre. With its thrust stage and intimate 412-seat auditorium, Greenwich Theatre is ideally suited to the presentation of musical theatre – one of the UK's most valuable cultural exports. In addition to The Ten Minute Musical Challenge, the annual Musical Futures festival at Greenwich Theatre provides a unique opportunity for new writers and composers to showcase their new work in front of an audience of invited industry professionals and public musical theatre lovers alike. Its partner two-week festival, Musical Voices, brings some of the best international musical theatre performers to Greenwich, and played host to the first ever London Cabaret Convention.

If you would like to enter the Ten Minute Musical Challenge, download an application form at www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk/xmmc