For theatre... online, non-professional, amateur
Music Theatre International (MTI) …Online Version of Junior Theatre Festival – this Saturday, 8 May 2021

Music Theatre International (MTI) …Online Version of Junior Theatre Festival – this Saturday, 8 May 2021

  • 870 YOUNG PERFORMERS FROM ACROSS UK, IRELAND & EUROPE TO TAKE PART
  • WEST END WORKSHOPS, CROSS-CONTINENT COLLABORATION, EXCLUSIVE PERFORMANCES, CHANCE FOR CELEBRATION
  • TIM MINCHIN, DENNIS KELLY, MIRIAM-TEAK LEE, LUKE SHEPPARD, ROB HOUCHEN, ALEXIA KHADIME, JAMIE MUSCATO …AND MORE

The MTI Junior Theatre Festival Europe, presented in partnership with iTheatrics in New York, is Europe’s biggest celebration of musical theatre designed specifically for schools and youth groups. The Junior Theatre Festival Online, which takes place on Saturday, 8 May, is a day-long programme featuring: West End workshops for students and specially curated workshops for teachers and directors; panel discussions with performers and creatives from West End shows; exclusive performances; unique cross-continent collaboration plus an opportunity to look to the future after a very difficult 16 months.

Over 870 young performers from 33 schools and youth groups across all parts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Malta, Georgia and the Czech Republic will be taking part.

The award-winning authors of Matilda the Musical will join representatives from Hamilton, Disney’s The Lion King, & Juliet, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins and performers from across the West End as part of the event.

In an exclusive ‘Matilda Takeover’ segment, authors of the show Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly will take part in a unique Q&A with students and teachers attending the event. Matilda the Musical alumni Kerry Ingram (original cast member) and Tom Brown (Bruce, Cambridge Theatre) will join associate director Lotte Wakeham in conversation about this musical phenomenon, alongside specially created performances from Belfast School of Performing Arts. MTI will be giving priority access for attending groups to access the performing rights to Matilda the Musical JR., a specially-created one hour version of the musical designed for young performers, before the show is released to all schools and youth groups across the UK and Ireland later in May.

Stars of Hamilton Karl Queensborough and Alexzandra Sarmineto will join a ‘Direct From the West End’ panel which will also feature Olivier & WhatsOnStage Award winner Miriam-Teak Lee, director of & Juliet Luke Sheppard, and Janique Charles (Nala) and David Blake (Banzai) from Disney’s The Lion King.

Students will take part in online workshops lead by Disney Teaching Artists from Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins, assistant dance captain of & Juliet, Josh Baker, and teachers from across the globe.

West End stars Rob Houchen, Alexia Khadime and Jamie Muscato will share exclusive performances as part of the Festival’s Finale. A special performance of ‘When I Grow Up’ from Matilda the Musical, uniting students from all the attending groups, will close the event.

Though the May festival has moved online due to social distancing measures, an in-person festival is currently planned to take place on Sunday, 24 October at The ICC in Birmingham.

www.jtfeurope.co.uk

About Music Theatre International

Music Theatre International (MTI) Europe is MTI’s London office since 2017, licensing musicals from Iceland to Israel, and from Madrid to Moscow.  A part of the Cameron Mackintosh Limited group of companies, MTI was founded in 1952 by legendary Broadway songwriter Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker.  Up to the pandemic, MTI Europe was licensing over 5,000 productions a year, from the key home market in the UK to the major established markets in Spain, Italy, Benelux and the German-speaking countries, to the vibrant and growing markets of Eastern Europe.  MTI’s more than 400 titles represent the most significant collection of musicals available for licensing, ranging from Broadway and West End classics to contemporary and innovative new works.

MTI believes that access to the arts is a right, not a privilege, and are therefore committed to arts education: MTI’s Broadway Junior™ series, conceived by MTI’s Co-Chairman Freddie Gershon, was the first to bring condensed versions of classic and contemporary Broadway and West End musicals, tailored for young performers with the authors’ approval, to primary school teachers and other directors new to musical theatre. For secondary schools, MTI’s School Editions tailor select shows like Les Misérables, Sweeney Todd, West Side Story and Avenue Q whose content and production requirements previously proved challenging for student performers.

For more on MTI Europe, visit www.mtishows.co.uk


 

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