2025 Season Announcement
Across our 2025 Season we will be creating and performing 14 new musicals with: five theatre premieres, a revival from 2023, six new shows developed through our innovative summer camps and two collaborative projects.
Our Young Company Panel were at the heart of curating the season, selecting stories that make space to explore questions, concerns, and aspirations relevant to their generation. Inspirations for the season’s bold premieres range from the Brothers Grimm and Norse mythology to a Jane Austen classic, and from the story of a 16th century dancing plague to a celebration of gender non-conformity. The season reflects a wide diversity of stories and musical styles that resonate with our young people.
Already announced is:
A new production of BYMT’s The Naughty Carriage On The Orphan Train (Luke Saydon music and lyrics, Carl Miller book and lyrics) at Birmingham Hippodrome from 25-27 April.
With venues to be announced, the season also features:
Worn Out - a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses (Meg McGrady music and additional lyrics, Zoe Morris book and lyrics); Manchester 1-3 August
Sense And Sensibility - a witty, musical adaptation of the Jane Austen novel (Grace O’Keefe and Tom Arnold book, music and lyrics); Exeter 8-10 August
Theo In Between - a new narrative exploring non-binary identity in a small English town (Jordan Li-Smith music and lyrics, Gareth Mattey book and lyrics); Leeds 22-23 August
The Glamification of Loki – the NTMA-winning mythical musical comedy (Eden Tredwell book, music and lyrics); London 29-30 August
Choreomania - a movement inspired exploration of the 1518 dancing plague (Evie Atkin music and lyrics, Evie Press book and lyrics); Birmingham 29-31 August
Alongside our two week residential productions, we also have our six-day development camps which provide writers with an invaluable opportunity to evolve their show with a group of creative young people, who input lyric, song, character and story ideas. The camps this year include themes chosen by the Young Company Panel such as eco-fantasy, origin stories and the Suffragette Movement. We are also excited to announce projects including BLAST, a co-created collaboration with disability led Candoco Dance Company and Bollywood Rose by writers Sumerah Srivastav and Ajay Srivastav, in partnership with Julie Clare Productions.
When asked about the upcoming season, one of our Young Company Panel members said:
As a young company, we all agreed that community is a fundamental aspect of BYMT and we wanted to focus on authentic, empowering and innovative stories. Within the season, we feel there are shows that shed light on true stories that could have otherwise been forgotten, provide an escape from the everyday, put exciting twists on classic tales and show young people they can stand up for what’s right. I am particularly proud of the multitude of voices we’ve represented in choosing these shows. Expect everything from EDM, to physical theatre, to Disney, jazz and more. With such a diverse season, there’s a show every young person can look forward to being a part of!
Our Creative Director, Emily Gray said:
It’s thrilling to be working with so many writers from such a range of backgrounds, brought together by a shared passion for creating musicals with and for young people, and the ideas that our Young Company Panel have interrogated and decided are the stories to be explored and celebrated this year. Through the programme, we can serve our young people who are dedicated to creating shows that have queer, neuro-diverse and disabled characters and who have advised that all of our casting be gender fluid throughout the 2025 Season.
Full season details:
The Naughty Carriage On The Orphan Train: A musical comedy by Luke Saydon (music and lyrics) and Carl Miller (book and lyrics)
Step aboard the Naughty Carriage for a heart-stirring journey towards finding the meaning of family; based on the poignant true story of the Orphan Trains, this unforgettable ride through hardship, hope and humour pulls in to Birmingham by popular demand after a triumphant BYMT run at Dundee Rep in 2023. Expect captivating performances, jazzy toe-tapping tunes and an inspiring story of youthful rebellion that stays with you long after the end of the line.
Worn Out: A retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses by Meg McGrady (music and additional lyrics) and Zoe Morris (book and lyrics)
Once upon a time in the city state of Zloriv, 12 princesses yearn for a taste of freedom. They soon discover the rumblings of a democratic revolution that threatens to disrupt their father’s kingdom. This Grimm Tale gets turned around in the hands of BYMT’s young people, as the sound world of Disney princesses and fairy-tale tradition clash with contemporary protest and female empowerment.
Sense And Sensibility: A witty, musical adaptation of the Jane Austen novel by Grace O’Keefe and Tom Arnold (book, music, lyrics)
It’s 250 years since Jane Austen’s birth and the first time that BYMT’s young people have seized the chance to look afresh at the classic battle of head versus heart, played out by two teenage girls. The sisters are forced to move from their Sussex estate and deal with the upheaval of suddenly being in the Devonshire countryside, with their raging hormones and differing views. With a score influenced by classic musicals and an adaptation infused with contemporary teenage voices, this is Austen made relatable to audiences today.
Theo In Between: A new narrative exploring non-binary identity in a small English town by Jordan Li-Smith (music and lyrics) and Gareth Mattey (book and lyrics)
It’s 1999 and the quaint Northern town of Dulberry prepares to deliver their best Harvest Festival yet, but Theo is focused on something else: will finding their absent father help them understand what it means to be a ‘man’? Stuck in between the expectations of the town, their friends, and their Mum, Theo sets out to find their place in the world and work out who they are, and who they want to be. With a 90s-inspired classical-contemporary score, Theo In Between is a musical theatre coming of age celebration of gender identity, found community, and anyone who has ever felt a little bit in between.
The Glamification of Loki: Where Norse mythology and the beauty industry meet by Eden Treadwell (book, music and lyrics)
As BYMT’s New Music Theatre Award winner, this musical is a comedy combining Norse mythology with an old-school musical spirit. It features Loki, God of Mischief, and a quest for the Apples of Youth which have fallen to Earth and ended up in a surprising location. This will be a farcical extravaganza of a show, complete with mystery and shapeshifting, that asks whether glamour really is skin deep.
Choreomania: A movement inspired exploration of the 1518 dancing plague by Evie Atkin (music and lyrics) and Evie Press (book and lyrics)
Strasbourg, 1518. A town living on the edge, having recently been through multiple plagues and famines. There are those resigned to the fate of the town and those who try and struggle on. Religion dominates, but the church cannot solve the mystery of the dancing townspeople who just can’t stop. Who will solve the plague and save the cursed town? Using medieval influenced singing and contemporary EDM, this innovative piece of music theatre combines dance, song and storytelling in thrilling ways.
BYMT DEVELOPMENT CAMPS
An Awfully Big Adventure: A thrilling and dangerous new tale exploring the origins of the Lost Children of Neverland by Jessica Dives (music) and Cerys Jones (book and lyrics)
Harpenden, Hertfordshire | 28 July-2 August
Burning Down: A narrative inspired by My Fair Lady, set against a backdrop of the Suffragette Movement by Britta Johnson (music) and Emma Donoghue (book and lyrics)
Rumple: A re-interpretation of the Grimm Tale Rumplestiltskin by Jude Obermüller (music) and David Gomez (book and lyrics)
Just Be(e): An eco-fantasy adventure that follows a community of bees as they fly beyond the confines of their industrial hive by Carlo Bosticco and Matt Randall (book, music and lyrics)
Lady Longarms & The Man Who Lost His Face: A devised piece rooted in fantasy, physical theatre, absurdism and how art can be an act of resistance by Rosabella Gregory (music) and Dina Gregory (book and lyrics)
Warminster, Wiltshire | 15-20 August
Bling: Inspired by the ‘Bling Ring’ and their multiple thefts of the houses of celebrities in 2000s Hollywood by Elliot Clay (music and lyrics) and Tori Allen-Martin (book)
Upskill Camp | Venue & Dates TBC
BYMT PROJECTS
BLAST 2025: A co-created collaboration with disability led Candoco Dance Company
Mountview, London | 28 July-2 August
Bollywood Rose: A young woman gets trapped in a Bollywood movie and discovers how to change her own story by Ajay Srivastav (music and lyrics) and Sumerah Srivastav (book)
Bradford, Yorkshire | 27-31 October
