Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer: Dylan Townley’s Blog
I started my role as the Octagon Theatre, Bolton’s Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer in October 2023, and it’s been a...
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Mercury Musical Developments and Musical Theatre Network have been awarded funding from The Mackintosh Foundation to support five placements as part of The Cameron Mackintosh Resident Writer Scheme between 2023 and 2025. We are delighted to announce the next two placements: MAST Mayflower Studios will host a two-person Resident Musical Theatre Writing Team to start in June 2024, and National Theatre of Scotland will host a Resident Musical Theatre Composer to start in September 2024.
Through this scheme, professional musical theatre writers are paired with a company and given the opportunity to be involved in a range of work which could include writing/composing assignments on the host company’s projects, shadowing development/rehearsal processes, and working on development of their own musical theatre material. Recent hosts have included Octagon Theatre, Theatr Clwyd, British Youth Music Theatre; the Royal Shakespeare Company; The Lowry and Hope Mill Theatre; Dundee Rep and Curve Leicester.
The successful recipients will receive an all-inclusive fee of £13,000 per individual writer, thanks to the generous support of The Mackintosh Foundation.
The current Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer is Dylan Townley hosted by Octagon Theatre, Bolton.
The MAST placement is expected to run June – November 2024 and the National Theatre of Scotland placement to run September 2024 – February 2025, and applicants should be free to commit throughout that period. The successful recipient receives a fee calculated to cover six months of their time, and it’s expected the successful applicant will be based in Southampton or Glasgow for at least a significant portion of the six-month placement. The exact dates and projects to be worked on will be agreed between the composer and host organisation. NTS, MMD and MTN are committed to diversifying voices in new musical theatre writing and broadening the art form, and writers from backgrounds under-represented in musical theatre writing are encouraged to consider applying.
These placements will consist of a range of bespoke professional development opportunities.
For the MAST placement these may include:
For the National Theatre of Scotland placement these may include:
To be eligible to apply:
You will be asked to upload examples of your work (three sound files of no more than 6 minutes each, including at least two songs) that reflect your writing for musical theatre and the diversity of your work (for a writing team, all three examples should be of the collaboration). You will be asked about a musical theatre project you would like to develop during the placement. If you have any questions about your application, you can email martin@mercurymusicals.com or he can be reached on 020 3951 7961.
Four two-person writing team applicants will be shortlisted for the MAST placement, and five individual composer applicants will be shortlisted for the NTS placement. All shortlisted applicants will be asked to complete a practical composing exercise, with £150 per individual paid towards time spent on this exercise.
Applications will be assessed anonymously by groups of experienced industry practitioners.
Timetable:
All applications must be received by midnight on Monday 5th February 2024
If you have been shortlisted, we will aim to let you know by Monday 11th March
We expect interviews for the MAST placement to take place week commencing Monday 8th April
and interviews for the National Theatre of Scotland placement week commencing Monday 15th April
Please note the above is subject to change, but we will keep you updated at all times.
The successful recipient will need to be a member of Mercury Musical Developments in order to receive the grant; however, you do not need to be a member to apply.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sara Scott, Executive Director of MAST Mayflower Studios said: “We are delighted to be working with MTN and MMD to offer a placement for a writing team through the Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer Scheme. We are really looking forward to them getting involved with us as we work towards our exciting celebration of Jane Austen in 2025. At MAST we are committed to Artist Development and the nurturing of new work so can’t wait to be involved in this important initiative.”
For the MAST writing team placement these may include:
Jackie Wylie, Artistic Director of National Theatre of Scotland said: “We are delighted to be working in collaboration with MTN and MMD to host a Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer. Musicals play an important part in our artistic programme and offer to Scottish audiences. Successes include ‘My Left Right Foot – The Musical’ and most recently ‘Orphans’ and we have a number of new large-scale musicals currently under commission. We celebrate the opportunity to work closely with a composer, MTN and MMD to help support our musical theatre ambitions.”
For the National Theatre of Scotland placement these may include: