Two programmes established and overseen by multi award-winning musical theatre writing partnership, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe for the development and showcasing of British musical theatre writers.
In 1985, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe were the recipients of the inaugural Vivian Ellis Prize for their musical Just So. Winning the prize introduced them to many leading lights of the musical theatre world, whose advice and support in championing new writing became so important to them. Since 2008, they have passed on this developmental support to other writers with the creation of the Stiles + Drewe Prize.
Excellence in new musical theatre writing is recognised via the Best New Song Prize, produced by MMD. Since 2016 the offer has expanded to offer a biennial Mentorship awarded to one show.
Mentorship Award
Generously supported by Musical Theatre International (Europe), the Mentorship Award provides bespoke mentorship support and showcasing opportunities to one writer or writing team over a 12 month period. This opportunity is offered biennially.
Applications for the 2025-26 cycle closed on 16th March and the recipient will be announced in early summer 2025.
Best New Song Prize
The Best New Song Prize is awarded on an annual basis recognising an outstanding song from a new musical written by a member of MMD.
Find about more about the Song Prize below.
The Best New Song Prize is awarded on an annual basis recognising an outstanding song from a new musical written by a member of MMD.
Twelve finalists will have their songs showcased in a live concert in London, performed by West End talent. A panel of industry judges, including George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, award the Best New Song Prize and the winner receives a prize of £1,000 to put towards developing their work.
- Applications for 2025 will open on 20 May 2025 and will close on 19 June 2025.
- At least one person in the writing team must be a member of MMD to submit.
- Every submission is assessed by a panel of three or four industry judges in round one, and the highest scoring songs will be assessed by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe in round two.
- All applicants should hear back in early August.
- The twelve finalist songs will be showcased at the Song Prize concert in November 2025.
Read about the experience of last year’s winner, Emma Vieceli, here.
Entry Requirements:
- The Best New Song Prize is open to all MMD members, including Overseas Members. If you are part of a writing team, at least one of you must be a paid up member of MMD.
- Members may submit a maximum of two songs for consideration but may submit one song only if they wish. If submitting two songs, they must be submitted in two separate applications.
- An MMD member cannot be named on more than two song entries, either as lead contact or as a collaborator (e.g. the same writing team cannot submit more than two songs overall, even if both are MMD members). Please note: any one writing team will only have a maximum of one song in the final – an individual could however end up with two if they are written with different writing collaborators.
- The song/s must be from a musical, although the musical does not need to be complete. Stand-alone cabaret songs will not be accepted.
- The Best New Song entries must be suitable for performance by a solo singer. Duets or ensemble numbers are not permitted.
- The song cannot have been included in a previous professional production (defined as a production with professional cast and creatives, mounted for an audience). We will accept submissions from writers who have had developmental workshops or sharings of their work, either financed privately, by a producer, venue partner or via funding. Songs from shows which have previously been presented at the Edinburgh Fringe, Vault Festival, or similar, are also eligible even if some of the creatives were paid.
With your application please submit:
- An mp3 audio demo file of the song, including vocals. We encourage you to submit a demo of the highest possible quality. We welcome orchestrated demos if available which convey more fully the writer(s) conception. However, we are not judging the backing track, we are judging the quality of the song itself.
- A lyric sheet for the song (MS Word or PDF format).
- A show synopsis and song context explanation (MS Word or PDF format, and no more than 500 words in total).Demos and Word/PDF files should be completely anonymous. Please do not include any identifying information regarding the writers in either the file names or within the documents themselves.
Things to note:
- If a song is selected as a Best New Song finalist, the writer(s) will be required to provide a PDF of the sheet music (piano and vocal arrangement) in order for the performer to learn the song.
- Due to the volume of submissions, neither Stiles and Drewe nor MMD are able to give individual feedback regarding the final selection.
- All genres of musical theatre music are welcome and variety is encouraged.
- Every submission will be assessed by a panel of three or four industry judges in round one, and the highest scoring songs will be assessed by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe in round two.
Stiles + Drewe Prize 2025 Timeline:
Applications open: Tuesday 20th May
Applications close: Thursday 19th June
Finalists notified: Early August
Song Prize Concert 2025: November (date tbc)
Questions?
If you have any questions about the submission process, please email Martin Jackson at martin@mercurymusicals.com or call on 020 3951 7961.
To access the application you will need to log into the Musicals Resource Hub with your MMD username and password.
Best New Song Prize concert gallery
Mentorship Award Recipients
- 2023: Maz O’Connor for The Wife of Michael Cleary
- 2022: Omar Baroud for After Elijah
- 2018: Jim Barne & Kit Buchan for The Season, now titled Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)
- 2017: Ben Glasstone for Reanimator: A Zombie Musical
- 2016: Darren Clark & Rhys Jennings for The Wicker Husband
Song Prize Winners
- 2024: Emma Vieceli for ‘It Starts Small’ from Unfolding
- 2023: Rachel Walker Mason & Nina Sundstrom for ‘Drowning Without Water’ from The Circle
- 2022: Flora Leo for ‘One Last Request’ from The Most Beautiful Suicide2021: Eden Treadwell for ‘Those Stars ‘ from Galaxy Train
- 2020: Amir Shoenfeld & Matthew Greene for ‘I’m Your Guy’ from Benny In Beta
- 2019: Theo Jamieson for “Yes, Amazing” from Kali’s Toenail
- 2018: Adam Wachter for “You and Me” from Any Minute Now
- 2017: Claire Rivers and Tom Lees for “Gerry And Me” from P.S. I Love You
- 2016: Tim Connor for “Back To School” from Heart of Winter
- 2015: Richy Hughes and Joseph Finlay for “Don’t Look Down” from The Superhero
- 2014: Tamar Broadbent for “Library Boy” and “The Procrastination Song”
- 2013: Tim Sutton for “That Once-in-a-Lifetime Feeling”
- 2012: Douglas Hodge for “Powercut” and Dougal Irvine for “Do You Want A Baby, Baby” from The Busker’s Opera (joint winners)
- 2011: Joint winners Tim Sutton for “I Am” and Eric Angus and Paul James for “Kaboom! Kapow!” from The Boy Who Fell Into A Book
- 2010: Gwyneth Herbert for “Lovely London Town” from The A to Z of Mrs P
- 2009: Olly Ashmore for “Wake Up TV” from Hot Flush 2
- 2008: Mark Allcorn for “My Turn Soon” from Singles.
About Stiles + Drewe
Stiles + Drewe’s shows have been seen all over the world and have been translated into many languages. Their scores include the international smash-hit Cameron Mackintosh/Disney production of Mary Poppins, the Olivier Award-winning Honk!, which has been seen by more than 6 million people in over 8,000 productions, and the West End productions of Half A Sixpence and The Wind in the Willows. Their other shows are Soho Cinders, Betty Blue Eyes, Travels With My Aunt, Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure, Just So and Tutankhamun.
George and Anthony have also completed a trilogy of 50-minute musicals for younger audiences, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Three Little Pigs. Identical, a new musical based on the novel The Parent Trap, opened to critical acclaim in the UK in summer 2022.
Member Spotlight
Lewis Cornay
This year Lewis’ new play ‘Cows Milk’ was given at place at Omnibus Theatres Engine Room where is received its… Read more
Learn more Lewis Cornay
This year Lewis’ new play ‘Cows Milk’ was given at place at Omnibus Theatres Engine Room where is received its first public reading. He’s writing music and lyrics for new young adult show ‘You’re Not The Boss of Me’ for Nosy Crow/Salisbury Playhouse. His musical ‘KIDNEY4U’ is currently in development with support from Birmingham Hippodrome.
Last year Lewis was awarded the New Musical Theatre Award, giving him a commission to write a brand new musical for British Youth Music Theatre. ‘Harry & Greta’ received its debut production at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich this summer.
Emily Rose Simons
Emily Rose Simons (she/her) is a musical theatre writer, composer and sound designer. Composer-Lyricist credits include: Confessions of A Rabbi’s… Read more
Learn more Emily Rose Simons
Emily Rose Simons (she/her) is a musical theatre writer, composer and sound designer. Composer-Lyricist credits include: Confessions of A Rabbi’s Daughter (The Other Palace, September 2022) & The Inconvenient Miracle (Episcopal Actors Guild Space Grant Recipient). Composer credits include: Seven Fishes (Anatolian Film Festival), The F*ck Am I Doing? (NYMF, Brighton Fringe) and Wendell & Pan (The Tank NYC). Sound Design credits include: Pickle (Park Theatre), Super Human (New Diorama Theatre) and 39 & Counting (Park Theatre). The Songs of Emily Rose Podcast is her monthly “three songs and a bit spiel” available on Spotify and other podcast outlets, and her sheet music is available on www.NewUKMusicals.co.uk She is an alum of the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at NYU, Book, Music, Lyrics workshops and the Advance Mercury Musical Developments Lab; and a finalist in the 2021 Styles and Drew Best New Song Competition. www.songsofemilyrose.com