Leeway Productions, 10 Minute Musicals, Call out: Composers / Playwrights / Librettists / Poets / Musicians / Lyricists

An innovative development programme to support musical theatre professional in Wales is now to be rolled out in 2017 after a successful first project this year. Organised and delivered by Leeway Productions in partnership with The Other Room, the development project 10 Minute Musicals will be held three times a year at The Other Room in Cardiff.

• 10 Minute Musicals are now looking for fresh innovative voices who are willing to push boundaries and play with form; creatives with a passion for the continued development of their practice.
• 10 Minute Musicals want you to have an openness to play, to be willing to try new approaches in order to develop the skills which will enable collaboration on a larger scale.
• You will need to commit to 3 weekend workshop dates attached to each project, which will also include a sharing of work at The Other Room to invited guests including programmers and venue managers throughout the UK and beyond.
• Creative participants can include composers, playwrights, librettists, poets, musician and lyricists.
• Participation costs £80 per participant.

Leeway Productions director Angharad Lee said, “This exciting announcement is of huge value to us as a company as we aspire to encourage and nurture new and existing creatives to write for musical theatre in Wales.

“We are now calling out to creatives who are keen to try their hand at writing a musical, and also, more established artists who may want to upskill and network with new creatives and artists. We encourage a continued conversation with creatives and believe that this creative development project is a great springboard towards casting a new light on how you usually work,” she added.

10 Minute Musicals includes networking, development and examining of current practice and will provide the support artists need when evolving, progressing and advancing their writing skills for this genre.

Leeway Productions will provide mentorship support throughout the process, and will support artists as they find their way through what could seem like a daunting task.  There will be a sharing of your work at The Other Room as a culmination to the process and the participants’ hard work. There are also opportunities to have your work seen by Perfect Pitch in London, Royal & Derngate, as well as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Actor and writer Francois Pandolfo took part in the first project.

He said, “Not only was it an honour to be asked to be part of this exciting new project but the premise and delivery process was a real eye opener to the possibilities of discovery when collaborating with a team of creatives….with the daily missions sent out by Angharad it was clear we had to think outside the box and open our minds to other alternatives of developing an idea, in my case this was approaching the piece from a soundscape angle and starting from there.

“This model is one I would like to see happen more and more as a way of bringing collaborative possibilities together and opening a forum for discussion and exploration that isn’t filling in forms or separating people’s roles and adhering to strict creative guidelines and protocol.”

Critic and broadcaster Lowri Haf Cook said, “I was taken temporarily by the four productions, to very different worlds. What was definitely established was the increasing urge by all in the room for a musical theatre fringe scene in Cardiff – and beyond – in response to the brain drain to the West End in London by bored Welsh talent. With a perfect location for us, Porters bar in the centre of the city, there appears to be s real seed of excitement, with exceptional talent already in place.”

10 Minute Musical workshops 2016

There are three 10 Minute Musicals opportunities in 2017, to be held at The Other Room, Cardiff.

10MM (1) – Bilingual opportunity

Workshop 1: Jan 15^th, 10am – 5pm

Workshop 2: Jan 22^nd, 10am-5pm

Workshop 3 & Sharing of work: Jan 29^th, 10am-6pm with

6pm sharing of work

10MM (2)   Cymraeg  Please note that this opportunity will be through the medium of Welsh only

Workshop 1, July 23^rd, 10am-5pm

Workshop 2, July 30^th, 10am- 5pm

Workshop 3 & Sharing of work, August 6^th, 10am – 6pm with 6pm sharing of work

10MM (3) – Bilingual opportunity

Workshop 1, November 12^th,  10am-5pm

Workshop 2, November 19^th,  10am-5pm

Workshop 3 & Sharing of work, November 26^th, 10am-6pm with 6pm sharing of work

Deadlines:

10MM(1) - December 20th 2016

10MM(2) - May 1st 2017

10MM(3) - August 1st 2017

The £80 per artist fee includes all three weekends’ mentorship, a template of activities and the opportunity to share your work at The Other Room.

Please note that 4/5 pieces will also have the opportunity to be showcased at the Hollywood Fringe Festival June 2017 or 2018 and at Aberystwyth Arts Centre. Leeway Productions are also in conversations with Perfect Pitch and Royal & Derngate with a view of further development for certain projects.

How to apply.  Expressions of interest can be submitted as an individual artist and you will be matched with another artist OR as an existing writer/composer team. Please send a short example of your work along with a CV / Biog or a little about yourself and what you wish to gain from this opportunity to: leewayprods@gmail.com

Please include your name, a contact email address and phone number and state which of the three workshops you would like to take part in.

For more details email angharad@angharadlee.com

#10minutemusicals

@LeewayProds

Partners include:

The Other Room

Aberystwyth Arts Centre

Blackwood Miners Institute

NMi Musicals

The 2016 workshops:

http://www.asiw.co.uk/reviews/10-minute-musicals-leeway-productions...