A huge thank you to all those who came to The Other Palace to watch this afternoon's showcase presentation of new musical The Wicker Husband.
Writing musicals is a labour of love, and can be a long and hard process. We were lucky enough to receive advice and support from some of the best in the industry, including Cameron Mackintosh, during the early years of our careers. Together with Mercury Musical Developments (MMD), we’ve long been championing new writers in the UK and we launched our Mentorship Award in 2016 because we wanted to offer a unique level of mentorship via a writer-led, sustained development programme.
It’s been a privilege to work with Rhys Jennings (book) and Darren Clark (music and lyrics) on The Wicker Husband over the last year. We kicked off by hosting a one-week writing retreat, which took place in France in August. In November, and then again in February, we chaired two ‘Progress Labs’ where Rhys and Darren presented sections of Act 1 with a professional cast and received feedback from peers and a panel of professionals. They have also benefitted from attending monthly writers’ labs via MMD. Today’s presentation is the culmination of all of their hard work. Thank you to all those who took part, to MMD, our venue partner The Other Palace and to MTI Europe for generously joining us in funding the Award.
For more information about the work MMD does please visit: www.mercurymusicals.com/