Support the Future of Musical Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
HANNAH Waddingham will host The Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer Of The Year Competition and The Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize, which takes place at the Queen’s Theatre on Sunday, June 6, 2010.
The awards strive to showcase the most exciting new talent and best new musical theatre writing by selecting 12 promising students from a selection of musical theatre training schools based throughout the United Kingdom. These include The Royal Academy Of Music and Mountview.
Candidates will be judged by their performances of a Stephen Sondheim song and one new song written by a team from MMD. An expert panel will award the prizes for Best Performer and Best New Song.
As well as hosting the event, Hannah Waddingham (Spamalot, A Little Night Music) will also be performing.
Prizes (including The Student Performer Award donated by Keith Stanley) will be presented by Julia McKenzie and George Stiles and Anthony Drewe (the composer/lyricist team behind the Olivier Award-winning Honk!, Mary Poppins and the West End bound Betty Blue Eyes).
The judging panel will include British actress Maureen Lipman, music journalist for The Independent Edward Seckerson, actress and singer Sally Ann Triplett, musical director and arranger Martin Koch and casting agent David Grindrod.
The aim of The Stephen Sondheim Society is to promote the works of Stephen Sondheim in the UK and elsewhere, whilst Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) champions the craft of writing book, music and lyrics in musical theatre.
Tickets: £18, £12 concessions – to book call the Delfont Mackintosh box office on 0844 482 5162 or contact The Stephen Sondheim Society on 07913 875964. Alternatively, visit www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk. Bookings can be made from Monday to Saturday between the hours of 10am and 8pm.
Time: 3pm.
The Queen’s Theatre is the current home of Les Miserables.