23 young theatre producers have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to present their work in a mahor West End theatre for the first time. Between them, they will be responsible for 17 productions - a mix of plays, musicals, concerts and one-off events full of both popular West End stars to emerging talent.
The shows will form a festival called Rising Stars which will run at Nimax's six theatres (the Apollo, Duchess, Garrick, Lyric, Palace and Vaudeville) from May - September.
The Rising Stars Festival will run alongside Nimax’s long-running shows and new summer programme with all of Nimax’s long-running shows having reopened by the autumn.
Announcing Nimax’s festival today, Nica Burns, Chief Executive, said:
“I am delighted to be welcoming into the spotlight a galaxy of talented young producers - our rising stars making their West End debuts.
Entrepreneurial, adventurous, creating shows during our lockdown days to entertain and inspire, attracting stellar performers. Usually behind the spotlight, few understand what a producer does.
Without them, there are no shows. If these enterprising producers are the future of the West End, it’s looking good.
A big thank you to Oliver Dowden and the DCMS for awarding us a Cultural Recovery
Fund grant which has enabled us to re-open all six of our theatres with social distancing, support the Rising Stars Festival and create hundreds of new jobs.””
Included in the photograph are: - Chris Steward, Shanay Holmes, Katy Lipson, Ameena Hamid, Adam Lenson, Tom Duern, Kirk Jameson, Jack Maple, Chris Marcus, Damien Stanton, Piers Cottee-Jones, Jamie Chapman Dixon, John-Webb Carter, Shaun McCourt, Robin Rayner, Hugh Summers, Greg Barnett, Krystal Lee, Sarah Evans + Nica Burns (middle, front) .
SHOWS IN THE FESTIVAL AND THEIR FIRST-TIME PRODUCERS
17 - 19 May Drag Queens of Pop (Vaudeville Theatre) Producer David O’Reilly 18 May - 13 June Cruise (Duchess Theatre) Producers Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, Jamie Lambert and Eliza Jackson for Lambert Jackson Productions 19 May - 11 July Death Drop (Garrick Theatre) Producers Ameena Hamid, Jamie Chapman Dixon and John-Webb Carter for Carter Dixon Productions 22 & 23 May Roles We’ll Never Play (Vaudeville Theatre) Producer Thomas Duern 24 May An Evening with Kathy Burke (Lyric Theatre) Producer David O’Reilly 24 May Intermissions Live (Vaudeville Theatre) Producers Alice Fearn & Kirk Jamieson 24 May, 14 June & 5 July Monday Night at the Apollo (Apollo Theatre) Producers Greg Barnett and Hugh Summers for Wild Mountain Productions Ltd 27 -30 May Public Domain (Vaudeville Theatre) Producer Adam Lenson 2 - 6 June The Show Must Go On! (Palace Theatre) Producers Chris Marcus and Damien Stanton for Theatre Support Fund+ and Jack Maple and Brian Zeilinger for MZG productions 7 - 13 June Alyssa, Memoirs of a Queen! (Vaudeville Theatre) Producers Robin Rayner and James Quaife for New Frame Productions 7 June An Evening With Arlene Phillips (Duchess Theatre) Producer David O’Reilly 10 - 13 June West End Musical Celebration (Palace Theatre) Producers Shanay Holmes and Chris Steward for West End Musical Productions 14 June West End Live Lounge (Lyric Theatre) Producer Shaun McCourt 21 June & 28 June The Distance You Have Come (Apollo Theatre) Producers Sarah Evans for Sevans Productions and Krystal Lee 28 June The Wonderbirds Live (Duchess Theatre) Producer David O’Reilly 15 July – 30 August Wonderment (Palace Theatre) Producers Stephen McGill, McGill Productions, John-Webb Carter and Jamie Dixon, Carter Dixon Productions, Piers Cottee-Jones, Piers Cottee-Jones Entertainment 17 September - 13 October The Last 5 Years (Vaudeville Theatre) Producers Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, Edward Prophet and People Entertainment Group, with Dan Looney, Adam Paulden and Jason Haigh-Ellery for DLAP GROUP
From 17 May to 30 August there will be 859 performances of 37 different shows across the 6 Nimax theatres - 37 shows featuring 58 producers. 23 of these are making their West End debut. A big congratulations to them all - the future really is looking bright"
Tickets for all shows are available from nimaxtheatres.com