Youth Music Theatre: UK

Youth Music Theatre UK (often known as YMT) is the United Kingdom's biggest provider of music theatre projects for young people. It is one of nine recognised National Youth Music Organisations (NYMOs).

At the core of YMT's activity are its residential projects, which usually take place during the summer. Young people from around the country audition for eight new pieces of MusicAL theatre which are then developed, rehearsed and staged in professional theatres. The young people have a hand in creating and devising original pieces, supported by theatre professionals. The company also runs non-audition courses, called The Studio, and operates a successful outreach programme, working with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. All of the company's projects are specially commissioned and often developed over two or more summers. Productions often transfer into larger venues during the autumn and spring.

The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Battersea, London. It also has regional offices in Edinburgh and Belfast. Its executive producer is Jon Bromwich.

The company's 2008 productions included new adaptations of Great Expectations in Bracknell, Terry Pratchett's Mort in Guildford, Peter Pan in Plymouth, and Missing Mel at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and new shows by EastEnders director Steve Keyworth in Leeds and by Marie Jones (The Chosen Room) in Belfast.

Summer 2009 productions include A Winter's Tale by Howard Goodall and Nick Stimson at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, Loserville - The Musical by James Bourne and Elliot Davis at the South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell with Mama Mia Musical Director Martin Lowe and director Steven Dexter. Second year developments of Marie Jones' The Chosen Room in Belfast and Peter Pan in at the Aberdeen Youth Festival. YMT will also be commissioning four new musicals called Fool's Gold and Whatever happened to Brian Haw? at the Barbican, Plymouth,The Watchers at the Bradford PlayHouse and EIGHT at Casterton in Cumbria.

Notable former members of the YMT

• Lucy Griffiths (born 1987)

Productions

2004

Amy's Wedding - dir. Syd Ralph
Over the Edge - dir. Kath Burlinson
Quantum 2 - dir. Ed Woodall
Quantum 3 - dir. Jaki McCarrick
Quantum 4 -dir. Stephen Jameson''
2005

Africa Week - dir. Alison Goldie
Goblin Market - dir. Kath Burlinson
The Imagineers - dir. Andrew Panton
Korea - dir. Stephen Jameson
Missing Melanie - dir. Kath Burlinson
Monte Cristo - dir. Stephen Jameson
The Open Door - dir. Gerry Flanagan
Please Look at Me Now - dir. Peta Lily
Red Hunter - dir. Vernon Mound
The Stones Are Hatching - dir. Toby Davies
Unforgotten - dir. Nick Stimson
The Studio - Ascot - dir. Eddie Latter
The Studio - Bath - dir. Eddie Latter
The Studio - Tunbridge Wells (Easter) - dir. Toby Davies
The Studio - Tunbridge Wells (October) - dir. Clare Prenton
The Studio - Wolverhampton - dir. Keith Saha
The Studio - York - dir. Alison Goldie
Workshop 1 - Be a Goblin! - dir. Kath Burlinson
Circles of Influence Conference - dir. Tim Sutton
Let it Snow! - dir. Eddie Latter & Friends
2006

Frankenstein - dir. Nick Stimson
Missing Melanie - dir. Matt Peover
No Stone Unturned - dir. Clive Paget
Persona - dir. Kath Burlinson
The Girl in the Ash - dir. Gerry Flanagan
The Last Tango - dir. Peta Lily
The Stones Are Hatching - dir. Toby Davies
The Studio - Bath - dir. Eddie Latter
The Studio - Edinburgh - dir. Kath Burlinson
The Studio - London - dir. Alison Goldie
The Studio - Manchester - dir. Jimmy Jewell
The Studio - Plymouth - dir. Des Kennedy
The Studio - Warwick - dir. Eddie Latter
The Studio - York - dir. Pete Gallagher
The Studio - Brighton - dir. Vik Sivalingam
2007

Oh! Carol - dir. Syd Ralph
Frankenstein - dir. Nick Stimson and later transfered to the Cochrane Theatre in London's West End
Great Expectations -dir. Gerry Flanagan
Rare Dreams -dir. Kath Burlinson
Force 9½ -dir. John Nicholson
Grace Online -dir. Des Kennedy
Mort -dir. Clive Paget
The Time of Our Freedom -dir. Conor Mitchell
The Studio - Edinburgh -dir. Stuart Harvey
The Studio - Bury St. Edmunds -dir. Alison Goldie
The Studio - Aberdeen -dir. Michael Richardson
The Studio - Uppingham -dir. Alison Goldie''
2008

The Silver Bough - dir. Kath Burlinson
Great Expectations - dir. Gerry Flanagan
Dead Heat - dir. Alison Goldie
Peter Pan - dir. Nick Stimson
Endangered - dir. Peta Lily
Mort - dir. Clive Paget
The Chosen Room by Marie Jones - dir. Syd Ralph
Missing Mel - dir. Pete Gallagher at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and later transfered to the Cochrane Theatre in London's West End''

2009

Peter Pan - dir. Christian Durham at the Aberdeen International Festival
Loserville: The Musical by James Bourne and Elliot Davis - dir. Steven Dexter
Whatever Happened To Brian Haw dir. Eddie Latter
The Chosen Room - dir. Syd Ralph
The Watchers - dir. Clare Prenton
A Winter's Tale - by Howard Goodall - dir. Nick Stimson
Eight - dir. Kath Burlinson
Fool's Gold - dir. Gerry Flanagan

See also

• National Youth Theatre
• National Youth Music Theatre

References

• Youth Music Theatre: UK
• "Kids & Family: YMT:UK searches capital for talent", Official London Theatre Guide, 8 January 2008

External links

• Youth Music Theatre: UK – Official Website
• National Youth Music Organisations website
• The British Theatre Guide roundup of YMT's 2005 season
• Review of 2008 production of Mort by Sheila Connor for The British Theatre Guide
• Interview with Jenifer Toksvig, the writer of Mort, about the collaborative process with the young actors of YMTUK (2008)
• Times Online article about youth theatre quoting YMT's general manager