Students at the University of Chichester are helping to shape the future of musical theatre by workshopping potential West End and Broadway hits in development. And this summer will mark the 20th new musical production shaped and developed by Chichester students.
The Musical Theatre Performance programme at Chichester Conservatoire is firmly established as a dynamic creative hub for the development of new British musicals, with its new writing initiative offering emerging writers a vital space to experiment, collaborate and bring fresh work to life.
Programme Leader and Producer Andrew Wright said: “Reaching our 20th workshop is a huge achievement and a testament to the strength of our partnerships with the Musical Theatre Network (MTN), Mercury Musical Developments (MMD), new/established writers and the commitment of our students. It’s an invaluable experience – students aren’t just performing, they’re helping to build a musical from the ground up.”
The Musical Theatre Performance Programme has built a reputation for fostering close collaboration between student performers and professional writers, composers and directors. Through the New Musical Workshop series, creatives are able to see their work tested in a live rehearsal environment, often refining songs and scenes in real time.
Olivier award-winning composer lyricist Darren Clark, who has developed three of his musicals with Andrew and his students (Ordinary People, Turing and Frankie & Stein), said: “Chichester Conservatoire has provided me with extraordinary opportunities to develop new musical theatre with engaged, talented students. With fantastic support from the faculty, we are fully able to focus on the creative rehearsals and collaboration that are the lifeblood of great new musicals.”
Director Alex Howarth, who workshopped Lifeline (Hiley & Hope-Palmer) at Chichester before it went onto a run at Southwark Playhouse, London, in spring 2026, said: “Lifeline has now played to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and is the first piece of theatre to be performed at the United Nations. None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for our workshop at Chichester. Having such a large group of incredibly talented and enthusiastic performers to try the material out is a gift and the show grew hugely over the week we spent there. It was a privilege to be able to share the work with a small audience in a relaxed environment and gain valuable feedback which has hugely informed the show it is today.”
Across the first few weeks of June, the programme will showcase three brand-new musicals in development: Judgement Day by HC White, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Gimby & Price and Maison Mac by Percival & Woof. The projects place students at the heart of the creative process, giving them the opportunity to originate roles, shape material, and contribute to the evolution of new writing.
Over the years, the programme’s workshops have supported a wide range of new voices and stories, many of which have gone on to further development beyond the Conservatoire. The full catalogue includes: P.S. I’m A Terrible Person (Forristal & Clarke), Buzz (Grant, Gilvin & Foxx), The Boy Who Sailed The Ocean In An Armchair (Li-Smith), Ordinary People (Clark), The Infinity Script (Middleton & Sneesby), Cast Party (Wachter), Undertaking Betty (Bateman, Conley & Hughes), The Velveteen Daughter (Wigmore & Green), Turing (Clark & Jennings), The Royal Academy Of Crime (Berliner & Jennings), Lifeline (Hiley & Hope-Palmer), The Bachelor Girls (Wigmore & Green), My So-Called Haunting (Bermange & Brewer), Ever Onward (Connor & Pearse), Frankie & Stein (Clark & Soden), Stupid Cupid (Jasper), How NOT To Save The World (Glasstone & Waldron) and the three that are taking place this month.
The Musical Theatre Performance Programme welcomes expressions of interest from writers and composers interested in developing new work with students in future workshop seasons.
Tickets for any of the performances this month can be purchased here: https://www.ticketsource.com/universityofchichesterconservatoire
