A final-year BMus Performance student from the University has secured a prestigious London performance for his original musical after a successful run in Chichester and Bognor Regis.
Sam Mileberg’s Townsfolk – A Community Song Cycle will be performed at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, one of London’s leading fringe theatre venues, on Saturday 11 July.
The student-written production was first workshopped and performed at The Assembly Theatre on the University’s Bognor Regis Campus in May, before appearing at the Chichester Fringe Festival earlier this month.
The 60-minute musical explores the lives of residents in a small town, examining themes of community, belonging, change and the passage of time through an original score and series of interconnected stories.
Sam said: “This opportunity that we’ve been given is brilliant and we’re all so excited to perform in London.”
He explained that the inspiration for the musical came from his own experience studying in the city. “The idea was inspired by our time in Chichester over the last four years. I was very keen to put on a show this year in some capacity and just started writing some music and lyrics around the idea of community that is so prevalent within Chichester. Community really is the key point of the piece.”
The cast includes students from the University’s Musical Theatre Performance programme, whose involvement has helped shape the development of the production from its earliest stages.
Andrew Wright, Programme Leader for Musical Theatre Performance and Senior Lecturer in Musical Theatre, said: “I am delighted to see Townsfolk reach this significant milestone. It has been a privilege to support the project from its initial campus premiere and subsequent performance at Chichester Fringe, where it continued to develop in scope and ambition.
The production has also provided a valuable platform for my Musical Theatre Performance students, whose work as the cast has been integral to the piece’s evolution. The selection of Townsfolk for performance Upstairs at The Gatehouse represents a notable achievement for all involved and offers a well-deserved opportunity for the work to reach a wider audience.”
Tickets for the London performance are available at: http://nowshow.ing/townsfolk.