BEAM

This past week brought the culmination of one of my placements in the form of the BEAM Festival. I have been working since January with Mercury Musical Developments on the production of the very first BEAM Festival here in London. At BEAM new musical theatre works, in various states of development, were presented to industry professionals. The audience was comprised of producers, artistic directors and theatrical publishers. The goal was for BEAM to be a sort of matchmaking service to help facilitate new relationships between theatre makers and the industry professionals who can help move their work to the next level.

The production team gathered on Monday to introduce performers and presenters to the venue and the process. Each presentation received a sound check and had the chance to sample the performance space. On Tuesday the festival kicked off. Over the course of two days 40 presentations, varying between 10 and 25 minutes in length, were delivered to the audience. We also had a few industry panel discussions, masterclasses and plenty of coffee breaks for professionals to network.

BEAM was a huge success and all the attendees were thrilled with the opportunity to connect, present and/or see what the market has to offer for future programming. BEAM had three production assistants from my course at Central; Shai, Travis and myself. It was a lot of work but, of course, it was great to be a part of this incredible event. All of us came out with new friends and connections. Plus, it was fantastic to see what the world of musical theatre is cooking.

This coming week I return to Hampstead Theatre to continue work on their Festival. Thursday and Friday we have classes and then...end of term and SPRING BREAK!! Whoot Whoot!! This term has been jam packed with wonderful but I admit, I'm looking forward to a little down time.

I'll let you know how the final week of term shapes up next week. In the meantime, look around your region and see what festivals and conferences are available for theatre students and professionals.

Take care!
-m

Program Cover for BEAM 2016

BEAM Production Assistants from Central: Shai, Melanie and Travis

*Photo credit to Shai for both of these! Thanks Shai!