As part of their 2023 Premieres season this autumn, New Wimbledon Theatre will premiere three new productions in their studio space including, the full version of monodrama Black to the Future, initially developed as part of a Lyric Hammersmith emerging writers programme in 2019 and, two brand spanking new musicals. The first of which, (Battersea Bardot: A New Musical) received a rehearsed reading at the British Film Institute, as part of their 2019 Musicals! season.The latter, Seize The Cheese! A New Musical, which was showcased at BEAM2021 and had R & D at Leeds Conservatoire, is the second musical from Calimani Productions, whose first project, Oh Yes I Am! The Panto Dame Musical received 5-star reviews this past winter.
This is the third annual, three-show Premieres season presented by the venue, which aims to provide a starting point for, and to help facilitate companies in, fully staging their work for the first time. Selected from an overwhelming number of submissions, New Wimbledon Theatre are thrilled to present their first musicals as part of the season, as well as their first conceptual monodrama.
Battersea Bardot: A New Musical Thu 14 – Sat 28 Sep 7:45pm (& 2:45pm Sat 23 Sep).
Venue: Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre. Tickets from £11. On sale now.
Kicking off the season will be Battersea Bardot: A New Musical in September, by South West London based writer and composer, Ewen Moore.
Moore brings to the stage a new one-woman musical, that tells the wild, exciting, and tragic true-life story of the forgotten star of Swinging London Carol White, a working-class film star who found herself lost in a Hollywood nightmare.
Ewen Moore has extensive experience in creating original musical theatre, including productions at The Space, Rosemary Branch Theatre, Arcola Theatre, the Oxford Old Fire Station and at Edinburgh Fringe.
Battersea Bardot: A New Musical
London, New Year’s Eve, 1969. Movie star Carol White has achieved success beyond her wildest dreams but has paid a high price. As the decade that made her draws to a close, the ghosts of her past, the highs and lows of her whirlwind career, threaten to overwhelm her. Battersea Bardot, a new one woman musical, tells the wild, exciting, and tragic true-life story of the forgotten star of Swinging London, who found herself lost in a Hollywood nightmare.
Black to the Future Thu 19 – Sat 28 Oct 7:45pm (& 2:45pm Sat 28 Oct).
Venue: Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre. Tickets from £11. On sale now.
Next up, in October the venue will host, Black to the Future written by emerging writer Tristan Waterson, who has just been appearing in Roy Williams’ new play produced by Attic Theatre Company All Roads, which is playing at the Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre this week, (14-18 March).
Produced by Piece of Cake Productions this searing new monodrama, told through the multi-verse explores what it means to be multifaceted as a young black person in London. The four youngest people to take their GCSEs in the UK are all black, but where are all the stories that highlight black academic excellence?
Black to the Future
The four youngest people to take their GCSEs in the UK are all black, but where are all the stories that highlight black academic excellence? Black to The Future is a monodrama that follows Joseph, an 18-year-old from an estate in East London. He has just been offered a place to study physics at Oxford, but while he celebrates, a boy from his estate has just been killed and protests are brewing. Should he stay or should he go? Told through the multi-verse, Black to The Future explores what it means to be multifaceted as a young black person in London, while giving moments of joy, tension, and deep thinking.
Seize The Cheese! A New Musical Thu 2 – Sat 11 Nov 7:45pm (& 2:45pm Sat 11 Nov).
Venue: Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre. Tickets from £11. On sale now.
Finishing the line-up and playing in November is an exuberant leap into self-discovery and multiple fractures, Seize The Cheese! A New Musical.
Loosely inspired by the world-famous cheese-rolling in Gloucestershire, in which people plummet down a deadly hill in pursuit of a speeding Double Gloucester cheese, Calimani Productions’ uplifting comedy features sumptuous songs by Patrick Steed and Mike Stocks, as well as an unforgettable array of characters, who all have their deeper reasons for risking life and limb for cheese.
Running at the Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre for 10 strictly limited performances each, this autumn, in September, October and November respectively, New Wimbledon Theatre’s Premieres season is set to be their most exciting season yet! Tickets are on sale now.
Seize The Cheese! A New Musical
Who will Seize The Cheese?! In this uplifting comedy, loosely inspired by the world-famous cheese rolling in Gloucestershire, people plummet down a deadly hill in pursuit of a speeding Double Gloucester cheese. Anarchic and hilarious, it’s the “English Book of Mormon”, according to one critic. With sumptuous songs by Patrick Steed and Mike Stocks, it features gorgeous and unforgettable characters who all have their deeper reasons for risking life and limb for, er, cheese. After all, eventually in life, you just have to leap!
What's on elsewhere?
Walk Right Back
Les Miserables, Arena Spectacular
