NYMT celebrates 50th anniversary announcing a new season
The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) has announced its 50th anniversary season, unveiling an ambitious line-up of projects that celebrate half a century of nurturing the next generation of musical theatre talent. From mainstage musicals to masterclasses and residential skills courses, NYMT continues to serve as a creative launchpad where young people across the country can dream big - and deliver.
With alumni shaping the UK’s entertainment landscape, including Idris Elba, Joe Griffiths-Brown (The Phantom of the Opera), Mike Jibson (Hamilton) and Rosy Church (Les Misérables), this milestone season honours all that this remarkable charity has achieved and continues to do. Over nearly five decades, NYMT has provided top-quality professional development for young theatre-makers, offering masterclasses, skills workshops, and residential courses to support the next generation of performers, creatives, and technicians.
As part of the upcoming season, NYMT returns to the Birmingham Hippodrome, reinforcing its commitment to nurturing exceptional young talent while celebrating the vibrant future of musical theatre. A major highlight will be a bold new production of the timeless classic West Side Story, performed by a 70-strong young company and co-produced with The Stephen Sondheim Society.
Other highlights include Every Day, a new musical based on the novel by David Levithan, written by Martha Geelan and Nick Barstow in association with DEM Productions. Also part of the anniversary season will be Just So, written by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.
The strengthened partnership with the Birmingham Hippodrome marks a significant milestone in NYMT’s vision to champion fresh voices from all backgrounds and to showcase the powerful role of young talent in shaping the industry of tomorrow.
For five decades, the National Youth Music Theatre has been at the forefront of musical theatre training and performance, nurturing generations of performers, creatives and technicians. NYMT offers outstanding opportunities for young artists to develop their craft alongside worldclass creative teams.
Chris Cuming, NYMT’s Artistic Director, said, It’s so exciting to be announcing the first part of NYMT‘s 2026 50th year programme. It’s vital to be celebrating and supporting the future of musical theatre and this collection of work does just that. The work we’re presenting for the anniversary and the partnerships we are forging shows the strength and artistic power of NYMT. It’s incredibly special for our young people to see where the work started and where the work is going. Our alumni have gone onto scale incredible heights and we are proud to recognise and celebrate where they started.
Many NYMT alumni have gone on to become some of the UK’s leading stage and screen performers, continuing a legacy of excellence and imagination that defines the organisation. Its work remains rooted in its core values: invention, inclusion, and the development of emerging theatrical talent.
In addition to its mainstage productions, NYMT will also present a series of new musical workshops, showcasing original works by emerging and established writers. These include: School Play (music by Mat Pritchard, book and lyrics by Tom Williams), Lifelines by Hayley Canham, The Ballad of Raggedy Alice by Robert Messik and Roy Raby, Unbound by Matthew Harvey, and The Unstoppable Letty Pegg by Helen Arney and James Hughes.
In these ground-breaking productions, talent from across the UK, aged between 10 and 23, will come together to showcase their skills, highlighting the creativity and ambition that continue to elevate youth musical theatre nationwide. NYMT also recently welcomed a record-breaking 1,200 auditionees to its audition workshops, reflecting the growing enthusiasm and exceptional talent among young people eager to be part of the world of musical theatre.
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