James Edge - Founder/CEO

James is a performer and lyricist/song writer, who trained at “The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire”. He created the West End Best Friend page during the COVID-19 pandemic to try and spread some positivity during lockdown to people through out the industry.

Jenny Ell - Editor-in-Chief

Jenny is a freelance writer and theatre worker from Birmingham. She trained as a Stage Manager at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and has had the pleasure of working on a wide range of shows, from small scale productions to large UK tours including The Lion King, Wicked and War Horse. She has extensive experience in writing news and reviews for print/web, and is incredibly passionate about her involvement with WEBF and its ethos.

Duncan Burt - Creative Director

Duncan is a professional actor and writer originally from the West Midlands. Long before dreams of the West End, Duncan always knew his heart was in musical theatre, listening to cast recording upon cast recording until the CDs (retro right?!) wore out! Soon his hobby also became his career! Often described as “The stagiest person I know, but with the knowledge to back it up” Duncan is thrilled to be a part of the WEBF team so he can share his passion and knowledge with like minded people and hopefully introduce someone to a new show they never knew they needed to know!

Alanna Boden - Head of Diversity and Inclusion

Alanna is a freelance performer and writer based in the Midlands who has worked in the arts for 20+ years, in Musical Theatre and as a Session Singer. You will currently find her fulfilling your disco dreams as an original member of the Disco Tea Party or working on her one-woman musical biopic about finding her identity between two different cultures.

Alanna is here to make sure no best friends are put in the corner. Creating space to hear from all our contributors and ensuring our content is representative and accessible to all.