Musical hopes for local and national success

4 hours ago

Ben SidwellLichfield

News image — Disenchanted! sees princesses reject the typical "damsel in distress" trope.

BBC Three women on a stage. There is a red curtain backdrop and a sign that reads "Disenchanted!". The woman on the left has dark brown hair, a gold crown and a pink ballgown, dressed like Sleeping Beauty. In the middle is a woman with black hair, a red headband and a blue and red top with a gold skirt and red boots - dressed as Snow White. On the right is a woman with blonde hair in a bun and a long pale blue ballgown with matching gloves, dressed as Cinderella — Disenchanted! sees princesses reject the typical "damsel in distress" trope.

The boss of a Staffordshire theatre has said that its first ever home-produced musical is not just good for income, but plays a part in the wider theatre economy.

Lichfield Garrick has made and presented the UK professional premiere of Disenchanted!, which sees traditional princess characters debunk the myth of the "damsel-in-distress" trope.

The theatre has more than 500 seats and produces its own shows at least twice a year, including popular pantomimes.

"Disenchanted! is going to go to the Edinburgh Festival, we're hoping it's then going to tour the UK in 2027 and 2028," said Daniel Buckroyd, chief executive and artistic director of the Garrick.

"These things are a virtuous circle if you get it right… the kind of artists that we can attract to come and work in the West Midlands get bigger and more exciting, and then we can put bigger and more exiting shows on.

"Every time we think about putting a show on, with the exception of a panto… we're always thinking about the future… we don't want to waste all of the effort and the investment that's gone in."

A man with grey hair and glasses is wearing a dark navy button-up shirt. He is sitting down and there are blue chairs in the background and a long, yellow sofa to his left — Daniel Buckroyd says success in the theatre's other projects means productions like Disenchanted! can go ahead

"It's really hard to put shows on without significant amounts of public funding… costs are going up… but it's also vital, because if we want the quality work to present to our audiences that they want to see, we've got to get out there and make it," said Buckroyd, who also directs the production.

"The way we generate the resources to invest in making new shows like this, is by functioning brilliantly for the rest of the year.

"Our programme and our welcome are pulling in so many audiences now, it's giving us the resources to be able to keep this brilliant theatre going, but also investing in creativity."

Disenchanted! runs until 2 May and then heads to Edinburgh Fringe Festival from 5 to 30 August.

"If we want to see brilliant new music theatre coming to Lichfield, we've got to be part of making that happen," he added.

A woman with auburn hair tied back in a dark green sweater, next to a woman with dark brown hair tied back, in a black t-shirt and blue denim jacket. Behind them is a stage lit up in purple lighting. There is a red curtain and a sign reads "Disenchanted!" — Rosie Napper (left), plays Cinderella, and Roshaan Saulnier (right), plays Sleeping Beauty and Princess Badroulbadour

Roshaan Saulnier plays Sleeping Beauty and Princess Badroulbadour, and said it was "the dream" and a "privilege and a pleasure" to be doing the production.

"The only way we get the big shows and the big successes is to have so many people believing in a project and putting everything into it... that is the only way that you can hope it's the one that it works out," she said.

"Smaller productions are born from passion, we don't want them to go anywhere, we want them to have those opportunities to grow.

"That's the beginning of the bigger things."

Rosie Napper, who plays Cinderella, added: "Across the pond [in the US] they do lots of regional theatre… and I have found there's just not that much here… I feel really really lucky to be here, it all feels really exciting.

"The industry is a big industry, obviously we need the West End, we need the tours… but I think we all want more opportunities - and what a great place to have them if more companies were doing them in house."

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