The Other Palace and Mercury Musical Developments present Musical Bites, a lunchtime series of readings that provide new musical theatre writers an opportunity to share a 45-min excerpt of their work in progress in front of supportive audiences.
Eligibility Criteria:
- New British musical with a completed draft or final script, that can be condensed to a meaningful sharing of no more than 45 min
- At least half the writing team of the musical must be resident in the UK.
- The musical can have been commissioned or workshopped already, but it can’t have received a professional production.
- The piece must be able to be performed by max 4 actors, including musical director/pianist, due to space restrictions.
There is no fee to partake in this rehearsed reading. The writer will be compensated with the event ticket income, with the expectation that they will share fairly amongst all participating.
SUMMER 2026
Wed 17 Jun – Mockingbird 1
Composer, Lyricist, Bookwriter: Jonathan Ip (he/him)
This project is being developed with and for The Daywalkers Collective, including Naomi Cook, Jonathan Ip, Emily Rogers and Jem Tyler.
The world ended. Humanity, undeterred, jettisoned themselves into the far reaches of space on the promise of a new planet to call home. As was appropriate for the late twenty-first century, the people were carefully organised by their order of utility in society. The musicians went last – aboard Mockingbird 1.
In this gig theatre musical, a sentient spaceship sings the story of the final musicians in the universe. A popstar falls in love with a bartender. The backup band finally gets to work on their own masterpiece. A music teacher saves the world.
Mockingbird 1’s journey takes us all the way from the first utterances of our Palaeolithic ancestors to the final notes of our doomed descendants, and in the face of everything, unapologetically asserts that art was, is, and will always be what makes us human.
Wed 8 Jul – Something In The Water
Composer: Marc Folan (he/him)
Bookwriter: Paul Mari (he/him)
In 1854, John Snow, a blunt Yorkshire doctor, defied Victorian society in his battle against the most feared disease of the age: cholera. As cholera ravaged the streets of London, Snow traced death itself to a single water pump in Soho. Dismissed by his peers and fighting a thousand years of deep-rooted medical prejudice, he pushed relentlessly toward a radical new understanding of disease.
Snow anaesthetised Queen Victoria, yet history has for so long barely remembered him. Why? Because he didn’t just question medicine – he threatened power itself. This is more than history – it’s a detective story, a battle between evidence and authority, and a revolutionary who refused to be silenced.
Wed 15 Jul – It’s Christmas, Carol!
Bookwriter, Lyricist: Victoria Chen (they/she)
Composer: Nian Tong (he/him)
Director, Dramaturg: Namoo Chae Lee (she/her)
Drawing from East Asian pop culture, we are proud to present a contemporary adaptation of Dickens’ beloved A Christmas Carol, except Ebenezer Scrooge is a stingy Asian aunty called Carol Ling. Based on a real and actual Aunty, but we won’t say whom – pretty much every Asian family has one anyway!
After all, Asians celebrate Christmas too, and Aladdin doesn’t actually count as rEpReSeNtAtiOn.
Wed 29 Jul – Theo In Between
Composer, Co-Lyricist, Pianist/MD: Jordan Li-Smith (he/him)
Bookwriter, Co-Lyricist: Gareth Mattey (they/them)
Director, Dramaturg: Dean Johnson (he/him)
It’s 1999, and as Dulberry prepares for the annual Harvest Festival, Theo is stuck thinking: if I find my Dad, will I understand what it means to be a ‘man’? With a good push from Mum, Theo agrees to be the Harvest Festival’s (first ever) Fall King, hurling their gender journey into the spotlight between the Chief of Police, the Festival Committee, and on-again-off-again couple Rachel and Simon. But when Dad doesn’t show, Theo abandons the festival for London.
After a surreal single night, Theo discovers their Dad cannot help – the answers they needed were at home. Recounting their story, the Chief of Police refuses to believe them. Rachel, Simon and (most importantly) Mum rally to support them. Theo finally finds confidence in their in-between-ness, inspiring the town of Dulberry on the brink of the year 2000 to ask: “What do you wanna see? Who do you wanna be?”
Previously featured shows
Autumn 2025
Valhalla
Book, Music & Lyrics: Kitty Morgan (she/her)
Ready to Wear
Writer & Composer: Rachel Garnet (she/her)
Arranger: Robert Russel (he/him)
PTA, The Musical
Book, Music & Lyrics: Amanda Alexander (she/her) & Karen Fisher-Pollard (she/her)
Music & Lyrics: Craig Mather (he/him)
Musical Supervisor / Orchestrator & Arranger: Steve Moss (he/him)
Legendary: The Myth of Creation
Writer & Performer: Cheeyang Ng (they/them)
Music Director: Yshani Perinpanayagam (she/her)
Spring-Summer 2025
Deal of the Day
Book: Doug Quinn
Music: Adam O’Connor
Lyrics: Simon May
Can’t Complain
Writer & Composer: Sam Easton
Creative Director: Madison French
Dashing
Book & Lyrics: Will Jackson
Music & Lyrics: Matthew Floyd Jones
The Stop
Book: Emily Garsin
Music & Lyrics: Anna Shields
Flyology
Music & Lyrics: Tamiko Dooley
Book & Lyrics: Cathy Farmer
Autumn 2024
Portrait Unknown
Book & Lyrics: Tommy James Green
Music: Thomas Currie
Co-Creator & Producer: Kristie Winsen
Just Be(e)
Book, Music, Lyrics: Carlo Bosticco
Music, Arrangements: Matt Randall
Jilted
Creator/Writer: Lauryn Gaffney
Arranger/Musical Director: Ben Cooper
Instant Luv-noodles
Book: Tsukuri Miyano
Music: Nian Tong
Producer: Mrin Somani
Spring-Summer 2024
Cupids
Writer: Kate O’Conell-Lauder
Lyricist: Harry Baker
Composer: Rebecca Dale
Performers: Darcey Salt, Max Alexander-Taylor, Phoebe Fildes
The Planet Is _____
Writers & Performers: Natasha Pavey and Meg McGrady
Three Kinds Of Normal
Book & Music: Charlie-Jo Simpson
Director: Liberty Clark
Performers: Lana Fowler-Burtwell, Charlie-Jo Simpson, Sam Ellyatt, Pandora Seymour
YOU, ME & the rest of the world
Book, Music & Lyrics: Hollie Cassar
Director: Katherine Hare
Producer: Kai Wright
Performers: Karis Anderson, Daisy Ann Fletcher, Emma Hatton and Liam Tamne
The Sesh
Writers: Rob Gathercole & Rebecca Simmonds
Performers: Shane O’Riordan, Roshani Abbey, Max Alexander-Taylor, Eloise Davies
Raising Gays
Writers: Jordan Paul Clarke and Micha Mirto
Performers: Alex Young, Damian Humbley, Jonathan Andrew Hume, Sarah Ingram
Autumn 2023
Candor
Based on the novel by Pam Bachorz
Book, Music & Lyrics: Sinead Hegarty
Additional Arrangements: Kevin Oliver Jones
Director: Rebeka Dio
Cast: Rhys Whitfield, Sinead Hegarty, Lewis Asquith, Ellie Birch
FLIP
Book, Music & Lyrics: Josh Bird & Giles Fernando
Director: Penny Gkritzapi
Cast: Amelia Walker, Jade Johnson and Julie Atherton
The Forty Elephants
Book & Lyrics: Sophie Boyce
Music: Einar Adalsteinsson
Cast: Ashlie Kenyon-Evason, Layla Armstrong-Hughes, Ryan Bennett, and Charlotte Webb
Chosen
Writing / Creative team: Taiyo Yoshida & Dominic Varney
Cast: Julie Atherton, Georgina Scott, and Jonathan Bourne
Bette and Joan and Baby Jane
Book: Tracy-Ann Oberman & Shaun McKenna
Music: James Cleeve
Lyrics: Nikki Racklin
Performers: Sophie-Louise Dann, Gillian Kirkpatrick & Jack Reitman
Ukulele Days
Writer: Amy Clare Tasker
Director: Nicky Allpress
Dramaturg: Tricity Vogue
Musical Director: Tom James McGrath
Cast: Anne-Marie Piazza, Joe da Costa, Toby Bradford, and Lata Nobes
sPRING-Summer 2023
The Highwayman
Book, Music, Lyrics: Kitty Morgan
Producer: Adam Nichols, OVO Theatre
Cast: Adam Morris, Melissa O’Donnell, AJ Deane, Kitty Morgan
The Rise and Fall of Vinnie & Paul
Book, Music & Lyrics: Neil Bastian
Cast: Max Alexander-Taylor, Charlie McCullagh
GRIMM: The Musical
Book & Lyrics: Josh Kemp and Tom Ling
Music: Josh Kemp
Guitar: Josh Kemp
Cast: Tom Ling, Eleanor Cozens, Geddy Stringer, Alice Hoult
Becoming Nigella
Book, Music & Lyrics: Emily Rose Simons
Director: Grace Taylor
Musical Director: David Merriman
Cast: Tanya Truman & Natasha Karp
The Attic: Because a Woman Should Know Her Place
Book & Lyrics: Estee Stimler
Music: Yuval Havkin
Cast: Kaisa Hammarlund, Michael Vinsen, Jade Johnson, Claire Learie
Cliffs
Book, Lyrics & Music: Elan Butler
Associate Artists: Bullet Point Theatre
Cast: Lucinda Coyle, Bradley Luckett, Elan Butler, Rosie Weston