From Page To Stage – Season Of New Musicals
From Page To Stage is an international festival of new Musical Theatre, showcasing new musicals at all different stages of development. It was created by Katy Lipson in 2013 and is now in its 7th year of operation.
FROM PAGE TO STAGE began in 2013 when the Landor Theatre became available for a 4 week period and we decided to work on presenting a full festival of new musical theatre with them. We had a strong knowledge of British writers at that time so the first year was a combination of operating as a receiving house like the Edinburgh Fringe; reading new work and selecting it for presentation as well as self-presenting 2 weeks of new work as a producer. We had 23 different performances over 28 days.
2014 was the year we first applied for GRANT FOR THE ARTS and decided to produce all the work in the festival. It’s this year we first reached out to American artists as well as British and created the format of a songwriters showcase, 3 staged readings and 4 showcases on one evening. Readings this year included CLAUS THE MUSICAL and RETURN OF THE SOLDIER which later received a critically acclaimed production at the Jermyn Street Theatre as well as full workshop productions of BEFORE THE NIGHT IS THROUGH from the UK and THE MISTRESS CYCLE from the US.
In 2015 we moved to the more centrally located theatre THE TRISTAN BATES at THE ACTORS CENTRE and doubled our grant from the Arts Council. In this year we presented new British musical THE STATIONMASTER for 2 weeks as well as showcases of JUST A MAN and THIS IS ALSO ENGLAND as well as a reading of OUT THERE by Elliot Davis and James Bourne..
2016 was our final year at The Tristan Bates and we decided to present a shorter 3 week season focused on showcases and readings only. This was an exciting year as we presented the European Premiere of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s mini musical 21 CHUMP STREET as well as a 45 minute one woman song cycle called HEART OF WINTER and BANANAMAN.
The 2017 festival moved to The Other Palace and had one of the largest companies in the West End that summer: a Cast of 60+, working alongside 18 Creatives, plus Musicians and over 50 Composers and Writers presenting new musicals! From fully staged main house productions, readings, workshops to concerts and showcases, the International Summer Festival runs for three weeks. Showcasing musicals from around the world including: Panama, Germany, France, UK and US.
FROM PAGE TO STAGE is now seen as a ground-breaking International Musical Festival for new musicals that will be heard by the musical industry names and public audiences, at the start of their musical theatre life.
Last year, Andrew Lloyd Webber, owner of The Other Palace said: “I am thrilled that Katy Lipson is bringing From Page to Stage to The Other Palace. It buoys my hope that The Other Palace will become a breeding ground for new musicals and a genuine hub for anyone interested in musical theatre.”
We were thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to present the 2017 festival at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s THE OTHER PALACE and are extremely proud of all we have achieved over the last 5 years. We are now in the midst of a very exciting 2018 season, which is showcasing the new American musical UNEXPECTED JOY as well as 7 other new musicals. You can view full information about this year’s FPTS London season here.