TALENT AND PASSION

I have just heard from Chris Grady, one of the people who was so helpful when I was working on the Arts Council application. He has just returned from New York, where he was attending the NAMT (National Alliance for Musical Theatre) and NYFT (New York Musical Theatre Festival) festivals. It is festivals like this that help new musical writers to start out on the road to success in the USA. These organisations hold workshops and masterclasses too, before exposing their raw talent to the audience. Chris is in the process of setting up The Quest Foundation, to support new musical theatre in Britain. On the front page of his foundation proposal is a quote from the great Kurt Weill:

"I believe that the musical theatre is the highest, the most expressive and the most imaginative form of theatre, and that a composer who has a talent and passion for the theatre can express himself completely in this branch of musical creativeness"

I have a feeling that this opinion is not shared by everyone in the theatre world in this country. Given the right conditions, and enough support, it could be true.