The Stage

Jude Law and Jason Robert Brown launch National Youth Music Theatre season

Published Tuesday 21 February 2012 at 12:52 by Natalie Woolman

Jason Robert Brown’s Broadway musical 13 is to run in the West End this summer under the auspices of the National Youth Music Theatre, as the company celebrates its 35th year.

Brown will direct his musical, which is about being 13 and features a young cast. It will run at the Apollo Theatre from August 22 to 25. The writer will also stage a gala concert at the theatre on August 26.

Speaking to The Stage: “It’s really exciting because not only are they amazing kids but they are also under the umbrella of this company, which has such a wonderful reputation for nurturing kids and taking care of them and supporting them and that feels like exactly the right balance.

Brown also said that auditioning children in the UK was different from his experience in the USA.

He explained: “It’s very different. I feel like kids in the States sell very hard. They are very driven and they are very tough and they are very hard to rattle, they are used to pressure. These kids [in the UK] were much more relaxed and comfortable in their skin and they seemed to be enjoying the process.

“It wasn’t as competitive and it wasn’t as aggressive and I miss elements of one while I am in the other.”

NYMT alumni including Eddie Redmayne, Sheridan Smith and Jude Law were all at the launch of the company’s new season, which also includes The Dreaming by Howard Goodall and Charles Hart at the Rose Theatre in Kingston in July.

Speaking about his experience at NYMT, Law said: “It gave me a sense of discipline, a sense of improvement, a sense of responsibility, a sense playing a part in a company, being a company member and fitting in and all the politics of that.”