It’s far too early to be thinking about Christmas, we know, but time does fly by fast. It feels like we were reporting on Birmingham Hippodrome’s new in-house musical theatre department only last month, but apparently, it was almost a year ago. Now, it has become the first UK venue to develop its own musical with the announcement of its first full production, The Jingleclaw.
There’s still a long time to wait to see it, however, with the festive family musical not showing until Christmastime. Created for 3–7-year-olds, The Jingleclaw production will open at the Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio on Thursday, December 12, 2024 and run until Saturday, January 4, 2025. It’s hurting our head just thinking that far ahead, it’s not even summer yet…
Still, it is exciting! Written by Robyn Grant and Tim Gilvin, The Jingleclaw is set in a cosy village in the snowy mountains, telling the story of young musician Astrid and the mischievous forest creature The Jingleclaw. It will be the first in a series of musicals for children produced by Birmingham Hippodrome under the My First Musical banner.
“We’re so excited to be one of the first teams working with this incredible New Musical Theatre department as the Hippodrome continues to grow as a beacon of new British Musical Theatre,” said Robyn Grant. “Tim and I are both incredibly passionate about bringing new audiences to musical theatre so who better to start with than the next generation of budding stars and theatregoers!
“The Jingleclaw is a silly, joyful, magical show in which we’re creating our very own winter monster in a format which feels fresh, vibrant and funny. We’re packing the show with amazing puppets and props, audience interaction, larger than life characters and tunes you’ll be singing all the way home.”
It’s far from all the New Musical Theatre Department has been up to. Since establishing itself in 2023, it has produced workshop performances of This Is A Love Story and launched the Musical Theatre Writers Group – a developmental programme that offers five writing teams the opportunity to develop a new musical over the course of 12 months. With more productions on their way, we’re excited to get our first taste of its work with The Jingleclaw.
Chris Sudworth, Creative Director at Birmingham Hippodrome said: “Robyn and Tim are two of the brightest talents in UK musical theatre. We supported their step up from the Fringe with Unfortunate in 2019, and they bring their characteristic joy, playfulness, naughtiness, lyrical and musical invention – but for a family audience – to The Jingleclaw.”
Tickets for The Jingleclaw go on pre-sale to Friends of Birmingham Hippodrome at 11am on Thursday, April 11 and on general sale at 11am on Friday, April 12. They can be purchased here or by calling 0844 338 5000.