Musical Theatre Network (MTN) and Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) have been awarded funding to support placements as part of the Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer Scheme.
Through this scheme, professional musical theatre writers are paired with a company and given the opportunity to be involved in a range of work which could include writing/composing assignments on the host company’s projects, shadowing development/rehearsal processes, and working on development of their own musical theatre material. Recent hosts have included the Royal Shakespeare Company; Theatr Clwyd; Octagon Theatre; Hope Mill Theatre; The Lowry; and British Youth Music Theatre.
The successful recipients will receive an all-inclusive grant of £13,000 per individual writer, thanks to the generous support of The Mackintosh Foundation.
Any MTN member organisation which runs a producing theatre is welcome to express interest in hosting a future placement, simply contact us.
2025 Resident Writer Placement
We are delighted to announce the next placement:
The next placement will be hosted by British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT).
This placement is for a musical theatre writing team of two. The opportunity will provide paid writing time and support for the team to develop a new musical over the course of the placement. This will have a guaranteed production or developmental workshop week in 2026 with a cast of approximately 36 young people.
Alongside this, the composer of the team will collaborate with the wider BYMT team on their 2025 season of new musicals as a music coordinator, while the bookwriter will be involved in each show in a dramaturgical capacity.
The placement will commence from March 2025 and comprise six months of full-time work, to take place over a period of six to nine months. MMD, MTN and BYMT are committed to diversifying voices in new musical theatre writing and broadening the art form, and writers from a background which is under-represented in musical theatre writing are encouraged to consider applying.
The writers will receive an inclusive fee of £13,000, thanks to the support of the Mackintosh Foundation. BYMT’s offices are in Leeds and London and so the resident team may base themselves at either of these locations. With 2025 projects taking place across the UK, there may be some travel involved, for which additional expenses would be covered.
The placement will consist of a range of bespoke professional development opportunities, including:
- Guaranteed commission for 2026 season with a company of 36 young people (either a full production or one-week workshop camp, to be determined by BYMT programming team)
- Development support from BYMT team and associated creatives for your piece (one day per month, bespoke to development needs)
- Guaranteed opportunity for a 1-2 day ‘Discover Music Theatre’ workshop in a school, to develop your piece
- In-depth feedback on your piece from BYMT’s Young Company Panel
- Writer – assist on dramaturgy in the development of five productions and six camps taking place in Summer 2025 alongside Creative Director and Young Company Manager (one day per week)
- Composer – Music Coordinator support for five productions, facilitating operations between MDs, AMDs, professional musicians and young musicians alongside Young Company Manager (one day per week)
- Shadowing Composer / Writer teams during the summer on either a production or a camp (time to be determined)
- Invitation to BYMT events for networking opportunities
Application Timeline
Monday 6th January: Applications open
Wednesday 29th January: Closing date for applications
Wednesday 26th February: Interviews
March: Placement begins
Eligibility to apply for Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer Scheme
You will be asked to upload:
1. A cover letter in PDF format (maximum 3 sides of A4), which should address the following three prompts. Do not include any personal contact details (email address/phone number etc.) on this document.
– Outline the professional experience and any relevant education of both applicants.
– Why this opportunity appeals to you and why it would particularly benefit you and your writing partner at this point in your musical theatre writing career.
– Describe the project you would like to develop with BYMT during your time as Resident Writing Team
2. Three musical theatre song demos (in .mp3 or .wav format) which demonstrate the style and breadth of your work.
All three songs should be from projects written by both applicants and not from projects written independently.
If you have a song written to be performed by young people and/or a large cast, please include this
3. Lyric sheets to correspond with the three song demos (PDF format).
One scene from a stage musical you have written (PDF, maximum 4 sides of A4) which is the scene leading up to one of the three demo songs you have submitted.
If you have any questions about the application please contact martin@mercurymusicals.com or call 020 3951 7961.
History of the scheme
2009
The Resident Composer scheme began in 2009 with a grant from Arts Council England that allowed an initial trial placement of a musical theatre composer being paid a fee to spend six months in residence at a producing theatre. The first composer to be selected was Michael Bruce, and the first host venue was the Bush Theatre. The placement was so successful that when the artistic director of the Bush, Josie Rourke, became the artistic director of the Royal Court, she took Michael with her to become a resident composer there.
2011
The scheme which developed from this first placement was run solely by Mercury Musical Developments initially, and in 2011 the Mackintosh Foundation generously gave the first of several three-year grants to enable the scheme to continue, and it became the Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer scheme, with a focus on giving musical theatre composers insights into the way producing theatres work through being in residence at one for six months.
Subsequent recipients were Dougal Irvine, Craig Adams, Kieran Buckeridge, Paul Herbert, Greg Harradine and Rebecca Applin.
2015
Musical Theatre Network became co-co-ordinator of the scheme from 2015, coinciding with a rebalancing of the gender of recipients over the following years, and with placements in Scotland and Wales for the first time.
2022
The first writing team recipients were Caitlyn Burt and Amir Schoenfeld who were hosted by Theatr Clwyd.
Previous Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composers
Rebecca Applin
Mercury Theatre, Colchester and New Wolsey, Ipswich 2015
“Through the Resident Composer Scheme I have worked on an amazing variety of types of shows and platforms. Meeting and working with lots of different directors and creatives has been incredibly valuable and I hope has been the start of collaborations that will carry on into the future”.
Dylan Townley
Octagon Theatre Bolton 2023
“I was given a warm Bolton welcome and feel like one of the team. Getting to take part in activities across the whole building is a great contrast to gig-based freelance life, and it presents lots of different ways to make music – from community sessions and youth productions to professional shows in the main theatre, and support developing my own work.”
Read more about Dylan’s journey so far HERE
Caitlyn Burt and Amir Schoenfeld
Theatr Clwyd, Mould 2022
“This residency is unique in its scope and there aren’t many other opportunities for writers in the UK to concentrate on a project for this long.”
Previous Host Venues
