The 2026 UK Musical Theatre Conference is taking place on Wednesday 15th April at Soho Theatre Walthamstow, London – and tickets are NOW ON SALE!
The UK Musical Theatre Conference is the nation’s leading conference event examining the musical theatre sector and art form. A day packed with panels, presentations, networking and discussion, the Conference is a rare opportunity to gather together those focused on the creation of musical theatre in the UK and provides a chance to creatively interrogate the issues and opportunities facing the musical theatre industry.
This biennial event is jointly produced by Musical Theatre Network and Mercury Musical Developments – co-producers of BEAM, the UK’s industry showcase of new musicals. A registered charity and not-for-profit company respectively, all proceeds from the Conference are used for supporting the development of the musical theatre sector in the UK.
The 2026 Conference will take place at Soho Theatre Walthamstow, a major new 960-seat London venue that opened in May 2025.
A beloved 1930s art deco venue with an incredible heritage, the space has been beautifully restored by Waltham Forest Council in partnership with Soho Theatre and was recently awarded Theatre Building of the Year at The Stage Awards 2026.
We encourage you to book early to avoid disappointment – the last Conference in 2024 at the Royal Court sold out in advance, bringing together a significant cross-section of the professional musical theatre industry and featuring speakers including Nica Burns, SpitLip (creators of ‘Operation Mincemeat’), Nancy Medina, David Byrne, Ameena Hamid, David Brownlee, Anoushka Lucas, DJ Walde, Janie Dee and Jon Gilchrist.
Members of Musical Theatre Network or Mercury Musical Developments will receive a 30% discount on tickets. Members should enter their discount code when booking.
Soho Theatre Walthamstow photos © David Levine. 2024 Conference photos © Lexi Clare.
The History
2007
The organisation was known as Musical Theatre Matters (MTM) and led by its founder Chris Grady. The first UK Musical Theatre Conference took place in 2007. By the second in 2008, attendees included not only professionals working in musical theatre from around the UK but also from the USA, Korea, China and Norway.
2012
MTM became MTN in 2012, and from 2013 the Conferences began to be produced jointly with MMD. 2013’s Conference was titled ‘Fuelling the Future’ and took place at Soho Theatre, then in 2014 at the Almeida Theatre, and in 2015 at the Arcola Theatre (titled ‘Putting it Together’).
2016
The first BEAM showcase was in 2016, so since then the Conference has been in alternate years to BEAM: in 2017 it was at the Lyric Hammersmith (‘High Flying Adored? – Redefining Success in new musical theatre in the UK’), and in 2019 it was at Royal & Derngate, Northampton (‘Road Show’ with a focus on mid-scale touring of musical theatre).
2022
2022’s Conference was at Birmingham Hippodrome (‘Worlds to Change and Worlds to Win’ – New Musical Theatre for our Times), and the 2024 UK Musical Theatre Conference will return to London for the first time in seven years.
2024
The industry joined together at the Royal Court on Friday 12th April 2024 to delve into the future prospects for musical theatre in the UK. The day was packed with panels, networking, discussions and provocations. The conference was a chance to think creatively about new work development and production, and the broader issues facing the musical theatre industry.
Past speakers
Past speakers at Conferences have included Andy Barnes (‘Six’), Cora Bissett (‘Glasgow Girls’), Gurinder Chadha (‘Bend it like Beckham’), Adam Cork (‘London Road’), Suba Das (‘Sukanya’), Gerel Falconer (‘Black Power Desk’), Sean Flahaven (Concord Theatricals), Rupert Goold (‘American Psycho’), Vicky Graham (‘Flowers for Mrs Harris’), Julius Green (Bill Kenwright Ltd), Ameena Hamid (‘The Wiz’), Pamela Karantonis (Goldsmiths), Pravesh Kumar (‘Britain’s Got Bhangra’), Angharad Lee (‘The Last 5 Years’), Katy Lipson (‘The Addams Family’), Drew McOnie (‘In the Heights’), Kerry Kyriacos Michael (‘Tommy’), Andrew Panton (‘Oor Wullie’), Kate Prince (‘Sylvia’), Jenny Sealey (‘Reasons to be Cheerful’), Dan Gillespie Sells (‘Everybody’s Talking about Jamie’), Chris Sudworth (Birmingham Hippodrome), Danielle Tarento (‘Titanic’), Michele Taylor (Ramps on the Moon), Paul Taylor-Mills (‘Heathers’), Richard Thomas (‘Jerry Springer’), Hardish Virk (‘Bombay Dreams’), DJ Walde (‘Some Like It Hip Hop’) and Kenny Wax (‘Six’)
Conference programmes
