Paper House Productions have announced Spotlight on New Musicals live at The Union Theatre in London on 23 January 2022, featuring the original new bilingual musical For Tonight, with a cast of “The Stars of Tomorrow”.

The event will also feature emerging musical theatre writers and musicals, and will highlight other new musicals: Summer Survival, Bird Brigade, Is He Musical?, Plan Bea, and the music of Sam Thomas. It has musical direction by Josh Cottell and will be hosted by West End star, Luke Bayer. 

The For Tonight cast includes Joey Cornish, Kyle Birth, Maya Kristal Tenebaum, Sophie Bassett-Hughes, Sophie Lee-Stevens, and Zac Frieze. Other cast members include Aitch Wylie, Ben Armstrong, Bibi Jay, Cassius Hackforth, Ceri-Anne Thomas, Conor Headley, Emily Shelton, Joely Colleen Emms, Madelin Roberts, Shane Whitley, Sophie Houldsworth, Stephanie Howlett, Stephanie McKenzie, and Tom Holt.

For Tonight is a new, original, musical inspired by the writer's third great grandfather's handwritten journal. The story begins in 1832, in a small town in North Wales where a Romani family travels through town, finding shelter on the farm of the Parry family. Soon after their arrival, the Parry parents die from an unknown disease and the Romani travelers are forced to go into hiding after being blamed for bringing “filth and death” to Trelawnyd.Through a riveting score, the atmospheric soundscape blends traditional Welsh choral, indie-pop, folk, and Romani-inspired melodies and rhythms. At its core, For Tonight is an exploration of the power and meaning of home through the lens of two unheard cultures in musical theatre: Welsh and Romani.

Writer Spencer Williams said: “We are so excited to collaborate with Paper House Productions and Sam Caldwell to bring For Tonight to London for the first time. It’s been a dream of ours to bring this UK-based story to audiences and what better way to introduce the material with new and upcoming writers and performers.

“We hope that this is the beginning of our journey in London as we hope to have a development workshop and concert in summer of 2022.”

You can listen to the new UK Concept Cast Recording of For Tonight on all digital platforms (Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon etc). The original musical has music and lyrics by Shenelle Salcido and Spencer Williams, orchestrations by Salcido and Joseph Purdue, with additional arrangements by Drew Wutke, Welsh music ensemble direction by Iestyn Griffiths and Romani script consultancy by Raine Geoghegan.

Tickets are now on sale on The Union Theatre’s website here.