The BBC today announce that a special digital ‘U.Me: The Musical’ live pre-premiere event is set to take place on Wednesday, 12 May 2021. Listeners and viewers worldwide can join the warmth and joy of a night at the theatre at the musical’s live digital world premiere event, hosted by eight-time Olivier Award nominee, actress and director Maria Friedman. The audience will be given a flavour of what to expect from ‘U.Me: The Musical’ – the story, the players, the production – from 7.45PM ahead of the musical’s BBC World Service radio broadcast premiere and the fully-animated musical extravaganza launching via bbcworldservice.com/musical
‘U.Me: The Musical’, which is an international love story, based around two young people on opposite sides of the world who meet online and make a true connection, will raise the curtain at 8PM for audiences to enjoy its rich and visual experience, with the glorious accompaniment of the BBC Philharmonic, emotional performances by lead actors Anoushka Lucas and Martin Sarreal, brilliantly witty and heart-warming music and lyrics by Theo Jamieson and a special guest narration by Stephen Fry.
After the show, Friedman will be joined by the lead singers Anoushka Lucas and Martin Sarreal, the writer Theo Jamieson, violinist, Lily Whitehurst, and music producer Steve Levine from 8.55PM for a live chat, sharing their experiences working on this unique production. Audiences are encouraged to join in on the Q&A, just as if everyone was mingling in a theatre’s green room.
U.Me: The Musical’s live world premiere event will stream online from 7.45PM at bbcworldservice.com/musical
‘U.Me: The Musical’, a cultural response to a unique global collective experience, encourages listeners and viewers to join into the global conversation, connecting audiences from across the world for this global night at the theatre, by sharing their thoughts, feelings and experiences of the past year, even their own international love stories, using the hashtag #UDOTME.
The BBC today also reveal a first sneak peek of the rich and vibrant animations set to accompany the mega-musical’s explosive multi-genre score, which will be available in addition to the BBC World Service radio broadcast across BBC platforms. The teaser clip features track Life In Lockdown, introducing the narrative of the musical’s international love story, while echoing the thoughts and feelings felt across the world. Watch the clip here
Bringing together an incredible team, ‘U.Me: The Musical’ is a regional UK production for UK and international audiences on BBC World Service and will feature words and music by Theo Jamieson (previously music director for ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ and ‘Here Lies Love’), music production by Liverpool-based Steve Levine (famed for his work with Culture Club, The Clash and The Beach Boys) and casting by Will Burton (Casting Director for the likes of ‘Matilda’ and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’). The book is written by Simon Pitts and Theo Jamieson and the musical is created by Simon Pitts, BBC World Service.
The musical is a broadcast hour and will have its world premiere at 8pm BST on 12 May 2021 on BBC World Service and will be chapterised for podcast on BBC Sounds.
