The UK Musical Theatre Conference, organised by Musical Theatre Network and Mercury Musical Developments, has revealed its full programme ahead of next week’s event at Soho Theatre. The conference aims to address key challenges and future directions for the musical theatre sector.

The conference opens with a welcome from James Hadley and Zaylie-Dawn Wilson, followed by a session chaired by Tracy Cooper featuring short talks on how the musical theatre sector can respond to current challenges. Speakers include Dr Sarah K Whitfield, Nathalie McDermott and Josette Bushell-Mingo.

A panel chaired by Nancy Medina will focus on the perspectives of Black and Global Majority creatives, with contributions from Rafia Hussain, Urielle Klein-Mekongo, Frey Kwa Hawking, Sumerah Srivastav and Tim Sutton. Another session, led by producer Emily Lunnon, will explore how musicals transition between international markets, with panellists Natalie Chan, Jethro Compton, John Manning, Joseph Smith and Danielle Tarento.

The programme includes breakout discussions alongside main sessions. Post-lunch, Andrew Panton chairs a session on the role of dance in new musicals, featuring Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, Andy Kumar, Dannielle Rhimes Lecointe and Alexzandra Sarmiento. A concurrent breakout will continue discussions on climate-related themes.

Further sessions address emerging technologies and data use in musical theatre. Felix Cross chairs a discussion on artificial intelligence with Matt Eames, Lesley Gannon, Sally Ann Gritton, Stephen Pidcock and Shaye Poulton Richards. Ameena Hamid leads a session on data use, joined by David Brownlee and Dan Rebellato.

The closing session, chaired by Michèle Taylor, focuses on accessibility in developing new work, involving panellists Alex Bulmer, Caitlyn Burt, Hayley Egan, Jenny Sealey and Amir Shoenfeld. The full line-up reflects a broad engagement with pressing social, cultural and technological issues in the musical theatre industry.