Why Am I So Single?, From Six Creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Sets West End World Premiere

SIX creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss' new musical Why Am I So Single? will premiere on the West End, playing the Garrick Theatre beginning August 27. Moss will direct. The run is currently scheduled to continue through February 13, 2025.

With pop and musical-inspired songs, the show follows two perpetually single friends who can't figure out why they're so single or what to write their next musical about. The musical, featuring a book, music, and lyrics by Marlow and Moss, previously had a workshop at the Lilian Baylis Studio Theatre at Sadler's Wells in London last autumn.

Lead cast for Why Am I So Single? West End musical announced

Initial casting has been revealed for new West End musical Why Am I So Single?, which is penned by Six creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss.

Following two writers struggling to write a second musical while also embroiled in romantic woes, leading the show will be Jo Foster (& Juliet, Just For One Day), who will return from the show’s early workshop, alongside Leesa Tulley (Six, Kin).

They are joined on stage by Noah Thomas (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), while the ensemble casting is to be announced.

Directed by Moss, the show’s creative team includes choreographer Ellen Kane, orchestrator, musical supervisor and vocal arranger Joe Beighton, set designer Moi Tran, costume designer Max Johns, lighting designer Jai Morjaria, sound designer Paul Gatehouse, casting directors Harry Blumenau and Sarah-Jane Price, band fixers Sylvia Addison and Richard Morris, music producers Future Cut, associate choreographer Michael Naylor, production manager Phoebe Bath and general managers Kenny Wax Productions and Ameena Hamid Productions.

Brits Off-Broadway festival debuts nine UK productions

Nine UK productions will make their New York debuts as part of the 2023 Brits Off-Broadway festival. 

This year marks the first full return of the festival since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Running from April 18 to July 2 at 59E59 Theatre, Brits Off-Broadway is curated by 59E59 artistic director Val Day and artistic director of London’s New Diorama Theatre David Byrne.

Among the productions due to make their debuts are Laura Horton’s Breathless, Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art and Dexter Flanders’ Foxes. 

Other productions include Cecil Beaton’s Diaries, adapted and performed by Richard Stirling, and Nikhil Parmar’s Invisible, which is presented by Ameena Hamid Productions and the Bush Theatre.

HD General Management Launches: Producers launch 'care-focused' general management company

Producers Ameena Hamid and Grace Dickson have launched a general management company to combat the lack of care within the theatre industry. 

HD General Management will be dedicated to delivering better well-being, access, equity, diversity and inclusion, and human resource services in the arts. Hamid and Dickson said they set up the company, which will provide bespoke support to producers, theatres, freelancers, agencies and organisations, after growing "frustrated at the lack of care plaguing the theatre and entertainment industry".

They will focus on areas including pastoral support, complaints processes and recruitment, as well as providing regular general management services. 

Ameena Hamid named as one of The Stage 100 2023

The Stage 100 is intended to reflect the 100 most influential people working in theatre and the performing arts. It is considered from the point of view of The Stage, as a trade publication, and so focuses both on theatre as a business and an art form. Inclusion within the list and ranking is weighted towards impact over the past 12 months. We also aim to have a list that – as much as is possible and plausible – reflects the astonishing breadth of the theatre industry. However, the list also seeks to reflect how the theatre and performing arts industry is, not what it aims to be, or we would like it to be.

Ameena Hamid, producer

In 2020, then 20-year-old Hamid became the youngest female producer in the West End when working as an associate producer on Death Drop. She writes on her website that “one-handed black daughters of immigrants are rare to find in the public eye” and is keen to pave the way for other artists from marginalised backgrounds. Other recent work has included Matthew Gabrielli’s Zombiegate at Theatre503, and The Wiz at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre, for which she won best producer at the Black British Theatre Awards 2022. She also co-organised Holly’s Angels Festive Markets for freelancers and those facing hardship in December.

Black British Theatre Awards 2022 winners announced

The winners for this year's Black British Theatre Awards have been revealed this evening at the National Theatre.

The ceremony was presented by Danny Sapani, with the evening featuring opening remarks from the National's deputy artistic director Clint Dyer.

BEST PRODUCER AWARD goes to Ameena Hamid, The Wiz, Hope Mill Theatre

Re:Imagining Musicals

Explore how some of the best-loved musicals have been adapted, revived, and retold.

Head over to the V&A’s Theatre and Performance section for their new musicals exhibition and take a look at the model box, clips from and a video on the making of our critically acclaimed revival of The Wiz.

Tina Turner star Aisha Jawando: We need more stories depicting black joy

Tina Turner star Aisha Jawando and producer Ameena Hamid have called for more stories in theatre depicting black joy rather than solely focusing on trauma. They were speaking at the Black British Theatre Awards 2022, which took place at the National Theatre on October 16.

Hamid, who scooped the best producer award for The Wiz at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, agreed that she would like to see more black stories that depict joy rather than solely trauma. 

"I’d like to see stories that are diverse and joyful, particularly joyful.”

Stage One Autumn Bursaries for 2022 Announced

Our Creative Producer Ameena has been announce as one of o Stage One's Autumn Bursary recipients.

She is very greateful and excited for this time to develop the company and infrastructure in order to effectively deliver on her commitment to developing new and innovative work.

Casting announced for ZOMBIEGATE at Theatre503

Full casting has been announced for new play Zombiegate, a satirical exploration of the rise in internet trolls and the return of public shaming, which plays at Theatre503 in London from 1-19 November.

Performing the debut of Matthew Gabrielli’s play are Ebony Jonelle (Les Miserables), George Howard (Witness For The Prosecution), Chand Martinez (Jelly Bean Jack), and Virginia Thompson (Small Island).

Musical theatre creatives propose measures to boost inclusivity

Regular accessible performances and documents outlining access needs should be included in musicals from the beginning of the production to make the form more inclusive, creatives working across the sector have argued.

Hamid said: "The only way to make sure who is on stage is fully representative and inclusive is by starting at the casting process, which includes having an open conversation about what access requirements are needed.

"There’s a tendency to see certain things that may need access requirements as some kind of difficulty – and as someone who grew up with one hand, it’s not. It’s really simple if you just have an open conversation."

Actors from tiny Manchester theatre step into TV spotlight

The cast of an all-black reworking of The Wizard of Oz at a 120-seat venue in Manchester will be put in the spotlight along with a host of West End stars.

Hope Mill Theatre's The Wiz takes centre stage in an extravaganza filmed in front of 10,000 people that will be broadcast to millions on TV and radio. It is among 15 musicals in The National Lottery's Big Night of Musicals, on BBC One on Saturday and Radio 2 on Sunday.

The Wiz's co-producer Ameena Hamid, 21, said it was "a huge thing for us".

The Stage 25: Ameena Hamid

We are delighted to say that Ameena has been selected as one of the Stage 25: Theatremakers to watch out for in 2022 and beyond. This is truly an honour and the list certainly has us “excited about the future of theatre”.

“One-handed black daughters of immigrants are rare to find in the public eye”, Ameena Hamid writes on her website. And she’s right. But the producer is one of the industry’s most exciting talents – and one of the youngest at that.

In 2020, as an associate producer on Death Drop at the West End’s Garrick Theatre she was the youngest ever female producer in the West End, aged 20. Since then, as the winner of Stage One’s Bridge the Gap initiative, aimed at addressing the lack of diversity in producing, Hamid has continued to climb the ranks, working on shows such as Wonderville and The Show Must Go On! Live at the Palace Theatre, both part of Nimax Theatres’ Rising Stars festival.

Francesca Moody, Ameena Hamid and Patrick Gracey join theatre producers league

Francesca Moody, Ameena Hamid and Patrick Gracey have joined the board of trustees for the League of Independent Producers.

The industry body, which represents more than 100 of the UK’s independent theatre producers, announced the appointments following the result of its latest elections… Hamid’s work focuses on giving underrepresented voices a platform, and she is one of the youngest producers currently working in the West End as associate producer on Death Drop.

They will each join the League of Independent Producers for three-year terms.

Leading Ladies: Five female theatrical pioneers

A lot of the magic that we see on stage happens behind the curtain. In fact, some of the biggest successes in West End history are owed to some women that you might not have heard of. Here are five pioneering women of the theatre, plus a special pioneer of the future for you to keep an eye out for!

Because it’s International Women’s Day, we want to highlight Ameena Hamid, a pioneering female who we think is a true role model to the future generations.

At just 20 years old, Ameena is the youngest ever female producer in the West End as the Associate Producer of Death Drop which opened at the Garrick Theatre in December. 

Cast of 40 graduates announced for Cadogan Hall charity concerts

A cast of 40 musical theatre and drama graduates will take part in a showcase across three concerts streamed from Cadogan Hall in London.

The evenings will be hosted by performers Courtney Bowman, Grace Mouat and Luke Bayer, with all profits going to theatrical charity Acting for Others. Graduates at Cadogan Hall, which is produced by Ameena Hamid, was launched to support performing arts graduates who have had their careers halted by the pandemic.

The concerts will be available to watch via live stream from March 26 to 28 and then on demand from March 28 to April 4.

2020: THE YEAR OF UNPRODUCING

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the UK being plunged into a national lockdown, we spoke to four producers about what the past twelve months have taught them about producing, and unproducing, from unexpected challenges to new-found skills.

“I often use the analogy of being at the starting line for a race. You've done all the preparation and work you can to get there and put everything in place but until that gun goes, in this case, you get a reliable date to work towards, you can't do anything. Unfortunately, as a lot of us learnt at the end of last year that race might end ten steps in, rather than at your finish line.” (Ameena Hamid, Creative Producer)

Tell Us In 10: Ameena HamiD

In our profile series, Tell Us In 10, we ask cast members and creatives of top London shows to tell us all about themselves in just 10 questions. 

This week we have Ameena Hamid, a 2020 Stage One Bridge the Gap producer. At just 20 years old, Ameena is the youngest ever female producer in the West End as the Associate Producer of Death Drop which opened at the Garrick Theatre this week. The brand-new comedy starring RuPaul’s Drag Race superstars Courtney Act and Monét X Change is an historic West End first bringing together a full cast of leading drag performers, in a hilarious murder mystery like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

Find out more about Ameena and what it’s like to be a young producer!

CREATIVES SPOTLIGHT – CREATIVE PRODUCER @AMEENA_HamiD

Tell us about your creative path so far and any milestones that you have? I’ve been producing for two years and in that time have worked on twenty projects in different capacities, so it’s been busy! Another producer recently described my career as a rocket ship and I’ve yet to find a better descriptor. In that regard, there have been a lot of milestones but most notably I recently became the joint youngest and the youngest female West End producer with my role as an Associate Producer on TuckShop’s Death Drop…

Ameena HamiD on Tales from the Tombstone Tavern

Producer Ameena Hamid turned her attention from stage to audio during lockdown, here she tells us all about Tales from the Tombstone Tavern and what the world looks like from where she’s standing at the moment.

Tell us a little bit about Tales from the Tombstone Tavern: Tales from the Tombstone Tavern is a love letter to horror and Halloween inspired by the dark stormy summer night in 1816 when Mary and Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and more told each other scary stories. Except in the case of our podcast it’s a pub in South London rather than a Swiss villa, and instead of the heavyweights of 19th century literature, it’s the classic monsters fighting for the title of best horror story…

Ameena Hamid: Making It All Work For Her

Ameena Hamid’s reputation precedes her: at just 20 years old, she is already the director and creative producer of her own theatrical production company. I first heard of her at the beginning of last year and it was a full term before we became properly acquainted.

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Speaking to Ameena felt like speaking to Superwoman: she’s everywhere, all the time. She works her dream job, loves her degree, has a social life, and to top it all off, somehow still manages to get seven or eight hours of zzz’s a night. It’s hard to believe she’s real. But she is, and oh so inspiring. Ameena made the system, the cycle, the list of things you feel like you have to do, work for her. She makes me feel like I can too…

Part of the Main and Virtual Collaborators Network Launch New Festival

Virtual Collaborators partnered with Part of the Main Productions to deliver a festival of digital work from Aug 17th – 31st 2020, followed by an outdoor festival of theatre, music and film on the 12 and 13 September on the historic grounds of St John’s Church Leytonstone. Ameena joined the team as one of the Assistant Producers.

Virtual Collaborators is made up of 100+ creative individuals who have been taking part in a five-week programme of masterclasses, mentorship and support from our industry partners in theatre and TV including Soho Theatre, Shoreditch Town Hall, Theatre503, The Space, The Finborough, Coney Theatre, Little Door TV, Balloon Entertainment, and many more companies and freelance creatives.

Fizzy Sherbet: new podcast spotlighting Womxn playwrights from around the world to launch in August 2020

Fizzy Sherbet, a theatre collective of womxn artists, is launching the pilot season of its podcast showcasing short plays in English from womxn writers across the globe, with the first episode being released on August 24th and subsequent episodes released weekly throughout September.

Presented by Fizzy Sherbet, a theatre collective of womxn artists, the new and all-female team consisting of Tamara von Werthern, Lily McLeish, Steph Weller, Anna Girvan, Josephine Starte, Sandra Theresa Buch and Ameena Hamid, the podcast aims to provide an essential international platform for womxn writers and directors. The pilot season will consist of seven episodes and will be written…

Finborough Forum with Ameena Hamid - July 2020

Ameena had the pleasure of being guest speaker at the second Virtual Finborough Forum, hosted on 6 July 2020. The Finborough Forum is an invitation-only group of playwrights, directors, designers and other theatre creatives. Members of the Finborough Forum are invited by the theatre to attend monthly meetings, where they take part in a Q&A with a wide range of industry guest speakers, followed by a chance to socialise with fellow theatre practitioners.

Follow @FinboroughForum on Twitter for more information about future online meetings. Previous Finborough Forum meetings, including our June session with script consultant Philip Shelley, are available on our YouTube channel.

New Podcast Adaptation of Wodehouse’s classic comic novel ‘Right Ho, Jeeves’

Produced by Ameena Hamid Productions and adapted by Australian actor and playwright, Delmar Terblanche the first episode will be release on 15th/22nd July and episodes will be released weekly throughout August and September.Get ready to be reintroduced to Bertie Wooster and his incomparable valet Jeeves in this podcast adaptation of Wodehouse’s classic comic novel. As chaos descends on his aunt’s house, will Bertie be able to return it to order? Only with the help of Jeeves!

CLASS OF 2020 Podcast: Episode 4 When The Curtains Closed

Ameena took some time to speak to Rufaro Faith of the Class of 2020 podcast about her experiences in the industry and advice she would give to recent graduates navigating the start of their careers. This was for the podcast’s fourth episode focussing on drama school graduates and the industry as it is. Other guests include Jenna Boyd of Come From Away UK and drama school graduates.