Read on Twitter
In March I organised a Zoom call for anyone who wanted to talk about UK musical theatre in the era of Covid-19. Everyone was organising these big zoom calls and so I did too. About 180 people came many of whom I had never met before
All sorts of things were discussed and brought up. Audio theatre, streamed theatre, teaching, activities for children, writers groups, concerts. It was a crazy hour or so bubbling with so many ideas of how to make something good out of a terrible time.
I knew a lot of the people in the call but there were also lots of people I had never met before. I had purchased a 500 person Zoom license and opened the invitation to anyone who wanted to come.
A day after the call, I got a message from @Jonathan0Neill, a student at @RCStweets who I'd never met before, who told me he had been in the Zoom and that it had led him to several ideas. He asked if would I have time for a chat in the coming days.
He pitched me an idea. He said there are so many kids who are stuck at home, they can't go to the theatre, they have fewer opportunities to be creative and confident. What if there were a product that would enable children to Make Their Own Musicals at home?
The packs would each give all the tools needed for children to write a themed musical. Scene prompts, structure ideas, character guides. Backing tracks would be specially crafted to enable children to write their own lyrics and melodies.
@Jonathan0Neill would write the first packs with his writing partner @isaacsavage01 and they would ensure that they are both fun and educational. That they give children everything they need to write, rehearse and perform their own short themed musicals.
The packs would come with set, props, and costume ideas as well as special activities related to the theme of the pack. At the heart of all of it was a genuine passion from @Jonathan0Neill and @isaacsavage01 to give children and their families the chance to be creative.
When discussing the packs we also realised that integrated into them was a desire to teach good storytelling techniques, dramaturgy, dialogue writing, lyric structure. It wouldn't just be entertainment but also a way of teaching about the craft and skillset needed to write
Over the next month we set about making the business. We spent hours on Zoom setting up the company, collaborating on a website and and coming up with ideas and planning for the future of the company. So in April http://makeyourmusicals.com was registered and @MYOMusicals was born.
Even though we co-founded a business we have still never met in person. Over the coming months @Jonathan0Neill and @isaacsavage01 wrote three unique @MYOMusicals packs. Pixelated, Bad Taste, and Hero Academy
In pixelated, a mishap with a remote control turns the characters into pixels. In Bad Taste, the characters enter a baking competition. In Hero Academy the characters go to a superhero school. All three have unique story suggestions and themed music
We made marketing plans, scheduled social media posts, contacted schools and councils, music hubs and drama groups. We applied for funding and were finalists for the prestigious Converge 2020 prize: Scotland’s leading academic company creation programme.
All of this is to say that in an impossible time I am so glad to have got to meet @Jonathan0Neill and @isaacsavage01. They truly are the creatives of the future. They act, write, produce and have such innovative business minds. I'm glad to have got to be part of @MYOMusicals
If you have 8-14 year old children in your life who might want to make their own musical then do check out http://makeyourownmusicals.com .
Today is also a very exciting day because we are releasing our latest pack. Hexed - A Spooktacular Musical. This themed pack made especially for Halloween gives an at home alternative to Trick Or Treating with all of the dressing up but with added music.
You can listen to samples of the incredible music from the track here. https://twitter.com/i/status/1317857975818661888
Thanks so much for reading and wishing you all a spooktacular week 
