Young Songwriters Tamar Broadbent and Theo Jamieson to Be Showcased in GIGGING FOR IT at Freedom Bar, Soho, August 5

The August edition of Artistic Director/Producer Michelle LaFortune’s monthly cabaret series Gigging For It at Freedom Bar, Soho will continue her company’s commitment to promoting and encouraging new musical theatre writing talent by showcasing the work of two exciting young songwriters, Tamar Broadbent and Theo Jamieson.

Tamar Broadbent is a 22-year-old musician/singer/actress/composer with a degree in English from Bristol University and an MA in Music Theatre from the Central School of Speech and Drama. While studying at Bristol, she wrote and directed her first musical, Pierced. This show - which follows the friendship and exploits of five teenagers on the brink of leaving school to get jobs, study for university or seek fame and fortune on the X Factor - received critical acclaim during its preliminary run in 2011 and was also very highly praised by audience members and critics when a workshop production, directed by Drew Baker, was staged at the Landor Theatre in April 2012.

Theo Jamieson, a recent First Class Honours graduate of Trinity College Of Music, is a composer and pianist from Bristol who now lives and works in London. Whilst at Trinity, he received commissions for the Trinity Symphony Orchestra and The Verdehr Piano Trio and was awarded the John Halford Prize for Piano Composition. A concert of his songs was presented at the Blackheath Concert Hall in June 2012. In September Theo will commence studies on the Musical Direction course at the Royal Academy of Music.

Joining Michelle LaFortune as vocalists for the Gigging For It presentation of Broadbent and Jamieson songs will be Gemma O'Duffy, Alistair Frederick, Gary Mitchinson, Lydia Jenkins, Suzanna Kempner, Alex Gilchrist, Alex Young and Duncan Sandilands.

As usual the evening will be kicked off with a “warm-up set” - The Sunday Roast - hosted by Lucyelle Cliffe (from the Landor’s highly acclaimed The Thing About Men) and featuring six up-and-coming singers - another feature that highlights the Gigging For It dedication to fostering new talent, both singers and writers.

Gigging For It: The Songs Of Tamar Broadbent & Theo Jamieson

Freedom Bar, Wardour Street, Soho                 Sunday August 5

Doors open at 6:30 & the Sunday Roast starts at 7. Gigging For It will take the stage at 8.

Tickets can be purchased at the door and cost £7 before 7:30 and £9 after.

Robert Gould is a graduate of the University of Wales, Swansea, a former teacher, a writer of history books for schools (The French Revolution and European Nationalism, 1848-71) and the librettist and lyricist of a number of musicals. Collaborating with composer Ty Kroll, he has written the book and lyrics for the musicals, Lovers, Alone and Vocalize!. Concerts of songs from Lovers and Vocalize! were presented at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (in March 2002 and April 2003) and Alone received its world premiere staging in Madison, Wisconsin in April 2003. He has co-written the book & lyrics(with Jimmy Granstrom) for The Dying Game, a musical that speaks for the victims of HIV/AIDS in Africa (with music by Filip von Uexkull, Ty Kroll & Tristan Bons) - which received a showcase production at the Greenwich Musical Futures season in 2005. He wrote lyrics for the Tim Prottey-Jones albums More With Every Line and Surrounded By The Sounds and is currently developing the musical Roundabout with songwriter Joe Sterling and the musicals Based On A True Story, Elephant Juice, Grace Notes, Flop and My Land's Shore with composer Christopher J. Orton.

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