Nominations announced for 2008 MTM:UK Awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The nominations have been announced for the second annual Musical Theatre Awards at Edinburgh's Festival Fringe. Two productions – DEPARTURE LOUNGE at Musical Theatre @ George Square and ON THE ISLAND OF AARS at Pleasance Courtyard - are leading the pack with nominations for all five titles.

Last year’s winners have since had big successes with; Eurobeat (which won the Best Musical Production award) just about to head into the West End after a major tour; Truth In Translation (for which Hugh Masekela won Best Composer) which received a lengthy US tour last year and embarks on a Balkan tour in September 2008; and Tir Nan Og (which won the Dress Circle Award for Best New Musical) transferred to London as part of the Perfect Pitch festival of new Musicals and received a highly successful tour of Scotland. 

This year, we’re proud to be associated with our sponsors, OD Musical (Korea) and Dress Circle in London.

Click here for a full list of the nominees.

Over the next week the Judges will review each show and reach agreement by the time of the announcement as part of the Scotsman Fringe First Awards Ceremony on Friday 22^nd August at Assembly Hall.

Co-Chair of the Awards panel, Dr. Nick Phillips, announced the 2008 nominations on stage at George Square Theatres, the first dedicated set of Musical Theatre venues at the Edinburgh Fringe, as part of the MTM:UK Question Time on the morning of Saturday 16 August 2008. He comments:

"When considering the selection of nominated musicals in our five categories we started from the basis that Musical Theatre can be viewed in terms of the noun ‘theatre’ and the adjective ‘musical’ to describe shows which focus on character in action expressed through song and/or dance. Rather than being a simple escape, it is perhaps the most complex form of theatrical synthesis and hence why so much of it fails to reach the aspirations of this most complex of forms.

In addition we wanted to measure the relative success of how a show balances the demands of inner dramatic tension with overt theatricality and convention. It has been particularly interesting to note the strength of musical comedy this year in the 49 shows viewed, in particular aspirations to lyrical wit, and this is reflected in the nominations.” 

These awards are now in their second year, having been launched in 2007 to celebrate the creativity of the Fringe and the potential of those creating work in Britain today.