The making of U.Me: The Musical

U.Me: The Musical is a new musical for radio and podcast that premieres on Wednesday 12 May.

How – in a period of global pandemic – do you take the idea of creating a radio musical that aims to bring joy and catharsis to a locked down world, and turn that into a reality? This programme examines the huge team effort that goes into crafting a piece of audio art for our times.

At the centre of the story are BBC story commissioner and co-writer Simon Pitts, composer and lyricist Theo Jamieson (musical supervisor of West End hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), plus Grammy Award-winning record producer Steve Levine. The trio are at the heart of a large cast of artistic talents, all of whom contribute to the final work.

Via a combination of video calls, exclusive access to the fully Covid-19 compliant bubble of London rehearsal rooms, actual production recordings featuring the socially distanced BBC Philharmonic, and contributions from show leads Anoushka Lucas and Martin Sarreal, actor and writer Mathew Horne (Gavin Shipman in BAFTA-winning BBC TV series Gavin and Stacey) examines the creative process behind this unique radio production.

Presenter: Mathew Horne
Producer: Lewis Borg-Cardona
A Magnum Opus Broadcasting production for the BBC World Service

Image: Martin Sarreal and Anoushka Lucas (Credit: BBC)