• The Cambridge All-Ladies Fire Brigade - book now for the musical!
• Hertha Ayrton Day is tomorrow! Time for Making Marks...
• University of Edinburgh have named a room after Hertha because of us!
• Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra digital concert still online.
• Unstoppable Letty Pegg workshops with National Youth Music Theatre.
• My new Science Communication Masterclass is available to book.
• Blast from the past... Tom Lehrer's "Elements" with Waterbeach Brass

 

My awesome musical The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade is packing up buckets, ropes and ladders for a mini-tour this summer.

 

 

 

Our show's main character - physicist, suffragette and Fire Brigade founder Hertha Ayrton - has her birthday tomorrow. 172 years young! 

 

We'll be posting all about her on instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube throughout the day, from @helenarneycomedy and @firebrigademusical.   

 

If you want to join in (please do!) then our Writers Blog is a great place to discover her long history of protestst, how I put Hertha on the map, and why Edinburgh University named a classroom after her.

 

 

I was back with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra last week, presenting an absolutely stunning concert of Mozart, Howard and Dvorak. You can watch it again at bsolive.com for a small fee until mid-May. It was an absolutely gorgeous night, with some of my favourite pieces of classical music.  

 

My co-writer on The Unstoppable Letty Pegg, James Hughes, and I are back in Canterbury in July with National Youth Music Theatre, for a workshop of our punchy new musical based on Iszi Lawrence's book.

 

It's shaping up very nicely! If you haven't seen our Stiles+Drew "Best New Song" nominated number "Unstoppable" yet, watch Sienna Aurora Clarke singing it here. 

 

And if you'd like to join us for the sharing in Canterbury on the afternoon of Saturday 25th July, reply to this email and I'll get you on the list. 

 

Last month I was asked to turn everything I've learnt over 15 (yes, fifteen) years of communicating science onstage into a fun masterclass session. It's part gig, part interactive workshop, and it's for any conferences, companies or individuals who want to develop communication skills while finding out how I turn BIG SCIENCE IDEAS into SUPER CATCHY SONGS. 

 

I'm also available after July for corporate entertainment and nerdy gigs to all kinds of audiences... email me at hello@helenarney.com to say hi! 

 

It was Tom Lehrer's birthday the other week, so it feels like a good moment to re-share this video of his Elements Song, created with the Royal Society of Chemistry, the brilliant players of Waterbeach Brass Band, and about a hundred chemists and chemistry fans. Altogether now: Antimony, Arsenic... 

Late last year, Arts Council England gave me a Developing Your Creative Practice grant to work on my musical theatre bookwriting. I'm coming to the end of the process in July.  

I'm using this time to develop my work for large cast, youth musical theatre companies, which broadly includes performers from ages 5 to 25. I'm still looking to connect with people between now and July about everything to do with musical by - and for - young people. If this is your world, hit me back on this email and let's chat (beverages on me!)