- November 2025
For queen bee freshman Apple Wormwood, getting into the St. Abbing Secret Society is the ultimate ticket to campus glory. For the more cautious Liv, it looks like little more than an outdated boys’ club. But when the two join eight other hopefuls at the society’s initiation ritual, the night takes a dark and unexpected turn. What begins as harmless hazing quickly spirals into a series of blood-soaked survival challenges, where popularity points don’t mean squat and GPA won’t save your life.
RUSH! is a razor-sharp spoof of the teen slasher genre that skewers the absurdity of hazing, the toxicity of exclusivity, and the pressures of high-achieving institutions. Underneath the camp and chaos lurks a sharp jab at the high-pressure world of elite academia, where students are pushed to prove their worth – in this case, to the death.
The CUMTS Freshers Musical is the perfect way to support musical theatre newbies in Cambridge. Each year, a group of freshers get together in their first term and put on a student-written musical with the help and oversight of current CUMTS students. A show full of fresh, new talent and enthusiastic musical theatre freshers, it is not one to be missed on the CUMTS calendar. Come and show your support for the next generation!
- November 2025
Three times a term, we host a night where people can come along and sing a musical theatre song for a smaller audience in a less intimidating venue (the ADC bar). The atmosphere is always friendly and uplifting, and the performances are always of a top quality. The most wonderful thing about these shows is that the more intimate setting allows for those less confident performers to feel more comfortable in their singing and eventually move onto principal roles in bigger shows. You never know, any Bar Night participant might just go on to be the next big star of the stage! With a range of performers and songs, you are sure to find something you like in these bar nights.
Keep an eye on the CUMTS instagram (@cumtscambridge) for more information nearer the time about auditions as well as Camdram and the Cambridge Theatre Facebook page!
- November 2025
From half the world away, Nat and Clara find themselves tracing back their musical journeys from Caracas and Manchester, to being trapped in the Larkum studio...
“This Ain’t a Scene, It’s a Cabaret!” is an eclectic, carefree cabaret exploring two people’s journeys through music, and how each individual's paths have crossed to lead to this moment. Combining rock and traditional Hispanic folk with ballads and musical theatre, each song brings the audience closer to the final destination; singing together in Cambridge, united by the music we share. Silly, comedic, personal, filled with high-camp numbers and sentimental duets, this cabaret will be a journey through the genres, attempting to find a midpoint and embrace full authenticity onstage.
- November 2025
Once upon a time, two peoples’ worlds were influenced by an invisible, terrifying force called “the audience”. What happened next? Well, that’s up to you…
Have you ever wanted to change a story? To help the characters you like, and stop the ones you don’t? Have you ever wanted, say, to sabotage a fairytale? Now’s your chance - “How To Fix a Fairytale” is a new comedy-cabaret adventure, crashing into the Larkum Studio in Week 5. Featuring songs from smash hit musicals including Into the Woods, Tick Tick Boom! and Amelie, the story follows an unlikely hero and a terrible villain in their fight for a mysterious, life-changing treasure. What this is - and what their fates will be - is for you to decide.
- November 2025
One year ago, Noah embarked on a journey like no other. Now, as he returns to the ADC to tell his story, it's your turn to experience the thrills of a year abroad.
From the joys of meeting new people, countries and cultures, to the anxieties of self-doubt and identity crises, a year abroad can teach you more about yourself than you'd ever expect. Stopping by the mountains of Austria and the metropolises of France, join Noah as he shares his adventures through languages that unite us all: love, encouragement, and musical theatre. And, as they say, bon voyage...
- November 2025
Three times a term, we host a night where people can come along and sing a musical theatre song for a smaller audience in a less intimidating venue (the ADC bar). The atmosphere is always friendly and uplifting, and the performances are always of a top quality. The most wonderful thing about these shows is that the more intimate setting allows for those less confident performers to feel more comfortable in their singing and eventually move onto principal roles in bigger shows. You never know, any Bar Night participant might just go on to be the next big star of the stage! With a range of performers and songs, you are sure to find something you like in these bar nights.
Keep an eye on the CUMTS instagram (@cumtscambridge) for more information nearer the time about auditions as well as Camdram and the Cambridge Theatre Facebook page!
- October–November 2025
A summoning of dead ancestors, a secret engagement and a sudden storm all converge in the life of Wednesday Addams as she pursues her love for a seemingly normal boy in the eccentric world of the morbid-loving Addams family. Matriarch Morticia attempts to impress with her apple pie, uncle Fester confesses his love for the moon and Pugsley lets loose with a truth serum to catastrophic consequences. Will the course of true love and utter darkness run smoothly? Join us in Halloween week for this uplifting, hilarious musical tale of love, family and acceptance, with a touch of the macabre!
- October 2025
Three times a term, we host a night where people can come along and sing a musical theatre song for a smaller audience in a less intimidating venue (the ADC bar). The atmosphere is always friendly and uplifting, and the performances are always of a top quality. The most wonderful thing about these shows is that the more intimate setting allows for those less confident performers to feel more comfortable in their singing and eventually move onto principal roles in bigger shows. You never know, any Bar Night participant might just go on to be the next big star of the stage! With a range of performers and songs, you are sure to find something you like in these bar nights.
Keep an eye on the CUMTS instagram (@cumtscambridge) for more information nearer the time about auditions as well as Camdram and the Cambridge Theatre Facebook page!
- October 2025
Manhattan island. The swinging 60's. The Golden Age of Broadway.
Nina and Robert are buskers with dreams of the big stage. Singing their hearts out on the streets, they hope it's only a matter of time before a big name notices them.
On the other side of the pond, Jack and Ernie are two London lads in the marketing business. Seeing the New York boom, they take the plunge and head to the New World in search of fortune. Enticed by the city, they blow their savings on gambling booze and other unsavoury habits, leaving them bare. Penniless and somewhat talentless, they hatch a plan to con their way to the top.
The couple, entangled in this rotten scheme, are soon to find that money is the biggest speaker, and some dreams just aren’t meant to be.
Fresh off a successful Edinburgh Fringe run, 'This Side of Life' takes the ADC stage in Week 1 with toe-tapping numbers, feel-good atmosphere, and an expanded band!
"Feel-good, lively... full of 60s flair" - The Scotsman
- August 2025
Trapped indoors by torrential rain, legendary writers Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley and their friends, Polidori and Claire, search for inspiration by the gloomy Lake Geneva. But things fall apart the longer they are stuck together... Polidori’s diary is brought to life in the 1816 Year Without a Summer musical.
- July–August 2025
Manhattan island. The swinging 60's. The Golden Age of Broadway.
Nina and Robert are buskers with dreams of the big stage. Singing their hearts out on the streets, they hope it's only a matter of time before a big name notices them.
On the other side of the pond, Jack and Ernie are two Cockney lads in the marketing business. Seeing the New York boom, they take the plunge and head to the New World in search of fortune. Enticed by the city, they blow their savings on gambling booze and other unsavoury habits, leaving them bare. Penniless and somewhat talentless, they hatch a plan to con their way to the top.
The couple, entangled in this rotten scheme, are soon to find that money is the biggest speaker, and some dreams just aren’t meant to be.
- June 2025
- May 2025
Evan has always loved musical theatre. Musical theatre, however, hasn’t always loved him back.
Pitch Imperfect explores what it means to (literally) find your voice as a trans performer. What happens when puberty runs a sequel, gender roles get in the way, and your dream roles – born from years of rampant gender envy – never land in your vocal range? Through song, storytelling, and a touch of existential comedy, Evan Richards takes to the stage, armed with a pubescent baritone and a setlist that was once too low, now too high, and somehow still out of reach.
- May 2025
"There's nothing more humiliating than being in love..."
Woman, Scorned is a cabaret about women: their loves, their losses, their hearts, and - most importantly - their rage. This intimate and thought-provoking show explores what it means to be a woman in a world full of scorn. What does it mean to call yourself a feminist? How can you reconcile anger at the world with hope for the future? Why am I so angry all the time?
Join Kaitlin as she weaves personal experience with verbatim testimonies, poetry, and song to paint a picture of womanhood that is at times messy, and perhaps verges on oversharing, but that is also intensely true.
- May 2025
Six years ago, while thinking about A-levels and moving to university, Em wrote a letter to her future self. While getting ready to move to London, she rediscovered and opened it. Suffice to say, it was equally nostalgic and cringey. Fast forward six years, Em’s had the time of their life, surviving A-levels, going to Cambridge, and embracing what they love most: theatre. There have been triumphs, successes and failures, a load of mistakes and a whole lot learnt. So, before she bids So Long, Farewell to Cambridge, come reflect on the beautiful chaos growing up through an evening of musical theatre classics.
- May 2025
- May 2025
The world of performance, as so many of us know, is one of excitement and beauty - yet it is also one of struggle and self-doubt.
In 'That's Showbiz, Kid!', join Jacob on a journey exploring this tumultuous world, reflecting on songs and stories of people who want to succeed, want to be remembered, and want to look back on life with a sense of accomplishment. Despite rejection, loss and insecurity, we push through with a little hope, a little passion, and a lot of love for the world of performance.
- March 2025
God! I mean the man's a God!
Sondheimas is an annual holiday celebrated by the devout (ardent fans who worship at the altar of Stephen Sondheim), commemorating the birth of the saviour of musical theatre himself. If you count yourself as one of his devotees, come for deep cuts and crowd-pleasers, anecdotes on the power of Steve, and the warm feeling that can only come from a gathering of the faithful celebrating together. Featuring an all-star cast of Cambridge's musical theatre performers, this is an evening not to be missed.
Sondheimas as a concept/cabaret evening was first produced by David Levy & Maggie Larkin, musical direction by Andrei Strizeik from 2015-2016 at 54 Below in New York City.
This year the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society is transforming the Larkum Studio into the CUMTS Cabaret - a chance to explore the enchanting possibilities when music & theatre intertwine. After a successful first run, it is back to showcase powerful storytelling in a uniquely intimate setting: an experience like no other in Cambridge theatre!
- March 2025
2 Years Sober tells an emotional, intense, important and near the knuckle story of adolescent alcoholism and beginning adulthood with one simple task: getting sober. In this whirlwind, musical discussion of what it's like to be an alcoholic in Britain's alcohol infused society, we see the ups and downs of living with addiction, mental health issues, abuse, love and loss, featuring songs from Next to Normal and Heathers, amongst others.
Anna Gungaloo, a philosophy student photographer, weaves an exciting, personal tale of therapy and sobriety in the two-year intermission (for mental health purposes) between her first and second years at Cambridge.
This year the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society is transforming the Larkum Studio into the CUMTS Cabaret - a chance to explore the enchanting possibilities when music & theatre intertwine. After a successful first run, it is back to showcase powerful storytelling in a uniquely intimate setting: an experience like no other in Cambridge theatre.
- March 2025
Three times a term, we host a night where people can come along and sing a musical theatre song for a smaller audience in a less intimidating venue (the ADC bar). The atmosphere is always friendly and uplifting, and the performances are always of a top quality. The most wonderful thing about these shows is that the more intimate setting allows for those less confident performers to feel more comfortable in their singing and eventually move onto principal roles in bigger shows. You never know, any Bar Night participant might just go on to be the next big star of the stage! With a range of performers and songs, you are sure to find something you like in these bar nights.
Keep an eye on the CUMTS instagram (@cumtscambridge) for more information nearer the time about auditions as well as Camdram and the Cambridge Theatre Facebook page!
- March 2025
When Helen Lyster and Eve Greenfield met each other on their first day in Cambridge, they knew they would be friends. Mostly due to several weeks of mutual Instagram stalking. Since then, they've performed together on the ADC stage, Eve's hometown theatre and their kitchen, much to their housemates' delight.
In a tribute to getting ready playlists, Dolly Alderton and iconic musical theatre duos, join Eve and Helen for one night only (hairbrush microphones not included) as they explore friendship in all its forms. Will they pass the Bechdel test? Will they sing Wicked? You'll have to wait and see...
This year the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society is transforming the Larkum Studio into the CUMTS Cabaret - a chance to explore the enchanting possibilities when music & theatre intertwine. After a successful first run, it is back to showcase powerful storytelling in a uniquely intimate setting: an experience like no other in Cambridge theatre!
- February–March 2025
CUMTS presents you with the gift of Gala.
For three nights only CUMTS brings you an evening of pure musical theatre decadence. Dressed to the nines and accompanied by a full orchestra, the finest of Cambridge’s Musical Theatre Talent will be performing all of your favourite musical theatre classics alongside the latest Broadway hits, all dazzling with glitz and glamour.
- February 2025
A crush is an open door. A drug. A narrative. A tangled mess of hate and admiration and narcissism, topped with a pretty sticker.
In What Do You Get For It?, Leo tries to untangle exactly what a crush means for him. He talks (sings?) through his experience of a devastating crush in high school, and how it has broken and made him more than he'd like to admit.
Leo Lu is a (culinarily) seasoned musical theater performer. His debut performance will stay true to what he thinks he's born to do: dumping emotional drama on an industrial scale.
This year the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society is transforming the Larkum Studio into the CUMTS Cabaret - a chance to explore the enchanting possibilities when music & theatre intertwine. After a successful first run, it is back to showcase powerful storytelling in a uniquely intimate setting: an experience like no other in Cambridge theatre!
- February 2025
Three times a term, we host a night where people can come along and sing a musical theatre song for a smaller audience in a less intimidating venue (the ADC bar). The atmosphere is always friendly and uplifting, and the performances are always of a top quality. The most wonderful thing about these shows is that the more intimate setting allows for those less confident performers to feel more comfortable in their singing and eventually move onto principal roles in bigger shows. You never know, any Bar Night participant might just go on to be the next big star of the stage! With a range of performers and songs, you are sure to find something you like in these bar nights.
For the second bar night of the term, in line with our goals to diversify the musical theatre scene and increase accessibility, CUMTS are working in for the third time in collaboration with Bread Theatre & Film Company to bring you a Bar Night made up entirely BME performers who will be singing all of their favourite songs from musical theatre.
Keep an eye on the CUMTS instagram (@cumtscambridge) for more information nearer the time about auditions as well as Camdram and the Cambridge Theatre Facebook page!
- February 2025
Sweet Charity explores the turbulent love life of Charity Hope Valentine, a hopelessly romantic but comically unfortunate dance hall hostess in New York City. With a tuneful, groovy, mid-1960s score by Cy Coleman, sparkling lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and a hilarious book by Neil Simon, Sweet Charity captures all the energy, humor, and heartbreak of Life in the Big City for an unfortunate but irrepressible optimist. With a toe-tapping score including The Rhythm of Life, Big Spender and If They Could See Me Now, Sweet Charity is one of Bob Fosse’s seminal works and this production takes great inspiration from this choreographic legend.
- February 2025
Welcome back all Cantabrigians! Come sing your heart out at the first bar night of term. The theme for the first bar night is 'Villains', so come armed with your favourite evil songs!
Three times a term, we host a night where people can come along and sing a musical theatre song for a smaller audience in a less intimidating venue (the ADC bar). The atmosphere is always friendly and uplifting, and the performances are always of a top quality. The most wonderful thing about these shows is that the more intimate setting allows for those less confident performers to feel more comfortable in their singing and eventually move onto principal roles in bigger shows. You never know, any Bar Night participant might just go on to be the next big star of the stage! With a range of performers and songs, you are sure to find something you like in these bar nights.
Keep an eye on the CUMTS instagram (@cumtscambridge) for more information nearer the time about auditions as well as Camdram and the Cambridge Theatre Facebook page!
- January 2025
In just 24 hours, CUMTS members will create and perform a brand new musical in this
A theme will be announced to some of Cambridge's sparkiest new writers and composers, who will then put their heads together for an all-night session of creative madness. In the morning, a troupe of CUMTS performers and directors will rehearse the songs they've written, and that night, they, alongside musicians and designers, will bring their writing to life, in what will be a whirlwind celebration of new musical theatre writing.
There will be sleeplessness. There will be coffee. Who knows what the final product will be?
All we know, is that it will be unmissable.
"Chaos - of the wonderful kind."
"a true testament to the scriptural powers of the CUMTS writing team"
"a pleasure to observe"
"undeniably entertaining"
"a night of infectious enthusiasm, comedic chaos and unexpected brilliance"
"a cacophony of creativity like no other"
"an unforgettable whirlwind event"
- December 2024
Fresh from its run at the Camden Fringe, The Chaplain tells of a prison chaplain in 1850s Victorian England, tasked with cleansing the souls of those sentenced to death or transportation for the most heinous crimes.
In a dirty prison cell, the Chaplain meets three convicts. Throughout, he is also plagued by the voice of a mysterious woman who lurks in the cell's shadows, and the Chaplain is certain he has met her somewhere before. As the musical unfolds and the Chaplain's mental state deteriorates, it becomes clear that he too has sins he must confess.
- November 2024
World-famous popstar Candice arrives in the town of Little Wonder, England, where she hopes to lay low during her record-breaking world tour. Unbeknownst to her, Little Wonder is also home to her biggest superfans: classmates Trish, Vee, Camryn, Jaime, Aisha and Bo, who plan to form a band after graduation and chase their dream of being musicians.
After a mix-up leads the group to Candice's whereabouts, news breaks that her back-up dancers have wedged their eco-boat in the Suez Canal. Discovering the friends already know her songs and choreography, manager O'Neill and tour handler Leslie offer the deal of a lifetime: for keeping the news a secret, the group can live their dream as the back-ups (to the back-ups!) to their favourite singer.
As preparations for the concert begin though, pressure grows and relationships are tested, while Candice faces tough decisions about her future when her partner Alix arrives. Pop stardom meets market-town Britain in this sweet, funny crowd-pleaser about what it means to meet your idol - and follow your dreams.
The CUMTS freshers musical is the perfect way to support musical theatre newbies in Cambridge. Each year, a group of freshers get together in their first term and put on a student-written musical with the help and oversight of CUMTS current students. A show full of fresh, new talent and enthusiastic musical theatre freshers, it is not one to be missed on the CUMTS calendar. Come and show your support for the next generation!
- November 2024
Calling all freshers! Our final bar night of term is for the freshers only. If you haven't had the chance yet at Cambridge or have managed to appear in all 3 freshers' plays and the freshers musical too, come sing a song to end your first term in style and let your new enemies hear you belt that E5.
Three times a term, we host a night where people can come along and sing a musical theatre song for a smaller audience in a less intimidating venue (the ADC bar). The atmosphere is always friendly and uplifting, and the performances are always of a top quality. The most wonderful thing about these shows is that the more intimate setting allows for those less confident performers to feel more comfortable in their singing and eventually move onto principal roles in bigger shows. You never know, any Bar Night participant might just go on to be the next big star of the stage! With a range of performers and songs, you are sure to find something you like in these bar nights.
Keep an eye on the CUMTS instagram (@cumtscambridge) for more information nearer the time about auditions!
- November 2024
Theo feels pretty… sometimes.
Theo feels ugly… a lot.
In Pretty Ugly, Theo has had enough. He decides to put a stop to the problems of self-worth, self-confidence, and self-doubt which have been plaguing him for too long. Through song, story, and multimedia; he traces the origins of these pesky inner-demons and attempts to plot his way forward.
Theo Chen has been professionally performing since he was 10 years old, and engaging in amateur dramatics (i.e, putting on shows for his friends and family) since he came out the womb. Originally from Singapore, his performances in Cambridge have been described as “excellent”, “audaciously funny” and “perfectly insufferable”.
This year the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society is transforming the Larkum Studio into the CUMTS Cabaret - a chance to explore the enchanting possibilities when music & theatre intertwine. The first three shows feature powerful storytelling in a uniquely intimate setting: an experience like no other in Cambridge theatre!
- November 2024
A story of friendship through the years is brought to the ADC by Ava Fitzhugh and Sam Ericsson. Forged in the fires of Freshers' Musical 2023, this dynamic duo tell the tale of their hypothetical future: from humble CamDram beginnings to negotiating the real world of work and love, one night of a collection of our favourite musical numbers will guide you through the trials and tribulations of this tumultuous friendship. Different ambitions lead to diverging paths and years of tension which culminate in one unmissable night of therapy which is sure to heal us all in some way.
This year the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society is transforming the Larkum Studio into the CUMTS Cabaret - a chance to explore the enchanting possibilities when music & theatre intertwine. The first three shows feature powerful storytelling in a uniquely intimate setting: an experience like no other in Cambridge theatre!
- November 2024
The feel-good musical comedy based on the smash-hit film, Sister Act is a dazzling tribute to the universal power of friendship and music.
Disco diva Deloris’ life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder. Under protective custody she is hidden in the one place she should never be found – a Convent! Under the suspicious watch of Mother Superior, Deloris uses her unique disco moves and talent to breathe new life into the church community at the expense of blowing her own cover. The gang soon gives chase, only to find themselves up against Deloris and her newly found sisterhood.
- November 2024
The 2nd Bar Night of term, this evening will showcase the original music from Cambridge's composers. This is a chance for people to get creative and have some fun! CUMTS will be hosting a 'speed-dating' event in the Larkum on the 20th of October at 7pm, with the aim to introduce lyricists and composers to each other in the hope that they can create brand new material! Following auditions a week before the bar night, composer/lyricist(s) will have to write a brand new song (or songs) for a performer to debut at this bar night! This will be a fun, creative opportunity for composers/lyricists/performers old and new to test their skills and grow in confidence.
Three times a term, we host a night where people can come along and sing a musical theatre song for a smaller audience in a less intimidating venue (the ADC bar). The atmosphere is always friendly and uplifting, and the performances are always of a top quality. The most wonderful thing about these shows is that the more intimate setting allows for those less confident performers to feel more comfortable in their singing and eventually move onto principal roles in bigger shows. You never know, any Bar Night participant might just go on to be the next big star of the stage! With a range of performers and songs, you are sure to find something you like in these bar nights.
Keep an eye on the CUMTS instagram (@cumtscambridge) for more information nearer the time about auditions!
- October 2024
Liquor and Lust delves into the intertwined lives of characters consumed by desires and vices, where alcohol and lust drive their actions. This evocative show navigates the exuberance of indulgence and its sobering aftermath, provoking thought on the duality of pleasure and pain. Featuring songs like "Little Girls" from Annie and "If You Ever See Me Talking to a Sailor" from The Last Ship, the performance offers a rich emotional tapestry.
Izzy Lane, a member of the National Youth Theatre and British Youth Music Theatre, brings this powerful exploration to life. Recent credits include Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance (Minnack Theatre) and Chris in Carrie the Musical (ADC theatre).
This year the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society is transforming the Larkum Studio into the CUMTS Cabaret - a chance to explore the enchanting possibilities when music & theatre intertwine. The first three shows feature powerful storytelling in a uniquely intimate setting: an experience like no other in Cambridge theatre!
- October 2024
Welcome and welcome back all Cantabrigians! Come sing your heart out at the first bar night of term. It's an open theme, so you can come and show off those pipes with any musical theatre song you like (in case anyone forgot over the summer that you can, in fact, sing!)
Three times a term, we host a night where people can come along and sing a musical theatre song for a smaller audience in a less intimidating venue (the ADC bar). The atmosphere is always friendly and uplifting, and the performances are always of a top quality. The most wonderful thing about these shows is that the more intimate setting allows for those less confident performers to feel more comfortable in their singing and eventually move onto principal roles in bigger shows. You never know, any Bar Night participant might just go on to be the next big star of the stage! With a range of performers and songs, you are sure to find something you like in these bar nights.
Keep an eye on the CUMTS instagram (@cumtscambridge) for more information nearer the time about auditions!
