- August 2022
SLEEPOVER is a coming of age story about four 2nd gen immigrant daughters on the eve of their first year at university. Jenny, the oldest daughter from a Jamaican Chinese family, is hosting their first and only sleepover to celebrate the end of high school. She’s prepared snacks, movies, and of course, the most important thing of all - 142 questions about sex. Join Jenny, Adya (Tamil, queer), Nina (mixed Korean-British), and Ruth (Jewish) as they dive into the world of sex, discussing everything from masturbation and dating apps to sexuality and gender. Don’t forget to bring a sleeping bag!
- June 2022
A cabaret style collaboration between Cambridge University Sinfonia, Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society and members of Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra, presenting a selection of show tunes and songs from Broadway, the West End and beyond. Featuring music from Stephen Sondheim, Kurt Weill, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein and more.
- June 2022
‘I’ve looked at all that - marriages and all that - and what do you get for it? What do you get?’
On the night of his 35th birthday, Bobby struggles to think of anything he wants, as a lone bachelor surrounded by his married friends. Over a series of dinner parties, weddings and cocktails, he starts to confront why he is so afraid of being alone, surrounded by a world of ‘crazy’ heteronormativity.
Featuring some of his most iconic songs like The Ladies Who Lunch, Not Getting Married Today, You Could Drive A Person Crazy and Being Alive, Company is one of Sondheim’s groundbreaking musicals - a funny, heartbreaking and poignant look into marriage, vulnerability, loneliness and what it means to be alive.
- May 2022
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
- May 2022
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
- May 2022
In the face of lost rights, missing actors and broken lights, a show's technical team - the Blue Workers - must learn to work together to save their flagging production. Can they overcome their differences before the play opens house?
Join the Blue Workers as they bring the backstage to the forestage in this toe-tapping musical extravaganza!
- February 2022
The CUMTS gala night is a one-hour show all-singing, all-dancing celebration of musical theatre! With the band on stage we perform polished choreo with stunning vocals. We will select a range of classic MT songs, songs from lesser known productions, and some student-written numbers
- February 2022
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
- February 2022
Loosely based on Puccini’s opera La Bohème, RENT is a Putlizer Prize and four-time Tony Award musical that follows a year in the life of a group of struggling young artists living in Manhattan’s East Village. Mark, an aspiring filmmaker, struggles to find his place in the world; his roommate Roger, an HIV-positive musician, wonders how he will leave his mark before he dies. Mimi and Angel look for true love as they face the harsh reality of life when HIV-positive, while the lawyer Joanne seeks loyalty from her flirtatious performance artist girlfriend Maureen. The group’s dreams, losses, and love stories weave through the musical’s narration to paint a stunningly raw and heart-breaking portrait of the gritty bohemian world of New York City in the late 1980s, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
- January 2022
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
- January 2022
After a year long hiatus, CUMTS 24 Hour Musical is back!
On a cold January night, performers, composers, directors and choreographers will be tasked with putting together a 1 hour musical in 24 hours based on a yet to be revealed theme!
Come one come all at 9pm on Tuesday 18th of January to watch the culmination of the most exciting day and night of cambridge musical theatre hit the stage !!
- November 2021
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
This week is our final Bar Night of Michaelmas term, and it's a classic theme: MISCAST!! Come and belt out that song that you've never had the chance to show to anyone outside your shower, or just come and watch for a wonderfully confusing night of MT!
- November 2021
After an award-winning run at the Edinburgh Fringe, 'On Your Bike' is coming home!
Delivering food you don’t get to eat is hungry work. Outside a chicken shop, a group of delivery riders wait for orders, trying to figure out life and love while they do. Threatened by nosy landlords, angry exes and even their own employer, Eatsaroo, they realise they have to group together and take the battle to the bosses. But fighting a billion-dollar algorithm isn’t that easy. From the award-winning company who brought you SiX and Rust comes this toe-tapping new musical about love, labour and leftover pizza.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Theatre Weekly
"Thoroughly engaging"
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Musical Theatre Review (Awarded their Best Live Musical Award 2021)
"James and Venable are a writing partnership to watch out for [...] tomorrow's stars are right here".
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Binge Fringe
"This show is a stunning achievement. Raucously witty to its core and heartfelt at its best. The music is a triumph and the story is deeply emotionally intelligent."
Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society, responsible for previous Edinburgh Fringe shows such as Six, Rust and Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area, is proud to present On Your Bike, a new musical by Ben James and Cambridge Footlight Joe Venable. James and Venable’s work has previously been described as “ambitious and surprising” and "remarkably unique” (TCS), blending musical genres and using lyrical innovation to create an exciting new style.
- November 2021
It’s 1932, prohibition has swept New York, and Tony Morino owns a small underground speakeasy in the Bronx, selling bathtub gin so steeped in ethanol it could easily kill you. Business is terrible, so along with three friends, he hatches a plan – take out life insurance on the drunken, good-for-nothing new employee at his bar, Michael Malloy. The crew successfully take out $68,000 of insurance on Malloy’s life, and the three get to work on murdering their target, with freedom from financial worry surely around the corner. However, it seems some people are more difficult to kill than others…
The Man Who Wouldn’t Be Murdered is a new comedy musical full of murder, jazz and drink, based on the true story of Michael Malloy and his infamous life, and death.
(CN: death, violence/murder, alcoholism)
This exciting production is an original student-written show! With a cast and crew entirely made up of freshers/ those new to theatre, it's the perfect introduction to Musical Theatre at Cambridge, and of course, the magic of CUMTS.
- November 2021
‘Ships are safe in harbour. But that’s not what ships are for.’
Astrid has never set foot on solid ground: as the first and only child born in space, she faces her whole life on board the spaceship Mara. But when an asteroid strike decimates their oxygen supply, she and the crew of the ship must abandon the mission and return home before it’s too late.
From the award-winning, five-star writing team behind Rust and Life With You, this original musical explores what it means to know who you are. Set against the breathtaking and deadly backdrop of space, Astrid and the others travelling on the Mara grapple with life, friendship, and loss.
When it really matters, we risk everything to make it back to the only home we truly know: Earth.
- November 2021
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
This week is our second Bar Night of Michaelmas term, and it's time for the FRESHERS! Get on down to the ADC Bar for a night of fabulous performances from the freshest talent in Cambridge Theatre.
- October 2021
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
This week is our first Bar Night post covid, and it's an OPEN THEME!
- August 2021
SAVE THE DATE! The flights are booked, the speeches are written, the dress is ready; but are you?
'Hen Night: The Musical!' follows the journey of 6 women (bride Lucy and her hens, duh) the night before they fly off to a destination wedding. Think 'Bridesmaids', meets 'Fleabag', meets Agatha Christie in this hour long whodunnit, comedy, female-led musical! Brought to you by Footlights Harriet Fisher & Lottie Elton, and harvard graduate musical extraordinaire Mateo Lincoln.
Till death do us part? We'll see about that.
- August 2021
Delivering food you don’t get to eat is hungry work. Outside a chicken shop, a group of delivery riders wait for orders, trying to figure out life and love while they do. Threatened by nosy landlords, angry exes and even their own employer, Eatsaroo, they realise they have to group together and take the battle to the bosses. But fighting a billion-dollar algorithm isn’t that easy. From the award-winning company who brought you SiX and Rust comes this toe-tapping new musical about love, labour and leftover pizza.
- June 2021
In a dingy flower shop on Skid Row, Seymour’s discovery of a rare and exotic plant, Audrey II, turns his world upside down. The plant’s survival and his rise to fame and fortune however come at a cost: his own flesh and blood. Set to the sound of 1960s Rock n Roll and a backdrop of dark humour, we watch Seymour grapple with a blossoming love, a masochistic dentist and an avaricious boss as he struggles to do the right thing. Will his trials and tribulations end with Audrey somewhere that’s green, or will the monstrous flora have other plans?
Content Warnings
Abusive Relationship (prolonged, mentions of and shown)
Death (frequent, on stage, often comedic tone)
Blood (Simulated with plots/set dressing)
Torture (Brief comedic mention in song, character shown to enjoy inflicting pain without anaesthesia)
Guns (visual prop, no gunshot sound)
Dentist (scenes of wishing to inflict teeth damage but nothing explicitly shown, dental drill sounds)
Implied Self Harm (brief)
Implied/Accidental Suicide (both staged)
Drugs (addiction to nitrous oxide, overdose)
Flashing lights (used throughout certain songs)
- June 2021
Just when you thought that C*VID had wiped us out, CUMTS presents you with the gift of Gala. For one night 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…
- June 2021
Live Musical Theatre is back! Whether you’re a newcomer or a Finalist looking for their final chance to smash it on stage, The Spotlight is the perfect opportunity to belt one of your favourite musical theatre songs, whether that be a classic or something a bit more new!
This edition, with a return to live performance, will feature a LIVE AUDIENCE (omg) and also performers will have the exciting chance to workshop their songs (also in person) before the performance night with a Director and Musical Director! Such high quality performances with the glitz and glamour of a full stage with our brilliant Musical Director Alex accompanying, will make this event like no other!
- March 2021
Disgraced bank manager, Georgia Clooney, assembles a team of bank robbers to get revenge on his partner who framed her and cost her her job, the nefarious Police Chief Garfunkel. Georgia’s quest to best her evil ex-partner is complicated by the other members of her crew and the police that try to stop them. Georgia’s crew consists of a seasoned bank robber reliving his glory days, a big softie for muscle, his inept younger sister, a young woman trying to prove herself in a profession too often dominated by men and Matt, the police’s inside man who finds himself torn between which of the two causes is noble. This comedy explores the boundaries of ‘good’ in a contest between right and wrong with action, humour and romance. Along the way, a meta news anchorman serves as a narrator to hold our hand through the chaos and keep the musical moving. This musical is ultimately intended for the cast, crew and audience to have as much fun as possible, it does not take itself seriously and is designed to spread joy.
- February 2021
Musical theatre is back and better than ever! Whether you're a newcomer or a CUMTS veteran, The Spotlight offers performers a chance to take to the (virtual) stage and belt out one of their favourite musical theatre songs, whether that be a classic or something a bit more new!
A Live Call including all our Hosts and Performers, chatting and laughing the night away, and watching all the pre-prepared performances for the first time at the same time as our Live-Streaming Audience, these high quality performances in such a supportive and relaxed atmosphere will make this event like no other!
- February 2021
N.B. this show has been cancelled
‘Ships are safe in harbour. But that’s not what ships are for.’
Astrid has never set foot on solid ground: as the first and only child born in space, she faces her whole life on board the spaceship Mara. But when an asteroid strike decimates their oxygen supply, she and the crew of the ship must abandon the mission and return home before it’s too late.
From the award-winning, five-star writing team behind Rust and Life With You, this original musical explores what it means to know who you are. Set against the breathtaking and deadly backdrop of space, Astrid and the others travelling on the Mara grapple with life, friendship, and loss.
When it really matters, we risk everything to make it back to the only home we truly know: Earth.
- November 2020
Ordinary Days is a powerful musical depicting the lives of four New Yorkers finding through life and the city. An unlikely friendship is formed by an uptight grad student and an eccentric artist over a lost notebook and a lack of purpose. Meanwhile, a dysfunctional couple struggle to make ends meet as one wants to start afresh and the other desperately clings onto the past. Their lives intertwine through a vibrant and exciting score while the audience is taken on an adventure of self discovery by each character.
- October 2020
For TWO NIGHTS ONLY, the ADC will play host to a cabaret night like no other... CUMTS presents: The Spotlight!!
Watch in awe as ten of Cambridge's most talented musical theatre performers take to the new venue of the ADC STAGE to belt out a wide range of their favourite songs from the shows! In a term without Bar Nights (we know, we cried too), this is a completely unique chance to experience the staggering breadth of ability across all year groups and theatrical backgrounds. The phrase 'not to be missed' is often overused, but never has there been such an incredible and unexpected opportunity to add some much-needed MT levity to your life - why would you want to be anywhere else?
- June 2020
In this weird and Unprecedented Time of self-isolation and social distancing, CUMTS is here to bring you some joy and good news: Bar Nights are still here for you to enjoy!
That's right! Three times this (not) term time, we will be taking to 97.2 CamFM and the ADC Theatre YouTube Channel to provide you with a classic dose of musical theatre! You won't want to miss out.
This week, we sadly have to say goodbye to all those performers who are leaving Cambridge this year. They are picking some of their all time favourite musical songs and using them to sign off on their wonderful Cambridge Theatre careers. They will be missed!
- May 2020
In this weird and unprecedented time of self-isolation and social distancing, CUMTS is here to bring you some joy and good news: Bar Nights are still here for you to enjoy!
That's right! Three times this (not) term time, we will be taking to 97.2 CamFM and the ADC Theatre YouTube Channel to provide you with a classic dose of musical theatre! You won't want to miss out.
This week, the theme is - rather fittingly - "Stuck Inside. This means that our performers will be choosing their songs for a variety of reasons: it may be a song that helped them through lockdown; it may be a song that they feel reflects their mood in recent times; they may even have created a parody of a song for the sake of bringing some positivity into this glum situation. No matter what the link to the theme, each song is going to be amazing. Don't miss out!
- March 2020
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
For the last one of the term, CUMTS are working in collaboration with Bread to bring you a Bar Night with entirely BME performers who will be singing all of their favourite songs from musical theatre. It going to be an amazing night so please don't miss out! Buy your tickets now!
- February 2020
Just when you thought the Christmas and New Year parties were over, CUMTS presents you with the gift of Gala. For one night and one night 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 2020
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
This week is our first Bar Night of Lent term, and it's an absolutely classic theme: duets. The performers will be pairing up this week to bring a series of musical theatre songs to life. Expect romance, harmony, laughter and - most importantly - a wonderful wonderful night.
- February 2020
"The moment was suddenly over; a fleeting trick of the light. Who'd have thought, looking back, that this chance encounter would change my life?”
It's a freezing and rainy day when Elizabeth Day is finally persuaded to tell her story- the story of how she and Liam Moore met, fell in love, and fell apart, and of how their shared life influenced each other, and those around them. Life With You is a nostalgic and poignant piece, exploring how life goes on, even once the curtain falls on one stage and the rose-tinted memories fade.
Life With You is an original student musical. Featuring numbers from the tear-jerking 'Someplace Safe' to the uplifting 'Almost's Good Enough', this is not one to miss.
https://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/review-life-with-you/
- February 2020
‘I sold flowers. I didn’t sell myself. Now you’ve made a lady of me, I’m not fit to sell anything else.’
Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s ‘My Fair Lady’ tells the compelling story the ‘education’ of a Miss Eliza Doolittle.
Doolittle is a fiery, intelligent young woman who works as a flower girl. She desires upward social mobility, but her strong East-End accent prevents it. She seeks the elocution lessons from a paternalistic professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins, who gradually moulds her into his ideal of womanhood. Eliza finds herself battling oppressive ideals of femininity and class and is forced to re-evaluate her sense of self.
CUMT’s production is a compelling reinterpretation of the classic tale, with an exhilarating combination of physical theatre, ensemble multi-rolling, puppetry, and Loewe’s well-loved score.
- January 2020
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! Not only that, but also the range of performers means that there is always a range of songs and dynamics to fit every audience member's needs. Whether you're into comedy or you're a hopeless romantic, there'll be something for you!
The theme this week is a new and extremely exciting one: Female Composers. This means that our performers will be singing their favourite songs from musical theatre that are written by female composers in order to celebrate the Cambridge Female Composers Festival 2020!
- January 2020
In just 24 hours, CUMTS will create and perform a brand new musical. A theme will be announced to some of Cambridge's sparkiest new writers and composers, who will then put their heads together for 24 hours of creative madness. A troupe of CUMTS performers and musicians will be on hand to bring their work to life, in what will be a whirlwind celebration of new 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.
