Things are moving on apace with the musical I’m writing about Girton College Fire Brigade, as part of the Birmingham Hippodrome New Writers Group!
If you’re free on Thursday 6th March 2025 at 1.30pm or 7.15pm you can see two songs and scenes from the show at the Hippodrome, or if that doesn’t work for you, go browse our new Fire Brigade Musical Website. You’ll find links, songs and blog posts about the process. Firemen, assemble!
Click here to listen to the nine-minute musical Jenni Pinnock and I wrote about motoring pioneer (and joyrider) the somewhat complicated and conflicted character of Bertha Benz.
It took us most of a year to write, in bits and pieces, and it was first performed at the Royal Institution in October 2023 at An Evening Of Unnecessary Detail. We’re still not quite sure what it’s for or what to do with it, but Helena Raeburn sang it so fabulously in the studio that we’ve put it online for everyone to enjoy this mini-musical full of motoring drama and authentic German swearwords…
In news that would sound like the ramblings of a fantasist if it weren’t completely true, I am competing in Christmas University Challenge on BBC Two – tonight! And on iPlayer for all eternity.
I’m representing my old university Imperial College London, where I spent a happy three years both studying and not studying physics. My team-mates in this absolutely bonkers endeavour are the brilliant science writer Anjana Ahuja, stegosaur expert Susie Maidment and comedian Mark Silcox.
It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Our captain Anjana wrote this about our shared experience on the Financial Times. It’s scarily accurate.
I can’t say which team won (yet…) but I can say that I’ll be live tweeting the whole thing from about 8.15pm over on twitter.com/helenarney and if you miss the broadcast tonight you can watch it all again and again forever.
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