Thomas Rolph on Bringing Four Musicals to the Fringe with Grown Up Playhouse

London Theatre Doc
13 minutes ago
6 min read

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This year at the Edinburgh Fringe, Thomas Rolph and Grown Up Playhouse are not bringing one, not two, but four brand new musicals. It is a bold and brilliantly creative move that showcases the company’s energy, imagination and love for original musical theatre. I caught up with Thomas to chat about planning chaos, hedgehog sidekicks, and the joys of juggling multiple musicals.

Let’s start with the big one. You have four original musicals premiering at the Fringe this year, after over a year of planning. When did it actually hit you that this was happening?

Weirdly, I don’t think it has quite clicked yet. I’m not sure if it will really hit me until they’re all up there being performed. But, I think the one point that I do remember going ‘Oh God, we’re really doing this’ was when we finally had casts for all the shows…at that point (in my mind) the shows were definitely happening.

Rewind to 2023. Grown Up Playhouse started with a lighthearted idea involving Paddington Bear. How did that first creative spark snowball into four musicals and a company name?

I think writing that random Paddington Bear script was when I realised quite how much I enjoyed the whole thing; from script, to music, to lyrics, to staging, to puppets. I had already started writing The Detective’s Demise, but had never actually given much thought to finishing it or putting it on. Once I decided to do The Detective’s Demise at Fringe 2024 (with my university musical theatre society) everything else just sort of snowballed…and now we’re here! I’m really not entirely sure how we’ve ended up doing so much, but it’s very exciting!

Last year you brought back two earlier works, The Detective’s Demise and To Be a Prince. This year you are also introducing Escape Room The Musical and Milly’s Musical Adventure. What did revisiting those earlier shows teach you about your growth as a writer?

I realised just how much I still had to learn. I loved both of our shows last year, but looking back on them now I think the dialogue is clunky and some of the songs were a bit rushed (which were not things I had time to dwell on last year). I’ve loved being able to improve these shows, especially after learning everything I’ve learned from our two new shows. Although, one thing that I’m taking from all four shows and putting into whatever I do next is to plan more! More planning never hurts!

A little myth-busting moment. Escape Room was inspired by your self guided Fringe tour idea. What was it about that experience that made you want to build a full show around it?

I did a self-guided murder mystery tour of the Fringe last year, Murder on the mile (which is also up again this year!), but I would be stood around for about an hour every day waiting for people to come pick up tours, so my head got to thinking of my next show. Maybe the puzzles in the tour subconsciously inspired me, but I thought of Escape Room: The Musical. From that point onwards every day for the next 20 days I would be stood in Makars Square for one hour coming up with as many ideas as I could for Escape Room: The Musical (and handing out a tour every now and again). Most of those ideas probably haven’t made it to the show, but that was the start of it all.

Milly’s Musical Adventure is your first children’s show. Apart from hedgehogs and catchy songs, what do you hope young audiences take away from it?

I think the most important thing for all of the shows that we make at Grownup Playhouse is that they are entertaining to watch, that is always our number one priority. However, Milly’s Musical Adventure does have some important morals as well. The show has a big focus on the importance of friendship and the support that friendship brings (even if your friends are hedgehogs). We also made sure that Milly was polite, kind, and well-mannered. I think it’s very easy for protagonists in kids shows to become quite loud and a little brash and I didn’t want Milly to be like that at all. So, overall, I hope kids leave being polite, kind and friendly to everyone they meet!

You wear a lot of hats in these shows including writing, directing, composing and performing. Which role surprised you the most or took you out of your comfort zone?

I think everything pushes me and stretches what I’m capable of. But, I would probably say direction and musical direction are the biggest learning curves for me. With writing, composing or even performing I can hide away and do it all until it’s good enough to show people, but with directing I’m learning on the job and hoping that I can bring the shows to life. All that said, the cast are all incredible and come up with their own brilliant ideas that help make the shows what they are once an audience gets to see them.

You’ve been going to the Fringe for over twenty years. Looking back, is there one moment or lesson that has really shaped how you’re doing things this time around?

My outlook on the Fringe has been shaped by every single one I’ve been to, but obviously last year has had the biggest impact on how we’re approaching the Fringe this year. I think the biggest thing we learned from last year was how to market our shows. We’ve come up with some pretty original ideas for 2025 and we’re hoping they help our shows reach some more people! You could say it’s a ‘tote’ally brilliant idea…

With four productions on the go, how are you managing your time without losing your mind or your creativity?

From a creative standpoint, I think doing multiple shows really helps. I can sometimes be completely blocked on ideas for one show or just a bit bored of rewriting the same scene over and over and I will be able to drop the show for a couple of days, but stay really creative and productive with another project. So, I love working on multiple shows at the same time. Then, I think in terms of organising my days to keep energy…I think this is sort of the same answer as before. I don’t really organise my days for these shows (outside of rehearsals of course!), but I have so many things to do that I always have some sort of work to jump into; writing if I’m feeling creative, press releases if I just feel like doing Admin, costumes and set if I’m feeling somewhere between the two.

Your shows are wildly different including murder mystery, parody, puzzles and puppets. What holds them together as part of the Grown Up Playhouse identity?

One thing is the amazing person who does all of our art, Charlotte Connelly. She has done all of our posters, the puzzle booklet, the kids show/book illustrations, so whatever Grownup Playhouse project you are looking at feels like it has that same vibe as the others. Then in terms of the shows, we only have four people that work on our music, which is myself, Michael Rincon, Joe Sartin and Adam Marké and it means all four of our musicals definitely have a signature sound to them, whilst still being completely different genres and styles (the musicians I get to work with are incredibly talented). But, all that being said, all of our shows are unique and do sound different and look different and I think we’re not afraid for our shows to be different. Again, as long as the audience leaves entertained then we’re happy to call it a Grownup Playhouse show!

And finally, in one sentence, why should audiences come and see all four Grown Up Playhouse shows this Fringe?

The Fringe has always been about supporting new writing and giving small shows a leg up in the big old world of theatre/comedy/everything else and we hope that you’ll be one of the audience members helping give us that leg up…Also, they’re lots of fun!