James Lark has taken the 2026 Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize with Father, a number from his musical Confessional, after twelve finalists were heard at The Other Palace on Monday night.
Some 140 songs were put forward for this year's Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize, and an industry panel whittled them down to twelve for a one-night concert at The Other Palace on Monday 12 October. At the end of the evening the judges settled on Father, from James Lark's musical Confessional, sung on the night by Ryan Kopel. Lark wrote both the music and the lyrics, and the win brings him £1000 to put towards developing the piece.
The second award of the night, for Vision, Voice and Potential, carries £250 and went to Cheeyang Ng for In The Beginning, a song from Legendary.
The deciding panel was Anthony Drewe, Chris Ma, George Stiles, Joanne Benjamin, Jon Robyns, Miranda Cooper and Rafia Hussain. Mercury Musical Developments and Stiles + Drewe presented the concert in partnership with Theatrical Rights Worldwide, with Alex Young as host, leading the company of performers whose names were announced last month.
The competition was only part of the programme. The evening also showcased British musicals that have either just been seen or are on their way, with numbers from Bank of Dave: The Musical, Mona Loser, Raising Gays and Redcliffe.
It was a night with a shadow over it, too. The concert was dedicated to three people who did a great deal for new musical theatre in this country and who all died earlier this month: Adam Lenson, David James and Hugh Wooldridge. Their work for the sector was remembered from the stage.
George Stiles and Anthony Drewe said: "Huge congratulations to James Lark, whose song ‘Father’ is a worthy winner, and to Cheeyang Ng and all our finalists. This year’s concert carried extra weight as we remembered three dear friends and colleagues who gave so much to new musical theatre. It felt fitting to honour them with an evening of new writing, and it’s clear the future of British musical theatre is in very good hands."
Lark divides his time between composing and musical direction. His musicals include Infants, Miracles at Short Notice and Tony Blair the Musical, and his theatre scores take in Once Upon A Time at South Mill Arts Centre, Lysistrata at Watford Palace Theatre, Pinocchio and the Christmas Wish at Cheltenham Playhouse, and Io Theatre Company's actor-musician versions of A Christmas Carol and The Snow Spider. Commissions have come from the Bridgewater Sinfonia, the choir of Westminster Abbey, the Songmakers’ Almanac and the Bromley Boy Singers, and he is now at work on Beauty and the Beast for Big Adventure Productions.
Ng, who was born and grew up in Singapore, is a singer-songwriter whose work sits where queer, Asian and immigrant experience meet, and whose honours already include the Fred Ebb, Princess Grace and Jonathan Larson awards. Legendary, a solo musical, is in development with the Lucille Lortel Theatre, NYSCA, Musical Theatre Factory and Goodspeed Musicals.
The prize carries the names of one of British musical theatre's most enduring writing partnerships. Stiles and Drewe wrote the songs for the Cameron Mackintosh/Disney Mary Poppins and the Olivier Award-winning Honk!, and their West End productions include Half A Sixpence, The Wind in the Willows and Betty Blue Eyes. Both were founding board members of Mercury Musical Developments, the UK's development organisation for musical theatre writers, and Stiles is also the producer of SIX.
