Zoo-sical: The School Musicals Company at Edinburgh Zoo

Last March, I had the honour of witnessing my first ever Music Teacher Awards for Excellence. After having been through a lengthy judging process, it was really special to see all those wonderful people together in one room, rightly being celebrated and commended for the amazing work that they are doing in service of music education.

At the end of the ceremony, I made my way around the room to personally congratulate as many of the winners as I could and had a little chat with each of them. One of those winners was The Schools Musical Company, which took home the award for Outstanding Musical Theatre/Drama Resource – this meant that I ended up talking to co-founders Tom Kirkham and Matthew Crossey. Even in the middle of a celebration for their achievements, they were not resting on their laurels, eagerly telling me about a new musical they had in the works that was being done in partnership with Edinburgh Zoo.

Once everyone had a chance to recover from the double-whammy of the two-day-long Music & Drama Education Expo, with the awards falling right in-between, I reached out to team at The Schools Musicals Company and asked that they keep me informed about the exciting project that Kirkham and Crossey had spoken so animatedly about. They were more than happy to answer any questions that I had:

So how did the Edinburgh Zoo project come about?

Well, The School Musicals Company was established in 2017 with the intention of providing musicals, nativities and songbooks that would really engage and excite children, while making life as easy as possible for busy teachers. In our first year we were nominated at the Music Teacher Awards for Excellence, and subsequently went on to win an award earlier this year. In the spring of 2018, however, we were approached by Suzanne Scott, who is the head of discovery and learning at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), with responsibility for both Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park. She wanted to know about the possibility of collaborating on a piece to convey the conservation message of the RZSS, in particular to the hundreds of primary schools which visit every year. She had heard of our best-selling show Pantastic, had really liked what she had seen, and got in touch. As we are always open to new projects – especially one with clear educational and entertainment value – we were very happy to discuss things further.

What does the project involve?

The project involves the creation of a new musical for schools, about an hour in length with eight songs, that has the working title BAMBOOZLED! It will be available for all schools to purchase from January 2019, with the RZSS including it as part of their education/outreach programme for schools which visit. Some schools may even have the chance to perform their version of the show in the lecture theatre at the zoo itself. Edinburgh Zoo is a key location within the musical, which sees a number of animals travelling to Edinburgh from all corners of the earth, triumphing over numerous adversities (not to mention coping with various language/communication barriers) before finally arriving safe and sound. The script will be written by Tom Kirkham, with songs by Matthew Crossey, Tom Kirkham and Niki Davies.

Has anyone at SMC done anything similar to this or is it a new experience?

This project marks the company's first collaboration of this type with another organisation. Between the three of us, we have written and published two other musicals with strong ecological themes and messages: Plastic Pirates by Niki Davies confronts the serious problem of plastic waste and how it is having a devastating effect on our wildlife, especially in the sea, while Doctor Dolittle and the Monkey Mayhem by Tom Kirkham and Matthew Crossey explores the joys of our natural world and considers the dangers faced by many of our animals.

What are you enjoying about the process?

The process has been hugely enjoyable so far. A visit to Edinburgh Zoo earlier this year afforded us all a very valuable and fascinating insight into the workings of the zoo, its remarkable array of animals and its vital conservation message. Since then, we have worked to finalise the storyline and made progress on the exciting task of creating great songs that the children will love to sing. One particularly interesting element to the project is the inclusion of different languages within the script to reflect the different locations of the animals around the world – Mandarin, in particular, features quite heavily. Sandi Robb, who is the RZSS project coordinator for languages and also manages the ‘Beyond The Panda’ programme, is a proficient Mandarin speaker and will be helping with the translation elements of the script.

Is there a way for teachers to interact with the final product?

While the musical is a bespoke piece, its strong ecological message, great songs and array of lovable characters will make it suitable for all schools wherever they are. As with all of our shows, the editable script will be available to help teachers ensure it fits the needs of their particular school, and there will be a wealth of curriculum-related material for exploration within classrooms. Both our website and that of the RZSS is also likely to contain further activities and ideas. Everything will be available as digital downloads as well as book/CD packs.

Are there any plans for similar collaborations?

We don't have any plans for further collaborations as yet, but we are always open to new ideas. One option that the RZSS is considering is bringing the idea to partner zoos across the world, who could adapt/customise the piece to fit their own needs and to convey their own ecological message.

Make sure to keep an eye out for the new musical when it's released at the start of next year. You can find out more about the existing catalogue of The Schools Musical Company by visiting theschoolmusicalscompany.com, where you can also sign up to its newsletter to ensure you don't miss out on all the latest publications.

Don't forget that submissions for our next round of awards is now open. We've made it even bigger and renamed it the Music & Drama Education Awards. To see the full list of categories and find out more about how to get involved, visit musicdramaedawards.com. The deadline for entries is 18 October, with the awards being held on 4 March 2020.