#Ladies of the Stave: a networking event for female musicians

Ladies of The Stave and Nimax Theatres are delighted to be hosting this networking event, the latest event in the #LadiesoftheStave initiative to support female musicians and musical directors in theatre. It will offer a relaxed opportunity for female musicians to network with each other, and to meet with fixers, directors, producers and musical directors. There will be a short talk from a leading female musical director.

It will be held in the bar of the Vaudeville Theatre (kindly opened for the occasion by Nimax Theatres), before the evening's performance of SIX. It will run from 1745 - 1900, but some of us usually go to the Coal Hole pub afterwards to carry on the conversation.

Recent surveys of Musicians’ Union members indicate still that only a small proportion of musicians working on West End musicals are women. In the commercial musical theatre sector most of the Musical Directors, their assistants or associate conductors are male. Yet London boasts any number of superb female musicians. Theatre musicians are largely recruited through an informal system of networking and socialising that has overwhelmingly favoured men.

Much progress has been made in gender diversity elsewhere in the arts, and among musicians in the classical world and subsidised sector, but the orchestra pits of the commercial West End remain stubbornly male. Change is clearly overdue, and we hope that by generating awareness of the disparity, and the availability of so much under-used talent, we can start to bring it about.

This event is guest-listed, so if you wish to attend please book your free ticket on this site, or RSVP to [email protected]

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