By Grace Hatchell
Who says you have to wait years for your big break?
Muse! The Shakespeare Mayhem Musical is proving that talent doesn’t come with an age limit. Fresh from a sold-out industry presentation at New York’s Lincoln Center, the new musical created by students at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy is making the leap across the Atlantic as a featured production at the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it will play at Underbelly’s Cowbarn.
I’ll admit, I have a real soft spot for stories like this. Somewhere, a group of students probably pitched an idea that made somebody raise an eyebrow. “A musical where Shakespeare’s characters fight each other?” Well… yes! The Fringe has always belonged to people brave enough to ask, “Why not?” If everyone played it safe, Edinburgh would be a very boring place indeed. We’d have fewer surprises… and I’d have a much lighter rucksack to carry around all month.
What makes Muse! particularly special is that it wasn’t dreamt up in a boardroom. It began when a group of students found themselves without roles in a school production and decided to create something of their own instead. That spark of determination has since grown into a fully realised musical, earning a successful preview at Lincoln Center before making the journey to the world’s biggest arts festival.
The story itself sounds gloriously chaotic.
Before he became the Bard, Will Shakespeare has one rather pressing problem: his publisher will only print one of his plays. Unfortunately for him, Puck has other ideas. Before long, King Lear, Cleopatra, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and a host of Shakespeare’s most famous creations are locked in an outrageous battle to decide whose story deserves to become Shakespeare’s first great work.
Now that’s the sort of writers’ meeting I’d happily sit in on.
I can just picture Shakespeare desperately trying to keep everyone happy while Macbeth is plotting, Lear is shouting, Cleopatra is refusing to compromise and Puck is throwing petrol on the whole situation. Anyone who’s ever tried organising a family Christmas will probably recognise the feeling.
Blending pop musical comedy with absurdist theatre, Muse! promises a fast-paced celebration of creativity, ambition, oversized egos and the wonderfully unpredictable process of storytelling. It’s Shakespeare… just perhaps not quite as your English teacher remembers it.
The production has assembled an impressive company of performers from Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tours and previous Fringe productions.
The cast includes Dallyn Vail Bayles (The Phantom of the Opera National Tour), Karis Brizendine (American Idiot), Thom Bergamo (Camp Morningwood (A Very Naked Musical!)), Megan Colton (Hadestown National Tour), Eleni Kutay (TINA – The Tina Turner Musical National Tour), Nate Janis as William Shakespeare, Sydney Kamel (Paparazzi!), Luis Rivera, returning to Edinburgh after Kafka’s The Metamorphosis: The Musical “with Puppets”, as Macbeth, Maya Rowe (The Wild Party) and Maya Sta. Ana (Twelfth Night).
Behind the scenes is an equally accomplished creative team.
The music and lyrics are by Norwegian-American pop artist Hanna Andréa, who also co-wrote the book. Lead writer Lisa Sanderson, a playwright and theatre educator at Interlochen Arts Academy, helped shape the musical alongside the student writers who first imagined it.
Direction comes from Broadway veteran Mindy Cooper, whose remarkable career spans more than four decades. As both performer and director, her credits include Chicago, Titanic, Beauty and the Beast, Song & Dance, Dracula – The Musical, Soul Doctor and numerous acclaimed new works. If anyone knows how to bring fresh musical theatre to life, she certainly seems to fit the bill.
I’m one of those slightly nosy people who always reads the creative team as carefully as the cast list. It’s a bit like checking who’s cooking Sunday lunch. Lovely ingredients are one thing, but if you’ve got an exceptional chef behind them, expectations naturally rise. Looking through the names attached to Muse!, there’s a reassuring amount of experience guiding what remains, at its heart, a wonderfully youthful idea.
The musical direction is by Seth Farber, with orchestrations by James Conner. Casting is by Chad Eric Murnane, CSA, and Amber Snead, CSA. Marissa Councill serves as stage manager, while Matthew Dunivan takes on the roles of assistant director and assistant stage manager. General management is provided by Michael Shannon and LDK Productions.
Muse! is produced by Leikari Lochlann, executive produced by Lisa Dozier Shacket, whose producing credits include Be More Chill, Mama I’m A Big Girl Now and Without You, with Logan DeWitt joining the production as associate producer.
If you’re curious before heading to Edinburgh, you can already sample the show’s pop-inspired score. Hanna Andréa has released the official concept album on major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music, offering audiences an early glimpse of the musical’s wit and infectious energy.
One of my favourite things about the Fringe is catching a show before everyone else starts recommending it. You know the type. Three days later, someone corners you in a café and says, “Have you seen Muse! yet?” and you get to reply, ever so casually, “Actually… yes.”
There’s something rather fitting about a musical created by young artists telling the story of a young Shakespeare trying to find his voice. It feels wonderfully circular. Whether you’re a lifelong Shakespeare fan or someone who still has flashbacks to GCSE English, Muse! looks set to offer plenty of laughs, catchy songs and theatrical mayhem along the way.
Muse! The Shakespeare Mayhem Musical will be performed at Underbelly’s Cowbarn, Bristo Square, during the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 7–31 August. Tickets and further information will be available through the show’s official website and the Edinburgh Fringe ticketing platform.
MUSE: The Shakespeare Mayhem Musical | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Muse the Musical | The Shakespeare Mayhem Musical
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