In the small Somerset town of Little Malden, a group of parents meet in a support group for those raising queer children. When they find themselves unexpectedly organising a parents’ float for the town’s first-ever Pride parade, they must confront their own beliefs, biases and fears in their determination to show up for their kids.
Written by Micha Mirto and Jordan Paul Clarke, Raising Gays is a brand new musical about those parents frantically googling pronouns, Pride flags and purple hair dye in a well-meaning - but often misjudged - endeavour to support their children.
The stakes could not be higher. There’s no manual and a hundred different ways to mess it all up.
Brimming with humour and heart - and completely gorgeous tunes - Raising Gays is a musical for everyone who’s ever had a kid (or a parent).
We caught up with writer-director Micha Mirto and composer and lyricist Jordan Paul Clarke
What was the initial spark that made you both say, "This needs to be a musical"? Was there a specific real-life moment, headline, or personal experience that started it all?
Jordan: Definitely! For me, it started with a conversation with my mum at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We'd spent a few days watching brilliant new musicals about queer protagonists, and over a cup of tea she said she wasn't sure those shows had really been for her. That immediately got me thinking about the people standing just outside those conversations. Then she told me about a friend who'd recently come out in her late 20's, and my mum's first question was, "How can I help her parents?" I burst into tears, seeing my mum go from someone who originally struggled herself to someone who wanted to help others, and that's where it began for me.The idea felt musical from the beginning because it's such an emotional story. It's about love, confusion, fear, hope, trying your best, being understood, and people desperately trying to connect. It was never 'not' a musical. Also, we need more musicals for older characters, and the incredible older performers out there, so if we can make that change whilst also telling a story about empathy, we've got to.
Jordan: Definitely! For me, it started with a conversation with my mum at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We'd spent a few days watching brilliant new musicals about queer protagonists, and over a cup of tea she said she wasn't sure those shows had really been for her. That immediately got me thinking about the people standing just outside those conversations. Then she told me about a friend who'd recently come out in her late 20's, and my mum's first question was, "How can I help her parents?" I burst into tears, seeing my mum go from someone who originally struggled herself to someone who wanted to help others, and that's where it began for me.The idea felt musical from the beginning because it's such an emotional story. It's about love, confusion, fear, hope, trying your best, being understood, and people desperately trying to connect. It was never 'not' a musical. Also, we need more musicals for older characters, and the incredible older performers out there, so if we can make that change whilst also telling a story about empathy, we've got to.
Micha: Absolutely - when Jordan brought this to me, I couldn't stop thinking about it - hearing him talk about his parents, comparing his experience to the experience I had with mine. There was no question - I needed this show to exist, so did Jordan- and the amazing thing is we're not alone in that.
Most queer narratives focus heavily on the youth coming out. What made you decide to shift the lens entirely to the parents and their support group?
Jordan: I think for us, it was the perfect way to express what we were feeling: that we've lost the art of listening to those who don't share exactly the same experiences as us. What interested us was the other side of the queer story, and a story about parents who will do anything to love their kids as best as possible, but might not always know how, and worse; might be scared to try for fear of getting it wrong. I think there's something fascinating about people who want to do the right thing and aren't always given the space to fail first. So many parents love their children unconditionally, but they're also carrying their own fears, assumptions, and blind spots. We wanted to create a show that celebrated that journey too. Yes the show is about allyship, but really it's about accepting that people deserve time and space to grow, adapt and learn, and sometimes we don't allow people that time. We're talking about more than just 'gayness', whether it's gender, sexuality, pronouns, or just someone who makes a decision about their life that you don't fully understand. We literally don't even see the kids in this show, which really allows us to make the point that the stories the parents bring are just as important.
Micha: By ensuring the kids never appear we allow the audience to self insert - queer people see themselves in that gap, parents of queer people see their kids in that gap. The audience is trusted to complete the story - which backs up our theme, we have no interest in patronising people - because we just don't need to - audiences get it and it's crucial as writers that we trust that. Jordan is absolutely right - centering parents and their stories allows us to demonstrate what might happen if our interactions with those who don't understand us (but are really, sincerely trying) are full of grace rather than judgement.
Little Malden is a small Somerset town. Why was it important to set this story in rural/small-town Britain rather than a major, historically queer metropolitan hub like London or Brighton?
Jordan: It's hugely to do with where Micha and I grew up. We're both from Dorset/Somerset, and know that small-town community so well. In a small town, everyone knows everyone else's business, which means every decision feels bigger, and every success or failure is shared by the whole community. We were also interested in telling a story that wasn't set in a place where Pride already feels established. There's something exciting about a town attempting its first Pride parade. It creates optimism, uncertainty, and a real sense that people are figuring things out together, as well as putting our characters in a wonderfully colourful, unknown world! The show isn't about a community that has all the answers yet (and never will) - it's about a community trying their best, and it felt important to reflect that with a story about the regions, rather than the big cities. We're talking about the people who make up the majority of the country, and don't have easy access to support and huge progressive communities.
Micha: Additionally, the setting fights the perfect fit, idealised version of allyship - cities come with so much narrative expectation. We are just trying to tell the truth with this piece - and where better to tell that truth than the place that we both know best.
The synopsis mentions parents franticly googling pronouns and trying their best but making missteps. How do you strike the perfect balance between the comedy of well-meaning blunders and the genuine high stakes of parenting?
Jordan: For us, the comedy only works if it comes from a place of truth. Parenting and family dynamics are inherently funny because people are constantly saying the wrong thing, misunderstanding each other, and trying to communicate emotions they're struggling to express (which is also what makes it the perfect basis for songs). At the same time, we're never laughing at people for trying. The audience needs to understand why a character is behaving the way they are. If they do, the comedy becomes funnier and the emotional moments become more moving. The show never sets out to lecture the audience on what it means to be a good ally. It's simply watching these parents do their best because they love their children. The stakes are high because the relationships matter, and the humour comes from how imperfectly human everyone is.
Micha: It's about universal wants - human beings want to be loved. Parents want to love their children and children want to be seen and loved by their parents. The stakes come from something so universally desired being actually so easy to get wrong. The humour comes from the sincerity of trying and getting it wrong - we laugh with these characters, because we see ourselves trying and getting it wrong, but we also see the hope that trying creates. Hope and humour inextricably interlinked - and that's what we are trying to tap into.
Micha, as the writer/director, and Jordan, as the composer/lyricist—how did you collaborate to weave the book and music together? Did the songs come from specific character breakthroughs in the script, or did the music help shape who these parents are?
Micha: So I love talking about this - it's my absolute favourite. Jordan and I very much worked together on character building and structure. The voice of the piece is woven together by both of us. Sometimes a moment would spark a song in Jordan and that song would need scenic structure around it. But more often we would know the scene/moment we were trying to create - I would overwrite it, hand that material to Jordan and he would work his magic. Then it was a case of re-inserting the scene and cutting anything that doubled up - so the songs always feel as integrated into the book as they can possibly be. So, the answer to you question is both - script fed song, song fed script and character fed both - alongside us constantly talking, sharing stories and growing the world.
Jordan, can you give us a tease of the musical palette for Raising Gays? How does the score reflect both the traditional setting of Somerset and the vibrant energy of a first-ever Pride parade?
Jordan: One thing I knew very early on was that I wanted the score to be a real bop. Older characters deserve brilliant pop songs to sing just as much as younger ones do, and musical theatre so often gives the most epic upbeat modern songs to younger characters! The parents in this show are constantly yearning to connect with or be seen by a younger generation, so the musical language reflects that energy. At the same time, the score is always trying to support the emotional reality of the story. There are big, joyful moments that capture the excitement of a first Pride parade - all with melodies that are very conversational and lift themselves from the lilt of Somerset accents or the other voices present in the story - but there are also intimate songs that let characters express things they don't yet know how to say out loud. Music gives us access to what's happening underneath their words, and my hope is that the music allows us into the hearts of these characters. There's also a little musical surprise built into the show around the fact that there are no kids on stage, but I'll save that for when you come and see the show!
You have managed to assemble an absolute powerhouse West End cast for this reading (Melanie La Barrie, Joanna Riding, Damian Humbley, etc.). What has it been like hearing these incredible voices breathe life into your characters for the first time?
Jordan: We feel BEYOND lucky to be working with them. It's a dream come true, really. We genuinely adore this cast and feel incredibly lucky that they've trusted the material. One of the joys of working with great actors is that they constantly remind you that the characters belong to them as much as they belong to the writers. They'll discover emotional connections and jokes that you didn't even realise were there. Even in scenes or songs we know really well, they've found new layers of vulnerability and surprise. They're phenomenal storytellers, and beautiful human beings. Because this show is built around empathy and connection, it's been incredibly moving to watch them discover the show, and to collaborate with them. If this reading achieves anything, I hope it shines a light on six extraordinary performers doing extraordinary work on that stage.
Micha: Exactly that - as a director it's a total joy but as a writer it's next level because their instincts and their offers are second to none.
The stakes are described as high, with a hundred different ways to mess it all up. Are the primary conflicts internal (the parents confronting their own biases), or does Little Malden itself present some external resistance to the Pride float?
Jordan: The heart of the story is really about their internal struggles. The characters are all wrestling with their own learned assumptions, fears, worries, mistakes, regrets, and uncertainties, and the show really is about what happens when they bubble to the surface and we're forced to confront parts of ourselves that we don't fully understand or feel comfortable about. The characters in this show are trying to become better allies and parents, and the whole way through the show they are questioning what would happen if they lost their relationship with their child - because that is the real stake. We're ultimately interested in what happens when people are asked to grow, or even forced to. What happens when they have to let go of the past, and move forward with the times just to hold on to those they love. Those are the questions that really drive the story forward.
Micha: Whilst drafting we did play with external issues creating conflict - but actually it's not as satisfying. We want these parents specifically to succeed against their own misgivings - so the conflict has to come from them and their perceptions of the outside world. A common concern we heard from parents we spoke to whilst researching this peice was 'what if my child is treated badly? Or what if people make life more difficult for my child because they're queer?' And it's not in anyway an unfounded fear but often people need to be given an opportunity to do the right thing, and they can't if you're hiding yourself, or in the case of our narrative - your children. It's a huge leap of faith - and it's scary so the internal stakes are bigger than the external could ever be.
The tagline says this is for anyone who has ever had a kid or a parent. Why do you feel this specific story about raising queer children holds a universal mirror up to the broader experience of family and unconditional love?
Jordan: At its very core, Raising Gays is a story about relationships between children and parents, which is something we have all experienced in one way or another. The queer context is incredibly important, but the emotional questions are much bigger than that. How do we support the people we love whilst still figuring things out, and how do we communicate when we don't fully understand each other? The question at the centre of the show is "can we fully love someone if we don't understand them?" and I think that is an incredibly pertinent question for the world we're living in right now. When it comes to our parents, we sometimes forget that parents are human beings too, who are still learning, still making mistakes (it's their first time too). That's true whether your child is queer or not, and true of your parents whether you are queer or not. The show is really about listening to each other, being patient with each other, and recognising that love isn't about getting everything right, but about continuing to show up for one another regardless of where our understanding is at.
This first public sharing is happening right during London Pride weekend. What are you most hoping to learn from the audience during this script-in-hand concert reading?
Jordan: OH we are hoping to learn A LOT. We’ve been really lucky with the responses so far, from concerts around the country where I’ve found myself almost unable to leave because so many people want to share their own stories, to a recent UK tour with Drag Race legend Kate Butch, where I got to perform a song from the show and had audiences absolutely howling. But this is the first time we’re putting a draft of the full piece in front of a public audience, and that's when we'll really learn what works. We’re genuinely excited to see what happens in the room. Where people laugh, where they get emotional, what surprises them, and what conversations happen afterwards. You can spend a long time shaping something on your own, but an audience will always show you parts of it you couldn’t have found otherwise. Because Raising Gays is built around empathy and connection, we couldn't be more excited to have a real first audience infront of this work, and it feels very special to be able to do that at a script-reading, where they can focus on the words, the music, and the actors before we get any production elements into play!
What are your hopes beyond this first script-in-hand concert performance?
Jordan: We have so many hopes - our absolute dream is to get this show to the west end one day. Till then, we'd love to get it in front of audiences as often as possible, and to take it to places that it could really make a difference. Already we've had people reach out to us to say that the show has helped them have conversations they didn't think they could have, or that it's helped them feel better about things they have going on. Our dream is that this show reaches anyone who needs it, and we can't wait for that journey. Naturally, I'd also love to release a banging album and let people hear and sing these huge songs!
Raising Gays takes place on Sunday 5th July at the Garrick Theatre in London. For tickets and more information visit https://thegarricktheatre.co.uk/tickets/raising-gays-a-concert-reading/
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