Barbershopera is a comedy barbershop quartet with three guys and a girl! The story so far…

We formed in 2007, started performing standalone songs at OneTaste West in Hammersmith, had a great time, made some people laugh. We got director Sarah Tipple on board, and together we made the full-length a cappella musical Barbershopera! and took it to the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe, where we won rave reviews and sell-out audiences, as well as two Musical Theatre Matters Awards (Best New Musical and Best Lyrics).

We took the show on to Theatre 503, Battersea and then across Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Berkshire and Cornwall on the epic odyssey that was the 2009 Rural Tour.

Then we made a new show, Barbershopera II (subtitled In the Mane of the Father, and later re-subtitled The Barber Of Shavingham), that debuted at Edinburgh 2009 in a co-production with Seabright Productions, where we retained our Best Lyrics title. This show, in a newly extended version, played London’s glittering West End, at Trafalgar Studios for five weeks in January/February 2010, again co-produced with Seabright Productions, who also now look after our touring work. It is has recently played the International Musicals Festival in South Korea, where Rob Castell and Lara Stubbs won Best Actor and Best Actress awards respectively.

The busy year of 2010 also promises:

1. Recording Barbershopera! as an Afternoon Play on Radio 4 (which was broadcast on 3rd May),
2. Touring Barbershopera II across the UK in May, June, July, September and October,
3. Premiering our third show Barbershopera: Apocalypse No! at the Edinburgh Fringe 2010,
4. Performing our first show Barbershopera! for three weeks at Plymouth’s Drum Theatre in December.

Now please do go forth and explore our site… and why not come and see one of our shows soon too!

With harmonious best wishes …

Barbershopera