College creatives James Burt and Robert Kidd have won the Michael Norris Award for Best Original Composition and/or Live Music, along with two ‘Magic Moment’ awards, at the Theatre New Zealand National Awards 2024.

The Fall of Dracula – a mini musical by James and Robert – was also co-directed by James and Ellie Busfield under the My Chemical Showmance theatre group. Those ‘Magic Moments’ include the scene where ‘Nosferatu pulls the strings’ in the song Funerals, and the song Ways to Kill a Witch.

“For me, the music makes or breaks a musical so being recognised for that is a sign to keep developing the show into something bigger,” James says of the national award. “Our musical is an imagining of how author Bram Stoker's famous character, Dracula, became a vampire. It is a story full of moral conflict and rising up against unjust social norms.”

Robert, who played the piano for the production, says it has been “great working with James and actually seeing our work come to life”.

“Despite the pressure of the final production, the show came together well,” he says. “It has been awesome to see the actors engage with the roles we have written for them. The form of the story has changed over the past five years but the essence has remained constant and it will be interesting to see how James expands the show in coming years.”

Buoyed by their success, James hopes to see their show on a bigger stage.

“Absolutely. It was originally intended as a full-length show and I hope one day to see it with full orchestra and cast, once we have expanded it,” he says. “As with all musicals, the start of the process is very different to the end. There are many cut songs, scenes, and characters. It was never intended as a mini-musical. It was cut for TheatreFest and we will be rebuilding it to a full show over the next few years, among our many other projects.

“The Fall of Dracula has been developed over many years. The first few songs were written in Year 9, but most of the scenes and songs were written during the April-May school break this year. Robert provided some songs and thematic ideas and I did the arranging, scripting, and story. We met in Year 9 and both had a passion for music and music theatre. The first few songs were written in our Year 9 Music class and our friendship grew from there.”

For James, The Fall of Dracula is just the start.

“I am going to Victoria University of Wellington next year to do a Bachelor of Music, majoring in Composition, with the end goal of being a film composer.”

Meanwhile, Robert hopes to mix music and university next year.

“I’m looking to go to UC for mechanical engineering,” he says. “I really want to continue writing and playing music, specifically jazz as it is my genre of choice. However, I love musical theatre and am currently working on my own musical (alongside James as arranger). I just want to manage my expectations as engineering will likely take up a lot of my time.”