Curtains raise for University of Leeds students performing St. Trinian’s musical for Edinburgh Fringe

The Girls of St Trinian's has been recorded as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021.

With ‘Sistas Before Mistas’ as their rally cry, the girls of St. Trinian’s must overcome two great evils: financial ruin and a villainous rival headmaster.

As the future of their state school is threatened by a slimy Ofsted inspector and crushing utility bills, the girls and their exalted headmistress must band together to win the school quiz, or risk losing it all.

Written by comedians Em Humble and Joe Callaghan, with music by Jeorgie Brett and orchestrations by Tom Mitchell, the show has run at the University's Riley Theatre this week with a live audience.

It will be streamed on the Edinburgh Fringe website from August 9.

Jeorgie Brett told the Yorkshire Evening Post “The audience has really enjoyed it, they’ve said it’s the first time they’ve laughed for a year and the music was everything they hoped it would be. We couldn’t ask for a better response than that.

“The writers, orchestrator, directors and producers have worked extremely hard to bring the show to life and it’s paid off well. There’s comedy for every sense of humour.

“You can expect a bit of everything in the music, from rock to electronic pop. It’s got the electronic sound that’s common in shows such as Legally Blonde, Mean Girls and Heathers. And if people really know their musicals, they will notice little references to shows in there.”

The cast were set to travel to Edinburgh to perform at the city's Chevron Theatre, but due to concerns over coronavirus the decision was made to stream the performance as part of Fringe.

The musical has received praise from Leeds comedian Leigh Francis (Keith Lemon) and Drag Race UK star Baga Chipz.

“It was such a confidence boost," Jeorgie added.

"We’re used to performing shows either at Fringe or during term time, so we were worried about the response during summer - especially after the year we’ve had. So seeing those messages was a nice push into our show week.

“In the show, there’s a constant reference to ‘Saint T for life’ and I think that’s stuck with the cast more than anyone - it’s the first time they’ve been back together.

“All we want is to give people something to smile about. We would have loved to have gone to Fringe with the live audience, but it’s just nice to hear people laughing again - people who haven’t been together for a year.”

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