Behind the Curtain: An Interview with Paper Stars Director Miranda Middleton

Harry Brogan
2 minutes ago
5 min read

In this Behind the Curtain interview we speak to Miranda Middleton, Director of British Youth Music Theatres' (BYMT) original musical - Paper Stars, we chatted all about the process of this new musical and the current landscape of original musical

Miranda is an award-winning Australian director, writer, and choreographer with a Master of Fine

Arts (Directing) from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA). She was nominated for a Sydney

Theatre Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Bright Star, and a Green Room Award for Outstanding Direction of an Independent Musical for the Australian premiere production of The Grinning Man.

In your own words what is ‘Paper Stars’ about?

‘Paper Stars’ tells an untold chapter in the life of P.L. Travers, from her arrival in London in 1924, to her publication of ‘Mary Poppins’ in 1935. At its core, it’s a woman’s journey towards accepting that no one can live inside a fairytale, and – as Mary Poppins tells us–“nothing lasts forever”.

The show is inspired by true events but is told with “a healthy spoonful of imagination”. How have you, the rest of the cast and creative team researched to help create the world of ‘imagination’?

Research informed a major part of the writing process of ‘Paper Stars’ – particularly studying the P.L. Travers’ archives which are kept at the State Library of NSW. We drew inspiration from the many personal letters and academic articles she wrote throughout her illustrious career, and of course tried to infuse our musical with the spirit of the ‘Mary Poppins’ books. However, there were holes in our knowledge, and moments in her life that we had to “colour in” with our own imaginations. As they say, you should never let truth get in the way of a good story! Our rehearsal process is grounded in the principles of play, exploration and ‘may the best idea win’, so the show will very much be a by-product of all the minds making it.

Why do you think Mary Poppins writer P.L. Travers makes a good musical?

P.L. Travers was so fiercely intelligent, so wildly imaginative, and so wonderfully complex – all of the qualities that you want in the leading character in a musical! I’m a big believer that there certain stories beg to be musicalised, and the expansiveness of P.L. Travers’ mind and work felt to me like it wanted to soar into song and dance. A story about a writer also invites – in my opinion - a kind of theatrical world-building which really celebrates and exposes the craft of it all, and that’s my favourite kind of theatre.

We have seen many musicals throughout the years using pop style music in them, what makes ‘Paper Stars’ different from the others?

‘Paper Stars’ doesn’t exclusively feature pop music, but it’s certainly a flavour within the overall musical palette. Pop is primarily used to distinguish the loud, exciting, modern world of London from the “fetid backwater” of early 1900s Australia, which is established early in the show through a folkier style. The pop songs are also attached to one of the spunkiest characters in the show, Madge Burnand, who plays a major part in transforming the gawky Australian Lyndon Goff, into the P.L. Travers of ‘Mary Poppins’ fame.

We are currently seeing a trend in musicals that are adapted from films or books etc. This is a brand-new musical. What is your opinion on the landscape of musicals we are seeing lately, why do you think we are seeing less original musicals?

I think there’s a few things at play here. Nostalgia is one thing. Look at the enormous success of ‘Paddington’ – tapping into a known book and film from people’s childhoods. Adaptation is also an appealing creative prospect for writers and theatre-makers; taking on the challenge of retelling source material in a uniquely theatrical way. I also think producers and venues like the idea of existing IP or a known ‘title’ with which to entice audiences -sometimes that’s an easier sell than a totally new story! However, I really think the landscape of wholly original musicals is quite healthy. So much great work is made at places

like The Other Palace and Edinburgh Fringe, and organisations like BYMT are really helping to propel the new musical engine.

Can you tell us the process by which BYMT creates their original musicals?

It’s such a wonderful and unique process! We first pitched ‘Paper Stars’ to BYMT over a year ago, and since being selected as one of the new musicals in their 2026 program, we’ve submitted three iterative drafts of ‘Paper Stars’ responding to dramaturgical feedback and provocations from their amazing artistic team. The final script is then handed over to a professional creative team and a room full of talented, enthusiastic young people to turn into a fully-staged show in the space of about ten days. It’s kind of a mad process in many ways, but everyone works from such a place of joy and passion - there’s a huge amount of faith that it’ll all come together, like magic!

Paper Stars is described to celebrate “the power of the human imagination”. Why is this so important to you to showcase this in today’s world?

Now more than EVER, it is so important to protect our imaginations, our attention, our whimsy, our wonder. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence and proliferation of AI-generated content, we need to celebrate the miracle that is the human brain and its ability to dream up far more interesting, original and emotionally complex stories than anything a machine can produce. This musical feels like a really beautiful way to celebrate the craft of writing and the vitality of storytelling.

How has the cast taken on this brand new material?

There’s been a huge amount of excitement from the young people about the story and the music because obviously ‘Mary Poppins’ is so well known and so deeply loved. The cast is taking on the exciting challenges that come with the material (Australian accents and all!) and are offering up so much creativity and heightened characterisation to bring the world of P.L. Travers’ imagination to life.

If you could write a musical about another iconic person, who would you choose?

Oh gosh, what a great question! I (clearly) have a huge interest in artists’ lives, their creative sparks, and the sacrifices they make for their art. ‘Miss Potter’ is such a beautiful film about the illustrator of ‘Peter Rabbit’, Beatrix Potter, who was also a great conservationist and lover of nature. I think her life story is crying out to be made into a musical with gorgeous puppetry to three-dimensionalise her characters.

How would you describe the show in one sentence or 3 words?

A bittersweet journey inside the magical mind that made ‘Mary Poppins’.

Paper Stars plays at Barnfield Theatre in Exeter from the 14th - 16th of August: https://exeternorthcott.co.uk/events/paper-stars