James Hadley – Executive Director

To contact James, please email james@musicaltheatrenetwork.com

James Hadley became Executive Director of Musical Theatre Network in November 2015. Prior to this he worked in the London Theatre team at Arts Council England for seven years, with a particular focus on investments in musical theatre. During that time he managed 8 National Portfolio Organisations’ funding relationships, advising a wide range of independent theatre practitioners on their applications to Grants for the Arts, and advocating for increased funding support for the development of new British musicals. While born and raised in England, James spent his university years in New Zealand, gaining two Masters degrees – one in Art History & Theory, the other in Theatre Directing.

After graduating, James worked for the British Council, Playmarket – NZ’s playwrights agency and script development service, and, for four years, as Programme Manager at BATS Theatre – one of New Zealand’s leading venues for new writing and supporting emerging theatremakers.

Between the ages of 21 and 32 he directed over 30 theatre productions, including new writing, devised theatre, immersive site-specific productions, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Wilde and one new musical. He also produced over 20 theatre productions over that same time, as well as writing several plays and reviewing and marketing many more. James has been a dedicated follower of musical theatre since the age of seven when he discovered his mother’s LP record of ‘Annie’ (his uncle having been one of the producers of the original Broadway production), and a particular devotee to British musicals since purchasing cassette tapes of ‘Song & Dance’, ‘Cats’ and ‘Evita’ from the Woolworth’s store in High Wycombe in 1985.

Kate McKeown – Membership & Communications Manager

To contact Kate, please email kate (@) musicaltheatrenetwork.com

Kate is responsible for Membership and Communications at Musical Theatre Network ( and Mercury Musical Developments), joining the team in February 2022. She works across managing both the communications strategy and supporting and developing the membership body for both companies as well as championing new British musical theatre.

Kate’s love for theatre grew from a young age, watching Singing in the Rain on repeat and then annoying her family every morning by belting the song “Good Morning” around the entire house! After discovering this love for theatre, she danced, sang, appeared in every stage version of Calamity Jane in Dublin she could find and, after graduating with a Business and Management degree, she decided to swivel over to the theatre industry in the UK. With a MA in Musical Theatre under her belt she subsequently became a jobbing actor, touring all over the world specialising in puppetry and children’s theatre.

After covid hit, Kate set up a very successful radio station and moved into the world of producing. She even had a radio show called “New Musical Mondays” which was a show all about new musical theatre across Ireland and the UK. Consequently, starting to find herself in a management role rather than an on-stage role, Kate decided to pivot her career and focus on supporting talented artists achieve their goals and dreams, help sell shows, make shows happen and connect artists to people who might be able to help develop their work.

Kate has always been a huge advocate for new musicals and is so excited to be part of this exciting growing community.