Get to know the judges of SSSSPOTY 2025 - DARREN CLARK

Craig Glenday
May 26
2 min read

Darren Clark, composer, who will be joining the judges of the 2025 Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year competition

Darren Clark joins the panel of judges at Stephen Sondheim competition

Darren is a double Olivier Award winning composer & lyricist living in Maidstone in Kent. He has been writing musical theatre professionally for nearly 15 years. Among his many shows are the smash hit West End three-time Olivier Award winning musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the critically acclaimed, award-winning musical The Wicker Husband (“An extraordinarily original, beautiful and bewitching musical” WHATSONSTAGE). Commissions include The Day of the Living for the RSC (“Heart breaking laments… violent, pitch-black lyrics” THE TIMES) and The Coup Coup Club for the Southwark Playhouse and The Arcola Theatre (“A musically rousing evening” THE GUARDIAN).

Darren’s musical theatre writing has received numerous awards including the Off West End Award for Best Musical, the MTI Stiles & Drewe Mentorship Award, the PRS Open Composers Award and the Musical Theatre Executive Trust Award among others. Along with Rhys Jennings, his work has been selected for the NAMT Festival of New Musicals in New York, and The MTI Stiles & Drewe Mentorship Award. Four of Darren’s musical theatre projects have been featured in the UK’s premiere musical theatre festival BEAM. He has been a finalist for The Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre, The Perfect Pitch Award, The Old Vic 12 and The KSF Artist of Choice. He has been a three time finalist for the Cameron Mackintosh Composer in Residence Award and a four time finalist for The Stiles & Drewe Best New Song, winning runner up in 2015.

He is a co-founder of children’s theatre company Paper Balloon, creating original musical theatre for children, including The Boy and the Mermaid and The Grumpiest Boy in the World, which continues to receive productions across Australia and throughout the USA.

More recently, Darren received ACE funding and the Farnham Maltings Our Towns Award for his community musical theatre project Ordinary People, which celebrates the lives of the residents of Maidstone, Kent.

He is a passionate advocate for new musical theatre writing in the UK and is the founder of NEW UK MUSICALS, a community providing competitions, opportunities and a website which allows writers of new musical theatre to sell their songs to their fans. The non-Sondheim songs you'll hear performed at SSSSPOTY 2025 will be from the NEW UK MUSICALS stable.

He has been a member of Mercury Musical Developments since 2014 and takes part in the MMD Advanced Writers Lab. He honed his craft at the BML (Book,Music and Lyrics) weekly workshops in London.