21 pictures share a peek behind the curtain at stereotype-challenging musical coming to Birmingham in two weeks
Birmingham will host a brand new interactive musical this month that aims to tackle stereotypes of lesbian women on stage - and rehearsals are well under way!
The production, Les-Be-Honest, invites audiences to step into the love story of Rose and Lani — and help shape what happens next.
Unlike a traditional musical, Les-Be-Honest places key decisions in the hands of the audience, allowing them to guide the characters towards the “right”… or very wrong choices.
Described as 'vibrant, innovative and unapologetically queer', Les-Be-Honest offers a fresh twist on musical theatre while exploring love, choice and consequence - while aiming to improve representation of lesbian women in musical theatre beyond 'butch' or 'ultra-feminine' stereotypes.
The show, set to be performed at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, was created by musical composer and actress Jamie-Lou (she/they), who serves as producer and composer, with music and lyrics written especially for the piece. Direction and co-writing come from award-winning director Kai McNamee (they/them), with the script by Ellen Davies (she/her) and musical supervision from Alex Miranda Zezula (he/him).
Today, we peek behind the curtain as opening night is less than two weeks away with photos taken by photographer James Sharif (@jaayyms) - take a look at 21 backstage snaps below:
Speaking about his experience backstage, James said: “All the way back in November 2024, a few of us were up in Leeds to record a super cool album. During one of our breaks, we decided to walk up the road to have lunch. I distinctly remember that’s when Jamie-Lou shared with us this insanely, ambitiously, amazing idea for a choose-your-own-adventure musical. Just the concept of it blew me away.
"Fast forward to March 2026 and it’s truly mesmerising to see how far this project has come. It’s really a project like no other. It’s been realised by such a driven and talented team of creatives. Both the story and music have such a strong emotional core. I’m so happy just to have documented a small part of the journey. It’s been a privilege to see this project blossom and I can’t wait to see it all come together on the opening night!”
Les-Be-Honest: A Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Musical comes to LAB at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire from March 24–26, with performances at 7.30pm.
For updates, follow @lesbehonest_musical on Instagram.
