The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) celebrate being awarded a Guinness World Record!
Leading youth arts organisation The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) celebrating being awarded the Guinness World Records for most complete costume changes in a lead theatrical role – with 37 changes in their production Our House with its iconic Madness hits.
This record has been achieved by 2024 NYMT company member Des Coghlan-Forbes (17 years old from North Somerset) who plays the titular role of Joe Casey; he is assisted by Costume Designer Molly Fraser and Wardrobe Assistant Lucy Vickers (18 years old from Lincolnshire). With music and lyrics by the iconic British band Madness (with one song, It Must Be Love, written by Labi Siffre), and the book by playwright Tim Firth, the high-energy tour-de-force musical which ran at the Southwark Playhouse, Elephant.
The previous record was held by costume designer Paul Kieve who completed 29 changes in the original West End production of the show with patron and NYMT alumni Olivier award-winner Mike Jibson (Hamilton; Our House; Stranger Things) who originated the role of Joe Casey.
The 2024 summer season has been running at the Southwark Playhouse Elephant, performed by the remarkable Young Company Members of NYMT 2024 (10 - 23 years old). The season has already featured Stephen Sondheim’s timeless classic Into the Woods, and an ambitious new folk musical Catastrophe Bay, written by Kit Buchan and James Barne. For nearly 50 years, NYMT has been at the forefront of offering exceptional opportunities in pre-professional musical theatre training for talented young people and this marks an exciting chapter in bringing these shows to the heart of London.
Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records Assessor, comments Guinness World Records is passionate about encouraging young people to take on the challenge of breaking a record, so I was thrilled to be able to witness Des achieve so many quick changes during Our House – some of them in under five seconds. What a remarkably talented young performer! I’ve always been a big fan of The National Youth Music Theatre – it’s such an inspirational organization, and as the team has just proved, this versatile family of actors and creatives can turn their hand to anything. Congratulations to Joe, Molly and Lucy for adding such a spectacle to an already awesome night at the theatre.
Further Information: NYMT - National Youth Music Theatre