The Parent Agency: an interview with the producers

It feels rather appropriate that The Parent Agency – The Musical started life not as a conversation in an office, on the phone or as a speculative email inquiry, but instead as a storytelling treat for a bunch of young performers.

“When the book came out, my wife Ruth, who runs a children’s theatre group, read it to them,” explains Anthony Lilley, one half of Scenario Two, the production company behind the new musical receiving its world premiere at Storyhouse.

“And at the end she said to me: ‘You’ll like this book; it should be a musical.’ Then I did a second reading of it, because the kids really loved it, and at the end of that I came out and said to Ruth: ‘You know, someone should do a musical of this!’”

It was then the phone did come into play, with Anthony calling his Scenario Two producing partner John Berry to suggest the idea.

Happily, John loved the premise. And when he was sounded out, the author of the bestselling book – the tale of Barry Bennett, an 11-year-old who wishes he could choose a different set of parents, with unexpected results – also turned out to be just as keen to see the story spring to life on stage.

All it needed then was a spot of musical matchmaking to find a Lloyd Webber to Baddiel’s Tim Rice, and the creative team speedily struck gold with Dan Gillespie Sells, singer-songwriter behind the smash hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and rock group The Feeling.

“Dan was the first composer we approached,” John says. “Usually, when putting creative teams together there’s quite a lot of discussion and it goes on for some time. But Dan said straightaway ‘it sounds like a fantastic idea’.”

“David and Dan got together pretty much immediately after they were introduced, and in almost no time we seemed to be listening to songs from the musical,” Anthony adds. “Dan is absurdly prolific and absurdly quick, and the two of them seemed to gel really, really rapidly.”

In fact, the whole project has happened much more quickly than might be expected, and just three years after those initial conversations, The Parent Agency – The Musical is being introduced to audiences for the first time – here in Chester, thanks to a slot in Storyhouse’s busy schedule having become unexpectedly free.

Scenario Two’s head of marketing, Matthew Damsell, had already suggested Storyhouse as a possible theatrical collaborator. And with John abroad on holiday, Anthony travelled north alone to visit Hunter Street for the first time – quickly becoming smitten with the venue itself, but also with the way it has found a special place in the city and is used throughout the day and into the evening by the whole Chester community.

Storyhouse has lent not only its stage but also its creative expertise to the production, which is being brought to life in rip-roaring fashion by the rising star director Tim Jackson, a multi-talented theatrical force who is also a successful choreographer, musical director and singing coach.

Chester is the start of the journey for the musical, with a national tour in the pipeline for 2026 and – just as with The Time Traveller’s Wife which premiered at Storyhouse in 2022 – hopes of a West End transfer to follow.

All that is in the future, however. For now, Chester audiences are lucky enough to be the first to see the new show.

And what about its producers? What are they looking forward to most when they sit in the dark of the Storyhouse auditorium?

John considers: “I think it’s always hearing a new piece with a composer who’s sitting there with you. One thing I’ve particularly loved about being involved in music and theatre is working with living composers, who are writing things now, and watching people listen to this for the very first time.

“That’s the big difference doing a new piece of work rather than reviving something people know. And it’s the sort of work in general we’re interested in as a company.”

While echoing that sentiment, Anthony adds: “It’s also the specifics of the show. It’s a riotous family show where the kids think it’s about kids having a great time, and the parents know it’s actually about parenting.

“Everyday Love is one of the best eleven o’clock numbers (a crowd-pleasing showstopper late in the second act) I’ve ever heard in my life, and it will make people cry. In a good way.”