Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre announces the return of their artist development programme for early-career musical theatre choreographers, Theatre Dance Lab. Nicola Mac and Taylor Walker are this year’s Theatre Dance Lab choreographers. A showcase will be held on the afternoon of Friday 18 September 2026.
Nicola Mac trained at Phil Winston’s Theatreworks and ICMT. She has worked as Associate Choreographer on major productions including Miss Saigon, Little Shop of Horrors (Sheffield Crucible) and Frankie Goes to Bollywood (UK Tour/Southbank Centre).
As a choreographer, her credits include Dorothy Back in Oz (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Linbury Theatre/LAMDA/Edinburgh Fringe), Urinetown (Bridewell Theatre), Jazz Rewired (The Place), Spamalot (The BRIT School) and Peter Pan (BYMT, Powderham Castle). She has also performed in The Greatest Dancer (BBC One), Britain’s Got Talent (ITV), World of Dance (international) and works with companies including Botis Seva’s Congregation and Sweetshop Revolution.
Taylor Walker is a London-based director and choreographer, originally trained as a dancer and actor. He is the founder of The Tellers Company, a production company dedicated to working with working-class communities and creatives who have limited access to the arts. In 2023, he was awarded Upcoming Choreographer at the British Movement Awards and received a nomination for Best Choreography at the Deutscher Musical Theater Preis for Saving Mozart in Vienna.
His choreography and directing credits include Dance Monsters (Netflix), Snow White (Disney), Strictly Come Dancing (BBC), Dancing With The Stars (CBS), Treason The Musical (UK Tour/Royal Drury Lane), Saving Mozart (Vienna/The Other Palace) and The Jonathan Larson Project (Southwark Playhouse). As a performer, he has appeared in MJ the Musical (Prince Edward Theatre), Matilda the Musical (UK & Ireland Tour), A Chorus Line (Curve Theatre) and Trevor Nunn’s Fiddler on the Roof, as well as in film and television projects including Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Marvel) and Snow White (Disney).
The Theatre Dance Lab is an exciting artist development programme set up to nurture and elevate the next generation of musical theatre choreographers. The initiative supports two of the country’s finest emerging dance makers who specialise in work for musicals, through mentoring, creative access, industry connections and the opportunity to present a showcase of their work. Last year’s inaugural choreographers were Tinovimbanashe Sibanda and Rhys Wilkinson.
This public event will showcase three performance pieces from each choreographer following a two-week development period with a cohort of professional dancers, interspersed with moments of ‘in conversation’ with Artistic Director Drew McOnie.
Drew McOnie, Artistic Director said, “I’m thrilled that Theatre Dance Lab is returning for a second year; bringing the work of up-and-coming musical theatre choreographers to the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre stage. We are extremely grateful for the generous support of The Dorfman Foundation and the Garrick Charitable Trust in making this programme possible. Following a thorough recruitment process that saw just under 50 choreographers apply for the scheme, I’m so excited to see what Nicola Mac and Taylor Walker present in their showcase; two outstanding choreographers that we are truly proud to support.”
Tickets for the Theatre Dance Lab showcase are available from openairtheatre.com.
