Birmingham Hippodrome: ‘Musicals are not just an art form, they are big, big business’

Last year, Birmingham Hippodrome became the first British theatre to have an in-house department dedicated to developing new musical theatre. Leading that department is Deirdre O’Halloran and artistic director Jon Gilchrist, who tell Tim Bano about their mission to become the UK’s ‘national theatre for new musicals’ and why investment in the art form needs to be taken seriously