By BEN BENEDICT, The Londoner

London playwright Joshua Richardson is the creative genius behind P & J The Original Mock Musical.

London playwright Joshua Richardson presents a night with the creator of P&J in a reading and singing of Send P&J to New York at the McManus Studio this Monday, Dec. 17.

The stage reading is an important step, both in the development of the play but of the musical playwright as well. It’s something that Mr. Richardson, a qualified piano tuner by trade, has been working towards throughout his young life.

“I started out in a band in Grade 6 at Lester B. Pearson and I still play in it,” he says. “It’s called The Favourite Game from a book by Leonard Cohen. I started playing piano and now play guitar but I write on piano, I was also in H. B. Beal Secondary School’s musical theatre program. It started when I was there in 2003. It’s where I really got into writing.”

The Grand Theatre’s music director Andrew Petrasunias also handles music direction for the reading, Marcia Tratt directs and the performance features Karen Coughlin, Amber Cunningham, Jim Doucette and Rick Kish. Marcia Tratt and Karen Coughlin are also currently performing in the Grand Theatre’s production of Anne of Green gables as an illustration of the talent that Mr. Richardson has brought to the table.

Working with some of London’s leading professional theatre talent was important in his professional development. It was his time at Beal that piqued his interest and almost immediately he gained notice from London’s theatre community.

“That was where I originally produced P & J,” he says. “I had five songs but not a full story. A friend of mine, Stephanie Demas, directed it at the 2005 Fringe Festival. It won best production and funniest production so it was energizing. After that I wrote two other shows, You, Me and Them in February 2006. Then Oscar, Emily and the Giant at the 2006 Fringe Festival where it won best original production with Don Fleckser directing.”

That local recognition quickly translated into something bigger, a call from ScriptLab in Toronto which specializes in training promising musical theatre writers. That was two years ago.

“I’ve learned so much. That’s why I went back to P&J and revised it with all the things I know,” Mr. Richardson says.

That revisiting of the script, a part of the professional development process, has been gaining increased attention within London’s theater community and is being supported through activities at the Grand Theatre as well as through members of London’s theatre community like director Jeff Culbert. There’s also been increased recognition and support through the continued development of the Brickenden Awards for Theatre Excellence.

Most musical theatre shows take five or more years to reach stage readiness, Mr. Richardson says, “and with P&J you will be exposed to it right near the end of its development process.”

After the reading he says he’ll “go in depth into why certain songs were cut, plot elements were changed and dialog was streamlined. You will witness first hand the craftsmanship and expertise that go into creating a new piece of musical theatre.”

Much of that script development process will be outlined through the reading and it’s something that Mr. Richardson has taken to heart from working with so many seasoned professionals in his industry.

“It will be part of my education and hopefully for Londoners also. One thing about musical theatre, if you remove a song because it doesn’t progress the plot then it wasn’t meant to be there. In some cases we’ll do the original and I’ll explain why I changed it and then the new version while explaining the script process,” Mr. Richardson says.

The ‘work in progress’ element to the show was also why admission is ‘pay what you can’.

 “It’s an experiment but I know people in the arts community can’t afford to pay a lot but I also know those who want to support me so it evens out. It won’t be super formal, some parts aren’t finished and I’ll be explaining that so people can see the inside workings.”

The reading is a fundraiser to help get the show to the New York Musical Theatre Festival next September.

“I got invited late last year but couldn’t afford to go and wasn’t sure the show was ready so I’ve been invited back. They accept 400 scripts from around the world and only 30 are produced annually. You basically have to produce the show yourself and right now it’s about $20,000. It’s a showcase because New York producers and other North American professionals will see it and hopefully want to produce it themselves. The reason I’m doing this is to establish my credibility.”