Stage set for investors as West End gets crowd funded

The Pajama Game opens on 13 May, with Joanna Riding and Michael Xavier in the leading roles

Investing in the theatre is a notoriously risky business and traditionally only the very wealthy can afford to become "angels".

But a new production which opens next month will give anyone the chance to get involved. The Pajama Game will become the first West End musical to be crowd funded.

After a succesful run at the Chichester Festival Theatre the show opens on 13 May at the Shaftesbury Theatre and is set to run until September. It features classic songs such as Hernandoʼs Hideaway and Steam Heat.

The show's producers are seeking investors through the online crowd funding platform Seedrs. They're hoping to raise £200,000 towards the cost of putting on the show and are already more than halfway towards that total.

There's no real minimum or maximum investment, so it means anyone with an interest in theatre and keen to invest in a different way can do so from as little as £10, and all investors will be in with a chance of winning tickets.

Mark Rubinstein of the Society of West End Theatres said: "This initiative provides the opportunity for more people be a part of the world of West End theatre by investing in exciting new commercial productions."

To find out how to invest go to www.seedrs.com/startups/the-pajama-game