Award-winning new musical makes UK debut at Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August
3rd August 2026 – Just two days before its UK debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the award-winning new musical The Real Kyle McCarren releases Songs from The Real Kyle McCarren: The Studio EP, featuring an all-star studio cast including Disney and Broadway star Jordan Fisher (Dear Evan Hansen, Hadestown, Moulin Rouge!, Sweeney Todd), two-time Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz (Wicked, The Last Five Years, Big Fish), two-time Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin (Hello, Dolly!, Big Fish), and more. The EP is available now on all major streaming platforms HERE.
The new recording is anchored by the musical’s creators Andy Roninson (Jonathan Larson Grant recipient), who wrote the book, and international indie recording artist Sean McVerry (AURORA, Danger Mouse), who co-wrote the music and lyrics, with Sarah Coffey (31 Candles, Devil’s Workshop) also featured.
Additional musicians include Mike Roninson (bass, original bandmate of the real Kyle McCarren), Paige Andrews (drums, SIX on Broadway), Clerida Eltimé (cello, The Outsiders on Broadway), Maggy Simon (violin, NPR’s Tiny Desk), Miranda Joan (backing vocals, The Killers), Melissa McMillan (backing vocals, Hozier and The Killers), and Christine Cornell (backing vocals, Bard SummerScape).
Recorded primarily at Threshold Studios in New York City, where Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Masquerade recorded its vocal sessions, the EP was produced by Andy Roninson and Sean McVerry, engineered by Simon Brown, Diana Romualdo, Griffin Brown, and Jack Brandon Gray, mixed by Zeno Pittarelli, and mastered by Jack Kennedy, with additional piano engineering by Julia Rangel and Ben Collette.
Released today ahead of the show’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe run, The Real Kyle McCarren will play at Pleasance Courtyard (Forth) from 5th–30th August at 1.50pm. The production is produced by Avalon (Operation Mincemeat – Olivier Award-winning Best New Musical, Jerry Springer: The Opera – Olivier Award-winning Best New Musical, One Man Musical).
The EP was developed, in part, with funding from the Pipeline Arts Foundation. The Real Kyle McCarren was supported by Rhinebeck Writers Retreat through a 2024 residency and 2025 Triple R.
Notes To Editors
Headshots and album art are available HERE
Track Listing:
- I Need You to Hear This Song
- Upstate Wherever
- What a Legend (feat. Jordan Fisher)
- You Can Count on Me – Kyle’s Intro
- You Can Count on Me (feat. Kate Baldwin)
- The Last Snow (feat. Sarah Coffey)
- Live Forever (feat. Jordan Fisher & Sean McVerry)
- Everyday’s a Holiday (feat. Norbert Leo Butz)
About The Real Kyle McCarren at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Following the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, where it won the Triple R Award and received a Pipeline Foundation Arts Grant, The Real Kyle McCarren, a new musical produced by Avalon (Operation Mincemeat – Olivier-Winning Best New Musical, Jerry Springer: The Opera – Olivier-Winning Best New Musical, One Man Musical), has announced its full cast and creative team comprising of NYC and Broadway actors and musicians ahead of its Edinburgh Festival Fringe and UK debut at Pleasance Courtyard Forth from 5th – 30th August at 1.50pm.
This modern rock and roll celebration of life stars its creators, Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Andy Roninson as himself and international indie recording artist Sean McVerry (AURORA, Danger Mouse) as Kyle McCarren. They are joined by Vincent Jamal Hooper (The Lion King, Hamilton) as Liam & Others, Jaygee Macapugay (Suffs, The Last Ship) as Siobhan & Others, and Sarah Coffey (31 Candles, Devil’s Workshop) as Justine & Others, returning after appearing in the 2025 Joe’s Pub show.
The Real Kyle McCarren is co-directed by long-time collaborators, multi-Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated Lonny Price and Matt Cowart, whose 20-year partnership spans Broadway, the West End, film and television. Their work includes Sunset Boulevard (Glenn Close), Beaches, Walking with Ghosts (Gabriel Byrne), and Sweeney Todd (Emma Thompson and Audra McDonald), which was later filmed for PBS and went on to become an Emmy Award-winning broadcast, alongside Emmy Award-winning Passion and Emmy Award-nominated Company. They are joined by Resident Director Jim Fagan, reuniting with Price and Cowart following their collaboration on Sweeney Todd.
The band includes Paige Durr (Six) on drums and Jamie Mohamdein (Mozart to Pop Chart) on bass.
Welcome to Upstate Wherever, USA. Way back in the year two-thousand-who-cares, Kyle and Andy were more than friends, dammit — they were bandmates! But the real Kyle McCarren was a complicated dude. Well, an asshole. Worst of all, he’s dead — and he won’t let Andy forget it. Sometimes the easiest way to tell people about a buddy of yours is to write a show. In this musical-meets-live concert séance that’s equal parts Bo Burnham and Tick, Tick… Boom!, you’re invited to meet the legend himself.
Following its award-winning retreat development, the musical was further workshopped at New York City’s iconic Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater and Prospect Theater. The company made its first full ensemble appearance at Joe’s Pub on 18th and 19th July ahead of the Edinburgh premiere.
Listings Information
The Real Kyle McCarren
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Plesance Forth
Dates: 5th-30th August
First Press Performance: Monday 10th August
Time: 1.50pm
Duration: 75 minutes
Instagram: @therealkylemccarren
Web: Pleasance.co.uk and EdFringe.com
