Titus Salt musical with singing alpacas to debut in Saltaire

New York has Hamilton, Paris has Les Miserables and now Bradford has Salt the Musical – complete with singing alpacas.

Written by Maria Mullin and directed by Anita Adams, it tells the story of Sir Titus Salt, the 19th Century industrialist who created the model village of Saltaire to house workers at his textile mill on the outskirts of Bradford.

Produced by theatre company Show Ready, it is based, says Mullin, on her love for the village and Salt’s remarkable influence on Britain’s textile industry – including alpaca wool, which he helped introduce to the UK.

“You cannot tell this story without alpacas. If people come and see the show, they may see some comic singing alpacas,” she said.

Mullin, who lives just outside Saltaire, said she “absolutely loved” researching the show, which explores Bradford’s industrial heritage as well as Salt.

“It’s [set] right in the heart of the industrial revolution and it follows him through his life,” she said.

“It was quite hard to try to fit all of that into a couple of hours for a show, because he just has such an incredible life and an extraordinary story.

“I’ve always wanted to write something for the theatre, and you’ve got to find a story you really love if you’re going to spend hours working on it.”