A musical by a Maltese writer has won Best New Musical at the Off West End Theatre Awards.

Porn the Musical is a comedy developed by local scriptwriter Malcolm Galea along with the composers Kris Spiteri and Boris Cezek, and performed for the first time at Valletta’s MITP theatre in March 2009.

It was nominated for the award following its transfer from the Edinburgh Fringe to an Off West End London theatre.

Additionally, it was nominated for Best Production, although the outcome of this was determined by a public vote and not judged by a panel of experts. Although it did not win in the Best Production category, the writers were overjoyed when they learned that the judges had awarded Porn the Musical the prestigious Best New Musical award while praising its “fearless explosion of heart, soul and cleavage”.

Among the people to congratulate the Porn team was top UK musical producer Cameron Mackintosh.

A message from his office said that this award win was “not only a tribute to Maltese culture but to musical theatre in general”. While acknowledging that the musical still has a long way to go to be compared to comedy greats such as Avenue Q and The Rocky Horror Show, the creators said they are looking forward to the journey ahead and they thanked all the people that have been instrumental in getting the show this far.

Among the those they thanked was the producer Winston Azzopardi, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, and the Maltese actors who performed in the original productions of the musical – “without whose energy and passion, the show would never have been noticed in the first place”.

More information about Porn the Musical can be found on http://thepornmusical.com .