Star of Lancaster stage to launch new musical theatre app in London

A stage performer from Lancaster has turned her love of musical theatre into a new app designed to help audiences remember the shows that matter to them.

Hannah Haworth is preparing to launch gloami, a new private theatre journalling app, to a national audience at Musical Con at ExCeL London this weekend.

But Hannah's app’s journey began much closer to home.

The invite-only beta launch brought together members of Lancaster and Morecambe’s amateur theatre community, with attendees from MAODS, LADOS, Lancaster Red Rose AODS and Morecambe Warblers.

Guests were invited to celebrate the milestone, trial gloami for themselves and help shape the app through feedback from across the local am-dram community.

A beta refers to the stage in software development where a product is released to a select group of users for testing and feedback before its official launch.

The evening also featured a special performance from members of the cast of We Will Rock You, which Lancaster Red Rose AODS will bring to the Lancaster Grand Theatre in November.

Jess Turton and James Shields star in We Will Rock You this November

Hannah played Belle in MAODS’ 2026 production of Beauty and the Beast and was recently cast as Elsa in its upcoming production of Frozen early next year, so she said this involvement from the local theatre community has been particularly important.

“Amateur theatre has been part of this from the beginning,” she said.

“I wanted people who genuinely live and breathe local theatre to help shape gloami, because one of the things I care about most is making sure amateur productions are given the same space to be discovered, remembered and celebrated as professional shows.

“When we talk about theatre online, the conversation can very easily become dominated by the West End, touring productions and professional reviews. But some of the most memorable nights of theatre happen in local venues, watching friends, family and incredibly talented community performers.

gloami allows theatre-goers to log productions they have seen, record details including who they attended with, how the show left them feeling, capture their immediate thoughts and use guided journalling prompts to reflect on the experience.

Users can also build wishlists, discover new shows based on intelligent preference scoring, and create a personal timeline of their theatre-going life.

Unlike traditional review sites, the emphasis is deliberately personal rather than critical.

“Some shows stay with you for years, but often it isn't because you thought they were technically a five-star production,” Hannah said.

“It might be because of who you were with, what was happening in your life, a particular song, or because somebody you know was standing on that stage.

“I wanted somewhere that captured all of that, which a dusty collection of theatre programmes can’t do.”

Hannah with Sophie Butler and Sam Wicks, also from MAODS' production of Beauty and the Beast, on a visit to the Beyond Radio studio

The beta launch brought together members of the local theatre community, including performers from Lancaster Red Rose’s forthcoming production of We Will Rock You, giving early users the opportunity to test the app and help shape its development.

“We were thrilled to be invited to perform at the gloami app beta launch amongst all our am dram friends!" said Vanessa Whittle, director of We Will Rock You.

"gloami is such a brilliant idea, and it's lovely that our local amdram scene is getting the recognition it so richly deserves. The standard of amateur theatre is at such a high level nowadays, and it's great to have the support of something like this, which is a completely unique concept.”

Hannah believes amateur societies could ultimately become an important part of the gloami community.

“Am-dram is full of people who absolutely love theatre," she said.

"They perform in it, volunteer behind the scenes, travel to watch it and spend months supporting each other through rehearsals.

“There is a huge theatre community outside the professional industry, and I would love gloami to help give those productions and those audiences more visibility.”

The app will now move from its Lancashire beta to its next milestone when it is showcased at Musical Con, one of the UK’s largest events for musical theatre fans, at ExCeL London on October 17-18.

For Hannah, taking something shaped with input from Lancaster’s theatre community to a national audience feels particularly significant.

“There’s something very lovely about having local societies involved at the beginning and then taking gloami down to Musical Con," she said.

“The ambition is much bigger than Lancaster, but this is where it started.”