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The End of Music Theatre As We Know It?Dateline: 10th November, 2002At its annual conference the Theatrical Management Association expressed grave concerns about the future of music theatre. "If we don't develop new work, writers, audiences and performers," said Sheila Benjamin from the International Festival of Musical Theatre in Cardiff, "we won't have mainstream musical theatre or the West End as we know it." It's a fine rallying cry, calling all MT lovers to the barricades to defend the genre, but is it actually true? The conference heard of excessive royalties demanded by copyright holders, lack of support, the need for funding... Oddly enough, the same kind of criticism which would emerge from a conference devoted to almost any theatrical genre. The problem with Music Theatre, of course, is that, in the West End at any rate, it is mind-bogglingly expensive. Take Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, for example: three quarters of a million pounds for one prop, the car itself. Or what about the now deceased Starlight Express? The interior of the theatre had to be rebuilt to accommodate that show. And then there's Our House: cancellation after cancellation because of technical problems. I have always condemned Clive Barnes for his derogatory remarks about British musicals (You come out "whistling the scenery"), but I'm beginning to think that he has a point. Recent shows have made the Miss Saigon helicopter seem like very small beer indeed! I could sing (very badly) Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell in their entirety. I could get most of the way through Les Mis and a fair amount of Cats, Phantom, Evita, Miss Saigon, most of Grease, Oliver!, Oklahoma!, Guys and Dolls, a bit of The Lion King, a fair amount of Sondheim, but I don't know a single song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and have heard just one from Bombay Dreams. Somehow recently the music in musicals has been forgotten. Unless, of course, we're talking about shows like Mamma Mia!, Taboo, Our House or We Will Rock You, shows built around an existing body of music, in which a plot is devised to work in as many famous songs as possible. The problem is that producers have got it into their heads that a straightforward musical will not pull the punters for long enough to make big bucks, so they go for hugely expensive special effects, or music that is already popular, or "names". In the latter case, we have the unedifying spectacle of shows which are strong in themselves (such as Chicago) bringing in second-rate "celebrities" (which usually means TV presenters or has-been pop stars) in an attempt to keep the show on the road longer. As for Sheila Benjamin's comment about "mainstream musical theatre", if that means tired shows on the life support provided by second rate celebs, or shows based on films, or written around the work of defunct (or almost defunct) pop bands, then perhaps it's time for music theatre - as we know it - to die! Articles Indices:
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