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Too Many Musicals?Dateline: 12th November, 2006The situation must be serious. The national press is publishing articles almost on a daily basis asking whether London is being swamped by musicals. Sir Tim Rice has said his piece, explaining that he is not a fan of the art form, with some obvious exceptions. It has gone so far that the writer has even been interviewed by an Austrian radio station that has picked up on the vibes. Since returning from Edinburgh in late August, your correspondent, never as keen on musicals as straight drama, has been lucky enough to attend the opening of a major West End musical almost every single week. That can be a blessing or a real chore. In that period, Caroline, or Change by Tony Kushner at the National has been as good as anything that has opened in town. Similarly, the revival of Evita (in July) and another transfer from the US, Spamalot, are worth anybody's £60, well at least, in the latter case, if they are not Python-phobes. There are so many more to come with November seeing Porgy and Bess, The Sound of Music and on a lesser scale Little Shop of Horrors at the Menier coming hot on the heels of Dirty Dancing. For the New Year, the London debut of The Lord of the Rings is promised - or is that threatened? This could well prove to be far too rich a diet for theatregoers and also some producers. There are only so many seats that can be sold for musicals, particularly at prices that are now not too far below those on Broadway. Unlike the world of sports, where corporates buy most tickets for major events, the punters pay for their own tickets to see musicals. A colleague recently paid £268 all in, to invest (there is no other word) in four tickets to see Spamalot midweek in January. Throw in dinner, drinks, travel, merchandise and programmes and you may not be far short of £500 for a family night out. Not too many families will do that on a regular basis. Perhaps his and her birthdays, the kids' and Christmas. That means that they will see five shows in a year. If ten have opened in the last three months and The Producers, Billy Elliot, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera plus a dozen others continue to roll on, the economics don't work. Darwinian theory suggests that the weak will not survive and a consequence might be that London ends up with a larger than ever batch of very strong musicals. Nobody can complain about that. The danger is that these and their inferior rivals might drive out straight plays. That would be a tragedy - in the colloquial sense. On Broadway at any time, typically there will be a proliferation of specimens of musical theater and only three or four plays. We are a long way from that outcome and the subsidised sector ensures that drama without music is much stronger and more readily available in the UK. Until Caroline, Nick Hytner had avoided his predecessor's need to bolster the National's finances with blockbuster musicals. The Royal Court, RSC and Donmar all produce high quality plays, The Old Vic is getting there as anyone who has seen Kevin Spacey and Eve Best in A Moon for the Misbegotten will know, and many smaller new writing theatres are following suit. One important factor is that the Brits (and American visitors) are happy to watch serious theatre, even on Shaftesbury Avenue. The regions play their part too with Sheffield, West Yorkshire, Manchester and various parts of Scotland all thriving. So, what are the conclusions?
Therefore, the good news is that in the current climate, lucky Brits can enjoy a surfeit of both straight drama and musicals of the highest quality if they have the inclination (and deep enough pockets). Theatre is thriving, make the most of it. Philip Fisher
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