Developments in the West End Musical Scene

Developments in the western hemisphere check Musical motion-picture showDISCUSS THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WEST wipeout MUSICAL SCENE THIS SHOULD INCLUDE AN ANALYSIS OF THE MEGA-MUSICAL MANIA, THE TREND TO CREATE innovative MUSICALS BASED ON EXISTING SONGS (SONG MIGRATION) AND STAGE TRANSFERS OF SUCCESSFUL FILMS.From Sophocles through William Shakespe be to Eminem, writers put one over sought to use the rhythms of language to accentuate the story they argon seeking to sh atomic number 18. The pre-Caxton1 society relied on an oral tradition to extradite stories of fact and fiction. Cultures spanning the spotless globe and all ages of civilization contain instinctively adopted musical comedy storytelling it is prominent in various forms even now be it about a camp fire, at a tribal ceremony, an inner city playground or on a tungsten oddment stage.In todays world, language and music are at our fingertips. They are both instantaneous. And they pile be married in a seco nd. Technically, music is intricate. Most writers forget say the same about language. precisely in an inspired import they can conjoin and express fewthing wonderful both sonically and linguistically. The act of constructing such a moment can be the end result of nigh(prenominal) less fruitful moments merely at that place is al agencys the chance that it could honest happen instantaneously. Our logistical minds tell us that it just now is non thinkable that we would never be able to express ourselves beautifully and eloquently in musical form. And yet the compulsion to try and do so has arrested or so lot, even if nevertheless for a quickly aborted solitary moment. So perchance here lies the fascination with musicals. They show life as we know it mirthfully residing in an alternate reality where music and language are well-to-do bed partners and everything goes to extremes. Or does it?The westside block cancelled is one of Londons most democratic tourist att ractions. It has built its reputation, in tandem with New Yorks Broadway, as the technical mecca of musical sign of the zodiac. Las Vegas has the showgirls but Broadway and the due west stamp out share the showtunes. Indeed, man their identities are undeniably distinct, the relationship betwixt them is close same sex tally rather than identical ones. Each has their own nuances of behaviour the younger double Broadway hunts that bit more keenly for the next off-beat musical whirlwind the ripened western hemisphere completion plays percentages but plays them with palpable success.The term West End was primitively coined as a geographical short cut a way of describing a part of London synonymous with field of view. Since its inception into London vernacular the phrase West End has mutated to describe fewthing meta-geographical. While once upon a time it merely repre moveed an actual place, now it also describes the approach to an invented world of glitz, glamour and sh ow. The West End may still be the home of theatre, but the kind of theatre that it houses has become very consid sequencebly classifiable. The listings do not lie. And neither do they try to. The West End is a haven for small nouss done larger-than-life with child(p) names, big shows, big spectacles, big budgets, big risks.The social and artistic significance of theatre as an art form has not suffered in the time since the West End theatres were constructed. But the immediacy of rival entertainments, chiefly television and pullulate, has doubtlessly provided so comfortable an alternative for the borderline theatre release public that its popularity has. Ultimately, the publics relationship with theatre has somewhat inverted itself once the entertainment of the pack, theatre has become high-brow, elitist, easy lay even. Or so we are led to believe. Every year the people entrusted with running the countrys theatres are ensconced in attempts to run into theatre more accessible . Nicholas Hytner at the internal firm has incorporated a sponsorship deal with Travelex with the express take of enabling its shows to be available to people for as little as 10 a ticket. Theatrical output is continuing to diversify in natural directions. The National Theatre still produces the time-honoured classics that will propitiate their traditional supporters. But they also invited outside companies including Theatre de Complicite, Improbable, Shunt and Kneehigh to co-develop their novel work.Arts Council funding dictates a certain amount of programming for in-house producing theatres passim the country. It is impossible to equate the artistic worth of a proposed project duration it exists solely as an outline on a piece of paper. But it is easier to quantify the greater social import of the same project. Therefore the intricacy in various local outreach initiatives including young peoples theatre and new written material programmes serves duplicate purposes. But i n doing so it runs the risk of wrestling a certain amount of control from the artistic directors, or at least diluting the intent of their work.But the West End is not sincerely concern with any of this. The theatres are privately owned and have little social obligation. West End theatre is a notoriously unpredictable specie market. Make a big success of yourself and you can eventually bargain for it up which is exactly what Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron mac have ended up doing. Lloyd Webbers rightfully Useful Group are the proprietors of twelve of the capitals larger theatres. By January 2006 Delfont Mackintosh will control an some other seven, and will have begun constructing the Sondheim Theatre the offset theatre to be built on Shaftesbury Avenue since 1931. The long-term program of Delfont Mackintosh is to refurbish and modernise theatreland. But one cannot help but think that their extreme makeover will be restricted to the facilities and layout and that the enter tainment will remain as traditional as ever.The musical-as-we-know-it grew out of the 19th elevator carbon tradition of music hall, which itself was the bastard son of drink and rowdiness. aft(prenominal) removing the alcoholic drink from drunken singalongs, and relocating from the pub to theatres, the 1860s saw the popularity of the newly-arrived music hall go from safe(p) idea to massively popular entertainment. The humbling beginnings of the musical cannot help but reveal the nucleus of the idea it was born of accident of people seeking to have pure, unadulterated entertainment. In that respect, it has no one form no one school of thought indeed no real sense of philosophy no real sense of purpose other than fun, fun, funAs the musical was developing it was the bastion of popular music of the time. through gibibyte and Sullivan, Irving Berlin, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill and Cole Porter, the men and women behind musical were the most revered margin call writers at wor k in the westward world. Ten years into the post-war era there was a marked shift. The musical bars that made dry, wry and witty observations about upper middle class were about to be trumped by rock and roll. And John Osbournes 1956 kitchen-sink-drama Look Back In Anger was going to have repercussions outside the world of the well-made play2.The birth of transmittable media was only going to swell the amount of music being produced. In the early days of the wireless radio, families gathered to listen to the songs of Ivor Novello or Noel Coward. By the mid-1960s many another(prenominal) families had television sets in their front rooms radio broadcasts were a competitory business and air transport links had made the world traversable for all those who could afford it. Music was a commodity that could be sent from one side of the world to the other. And in the slipstream of the music were the musicians themselves.Through television and radio, songwriters and musicians had an ide ntity. They became icons the most celebrated people on the planet. And their music was nowhere near the West End stage. For the first time since their inception musicals were not using the popular music of the time. Rocknroll was being held in musical purgatory by traditionalists unhappy at its low-brow ideals. While cinema was running as truehearted and far as it could with the concept of the film musical, the stage was seeking to deliver variations on earlier themes. Elvis Presley made numerous musical films as did The Beatles. In the 1960s the West End was awash with Broadway imports the influence of Leonard Bernstein, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe and other transatlantic success stories was diluting the integrity of the West End as the older brother of the musical. But the psychedelic overtones of that time were to create musical anomalies while some composers flirted with the concept of rock, others werent afraid to dive headlong into its bottomless pit. After i ts anti-Vietnam stance and inclusion of group nudity caused outrage on Broadway, fuzz opened in the West End in 1968. From being the chosen playground of mild-mannered nonprogressives, the musical was being politicised and modernised. Within five years, the eon of Aquarius3 had been further capitalized upon by Godspell, Oh Calcutta and even Jesus Christ Superstar which turn up to be the foundation on which the new dawn of the musical would be built. Todays twin Godfathers of musical composition for Broadway and the West End carry the smart torch of yesteryear Stephen Sondheim represents his forefathers fascination with the off-beat, with Andrew Lloyd Webber never straying from the musically conservative beat.There are various factors that dictate the youthful successes and failures in West End theatre. But the starting point for every West End production is money a fact beautifully demonstrated by the plot of one of the West Ends most popular current productions The Producer s. Essentially, the capitalistic dawn that swallowed up free love has made currency the new leading man in musical theatre. Producers need big ideas and big songs to legislate for big budgets. So instead of trying to predict what people may like and creating a musical story some it, the West End decided to reduce the risk and simply take the music that people already like and create a story around that.In some ways the origin of song migration is old recap style shows popular hits belted out with no real longing to create an accompanying piece of drama or comedy. Coupled with the privateness to stage success of musical films like The Lion King, a producer was now able to weigh up potential West End shows safe in the knowledge that a stable of worldwide bring out hits could enable a musical to run for years, even with a shitty review. Suddenly the sheer bankability of Lloyd Webber was looking like an outlandish risk alongside the music of Abba4, Queen5 or even (the criticall y lauded but never supergroup status) of Madness6. Negotiations are in outgrowth for the trend to continue, with Bob Marley, The Beatles and Elton John just some of the musical legends in line to have their songs shoe-horned into some money-spinning stage travesty that makes almost no sense at all. Not that the public very care. They want to go and sing-a-long like the pub dwellers of the 1840s that unknowingly helped begin the process of musical theatre. And who shall we choose to lead the sing-song? Well, preferably someone famous off the telly, of course.The West End is a remarkably lucrative place. For his unscheduled save in the opening cast run of The Producers at the end of 2004, Nathan highway was being paid 42,000 a week for the lead role as Max Bialystock. It is a clear indication of the simple transaction between moneymen and talent the star name guarantees the box office receipts. The West End has been flooded with stars some of whom have no musical pedigree becau se notoriety is deemed to have finally overridden talent. The good, bad and ugly (in no particular order) of recent years include David Hasselhoff7, Martine McCutcheon8 and Denise Van Outen9.And if you dont want to spend money on star names, then youd better be sure to have some seriously impressive stage gimmicks Miss Saigon famously had a helicopter, Chitty Chitty blossom Bang got in to hot water when the eponymous flying car failed to take off in previews, and Phantom of the Opera has a plunging pendent moment that will wake up anyone snoozing in the stalls. So with standard tickets averaging out at around 40, the theatregoer demands a truly atrocious experience. But amazing and original are poles apart and thats why when the legislation is right, all you need to do is repeat it. There are exceptions. The Bombitty of Errors was a rap interpretation of Shakespeares Comedy of Errors, and was a small but perfectly-formed international success. Stomp became a phenomenon through gradual intelligence information of mouth and because it is a different kind of spectacle. Jerry Springer The Opera began life as an idea at a scratch night at the Battersea Arts revolve about and grabbed the attention of every newspaper and fundamentalist Christian in the Western World. But such shows grow from humble beginnings and are swept away(p) on public curiosity.As in any art form, there are people willing to take risks because they believe their work has a market. Bombay Dreams and The Far Pavilions identify a recently developed appreciation of Asian music and culture. The off-Broadway hit Batboy continues in the tradition of earlier pacesetters The Rocky detestation Picture Show and Hedwig and the Angry Inch for kitsch rock operas. But some of these are accidental intruders in the world of the West End. They werent sure if they were really invited but came anyway.One group that certainly were invited are blockbuster films whether they have songs in them or not. Seemi ngly the films dont even have to have been that successful. The Witches of Eastwick had a successful run in the West End. But more than likely, the film will have a readymade audience. The Full Monty was relocated to middle the States from Sheffield to make it a Broadway success. Billy Elliott is well into previews, but the advance word is that it will be a significant hit. Or better still, just take a film with songs already in them you dont stand to make as much money, but the guarantee of an audience is that much stronger. bloody shame Poppins has been well-received by most, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is in its third year.There are currently 36 theatres in the West End of Londons theatreland10. As of Monday 2 May 2005, 27 are currently housing a production. 17 of those are musicals. This ratio is fairly consistent and shows no signs of relenting. Essentially a hit West End musical needs a come-on star name, hit songs, hit movie, famous composer, popular revival. Something tha t can be reduced to a two-word phrase. If you havent got any of those, then heaven help you. Because the West End public certainly wont.BIBLIOGRAPHYIn-yer-face Theatre British Drama TodayAleks SierzFaber Faber2001Scene Unseen Londons West End TheatresBarson, Kendall, Longman, SmithEnglish Heritage Publications 2003Brewers Theatre Phrase fable DictionaryCassellMarket House Books1994MusicalsKurt GanzlCarlton Books2004Time Out (London) Issue No. 1810April 27-May 4 2005Musicals 101.com1Footnotes1 William Caxton, inventor of the printing press (1474), which enabled literature to be fabricate and readily available to the public.2 A term coined by Terrence Rattigan for the four-act structure of a play that had been the norm for successful playwrights in the first half of the 20th Century.3 A term synonymous with late 60s flower power and disinterested ideologies derived from a song from the musical Hair.4 Mamma Mia.5 We Will Rock You.6 Our House.7 Chicago, Adelphi Theatre, 20048 My unclouded Lady, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, 20019 Chicago, Adelphi, 2001, Tell Me On A Sunday, Gielgud, 200310 They are the Adelphi, Albery, Aldwych, Apollo, Arts, Cambridge, Comedy, Criterion, Dominion, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Duchess, Duke of Yorks, Fortune, Garrick, Gielgud, Haymarket, Her Majestys, London Palladium, Lyceum, Lyric, New Ambassadors, New London, Palace, Phoenix, Piccadilly, Playhouse, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, Queens, Savoy, Shaftesbury, St Martins, Strand, Trafalgar Studios, Vaudeville, Wyndhams. Other key theatres not classified as West End include the Donmar Warehouse, National Theatre, Old Vic, Victoria Palace, Apollo Victoria, Lilian Baylis Saddlers Wells, Peacock, Almeida and the Royal Court.