On the State of the British Musical (and Other Pressing Issues)

More catching up to do.

So to this Michael Billington review of a musical version of The Lady or the Tiger. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to have much time for the piece and, in the last paragraph, begins ruminating more generally on the "melancholy" state of the British musical:

"Andrew Lloyd Webber effortlessly dominates the scene. But who else is there? Howard Goodall tapped into the British choral tradition in The Hired Man but has never capitalised on that success. Stiles and Drewe wrote popular children's piece Honk!, but have yet to achieve an adult breakthrough. Whether because of economics, lack of encouragement or failure of ambition, the British musical seems a languishing, lacklustre affair."

Now I'm not altogether in disagreement with Mr. Billington. But a few quibbles:

1. Lord Andy may dominate the scene but, in recent years, it's more for his role as Graham Norton's sidekick than for his musicals. I don't know the exact financial figures but I do know that none of his recent shows made it to Broadway. And Sunset Boulevard and Aspects of Love, good works both, were never solid gold smashes in the way that Phantom of the Opera was. But that goes back to 1986.

2. Far from not capitalising on The Hired Man, the splendid Howard Goodall has written plenty more musicals. They just haven't been that successful. Then again he's always seems a wee bit indifferent about the form.

3. I'd say that Stiles and Drewe have indeed had a major breakthrough by writing half the score for Mary Poppins. (And by the way, why does something need to be "adult" to be considered a breakthrough?).

4. He didn't mention Billy Elliot.

5. If I were to take a fairly unsubstantiated guess I'd say there are probably more talented and skilled actors, singers, dancers, choreographers, stage managers and lighting designers working in musical theatre today than ever before. That may be due to all those jukebox musicals and reality TV shows but they hardly make the scene look "languishing" or "lacklustre".

And yet, and yet. There is a sense in which the hit shows, let alone the good ones, are few and far between. I can't really disagree but has it ever been any different? Even in the Mackintosh/Lloyd Webber days the hits were a trickle compared to the stream of flops. Successful musicals are always the exception. I've said it before and I say it again: nobody really, truly knows how musicals work. Not even Mr. Billington.