A Pah-ssion for Producing

Interesting article by agent-turned-musical-producer Stuart Piper in the Stage entitled "No New Musical theatre composers? Pah".

Firstly, based on the accompanying photo, how do you become an agent?

Secondly, this:

"Last week, I produced a rehearsed sing-through of a new musical. It was not based on anything. Not a film, not a piece of literature, not a jukebox catalogue of popular songs."

There is always some confusion around this, so let's clear it up. The fact that a musical is based on a film or a piece of literature does not make it unoriginal. If we took that line then producers of new musicals would have turned down A Little Night Music and Cats.

Musicals are dramas told through song, so the key thing for a musical to be original is for the songs to be new. The majority of musicals qualify in that they tend to have old stories but new songs. Jukebox musicals, on the other hand, tend to have new stories and old songs. So they can't really be considered original. All clear?

Excellent. Carrying on. Now here's where I get a bit worried:

"So feeling all inspired after last week’s workshop, I thought I’d share with you the bizarre turn of events that led to me unearthing musical brilliance."

OK, I'm sitting comfortably. Here are the bullet points:

"So I met actress Aoife Nally, when she shared Dressing Room No.9 with my partner at the time...it was during her run of The Light in the Piazza at Leicester Curve, that I got carried away and suggested she write a musical...So back to the bar at the Curve, and after a few too many G+T’s, I told her she should write a musical...I’m not going to give anything away about its content yet, it would be premature, but as I sat there listening to these incredible voices sing this heartbreaking story, I got that bubble of excitement that always make me do something wreckless (like, oh god, produce a musical)...I’ve lost money producing musicals in the past, and only really made money producing plays and representing talent. But this one is not about the money – it’s about art. And if I’m right about that, the rest may follow."

So, to summarise, this is a musical initiated by a gin-soaked conversation with no proven property, two first-time writers and a money-losing musical producer who thinks the whole adventure is comically wreckless. If I were an investor, I'd have given up by paragraph two.

Now I'm not saying that musicals can't have original stories or first-time writers or be good without making money. This show may turn out to be terrific. I genuinely hope it gets to stage. What I can't help wondering is what Mr. Piper hoped to achieve in writing this article.

His pah-ssion is evident but is it enough?

Interview with Ian 'H' Watkins

Stepping out from his popstar-dom-ness, Ian 'H' Watkins of Steps fame, dons the coat of many colours once more as he returns to the role of Joseph.

My interview with him is now available over at the ever-colourful Musical Theatre Review.

That You Would Find in a Statue

The great Don Black, for it is he, has suggested stoning Lord Andy with a formal erection (this can't be right? - ed). That is, in an interview with The Stage, he has suggested a statue:

“In America there is a statue in Times Square of [playwright and composer] George M Cohan and there are stamps with Jerome Kern on. There should be a statue on Shaftesbury Avenue [of Andrew] – something for what he’s done.”

Others, in the form of classical music critic Norman Lebrecht, have expressed some mild objections:

"If his bust goes up in my town, I’m outta here."

On the issue of a statue, I am neutral. My only thought is that one of Sarah Brightman would be prettier.

However, on the issue of musical theatre, I'll take Don Black's opinion any day. Lebrecht falls back on some pretty hoary criticism:

"His Lordship may be a genius at selling a show..."

Nice of you to say so but I suspect that much of the genius belongs to the Super Mac, Cameron Mackintosh. Lord Andy is more Boheme than businessman.

"...but he has trashed down the genre to a series of musical clichés and pop tunes." 

Musical cliches like title songs like in 5/8 ("Sunset Boulevard")?

"What was once a halfway house between grand opera and lowbrow music-hall has become, in Lloyd Webber’s proficient hands, a brand for safe entertainment..." 

Safe entertainments like shows about the Son of God, fascist dictators, cats, trains, a freak in a sewer and, oh yes, the IRA.

"...and stage technology..."

Like the stage technology it took to create the successful double-albums of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita.

"...that barely engages the brain."

Unlike really original and perceptive musical theatre criticism like Lebrecht's.

Black, on the other hand, hits the nose on the head, so to speak:

"The lyricist also claimed critics should try to write a musical, claiming only then would they 'realise how well Andrew knows the structure of musicals'". 'He’s studied it in a forensic way,' Black said."

This is why the music critic never quite gets to grip with Lord Andy. They treat him as a composer. In truth he is a dramatist. And that is why he has been so successful.

You really don't need a statue to work that out.

Lofty Conversions

There's been a dust-up over at Music Matters (14th Sept) on Radio 3.

In the blue corner and  representing Italian opera, the Verdistas have been declaiming in high pitches about the wonder of their man's music. In the red corner and representing German opera, the Wagnerites have been intoning menacingly about the importance of the Tristan Chord (let it go, it's just a chord). 

OK, it's not exactly Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. This is Radio 3, after all.

As far as I could tell the general conclusion was that, whilst Wagner was probably the more innovative and influential artist, it would have undoubtedly been preferable to share a pint and a sing-song with Verdi. 

But one interesting point about myths and music was made by singer Robert Lloyd (around the 34 minute mark).

"The relationship between myth and music is a very interesting one. It goes back all the way to the origin of opera. In the earliest operas - Monteverdi and so on - all the people were mythical characters because there was a feeling that people didn't go around singing. Gods did that. And the thing about using Gods and myths is that it frees up the composer not to have to be so specifically mundane."

It reminds me of that scene in Peter Schaffer's Amadeus where Mozart dismisses the old Italian opera of his rivals as only being concerned with "people so lofty they sound as though they s**t marble". Mozart, of course, goes on to write operas about thoroughly non-lofty types like barbers.

What has this to do with musicals? Well, there is a parallel.

The loftiness of European operetta (all Princes and Duchesses in far-off lands) was brought low by the Broadway musical. On the comedy side, Rodgers and Hart wrote about showgirls and gamblers. On the drama side, Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote about farmers and cowboys.

Now I have a little theory (it's not going to harm anyone): that the key question for any musical is, why do people start singing? Answering that successfully goes a long way to making a successful show.

If you're dealing with the lofty and the mythical then you're already sufficiently removed from reality that characters bursting into song doesn't seem that odd. Frankly, if you're a god or a prince, you can generally do as you please. On the other hand, if a musical is dealing with the non-lofty, this is a problem. How do you make the non-lofty do something lofty like sing?

No doubt there are many answers but let me suggest one: optimism.

It is generally the case that musicals are optimistic things. Genuine tragedy is rare (West Side Story and the Cliff Richard show Heathcliff are obvious examples, although tragic in very different ways). Perhaps then this optimism is inherent in the form itself, driven by the need to make non-lofty characters act in a lofty way, and producing a kind of upward movement in the story. To put it another way, musicals by their very nature set out to find the marvellous in the mundane, the godly within the gambler.

If that isn't being too lofty. 

Interview with Colman Domingo

My interview with Broadway star and Tony award nominee Colman Domingo now available in issue 3 of the ever-absorbing Musical Theatre Review (subscription required).

Colman Domingo will be repeating his Tony nominated role in Kander and Ebb's swansong musical, The Scottsboro Boys (directed by Susan Stroman). The Broadway show will receive its UK premiere at the Young Vic in October.

Very interesting fella, very interesting show.

Interview with Frances Ruffelle

Short interview with Frances Ruffelle over at the ever-endearing Musical Theatre Review about her new cabaret show, Paris Original.