Les Mis Mutters, Pilbrow PraisedDate: 12 September 2011
One of best new radio programmes is Sue McGregor's Reunion on BBC Radio 4, in which participants on a great project or chapter of political or social history reuinite round a table to discuss the event in hindsight.
We've had two great showbiz episodes: first, the reunion of some of the Liverpool Everyman Theatre in the early 1970s and, just the other week, another Liverpool trip down memory lane on Alan Bleasdale's Boys From the Black Stuff on Channel 4.
Yesterday's edition was devoted to Les Miserables, and didn't dodge any dissent or rancour. First up, Michael Billington (not in the sudio, on tape) sniffily diagnosed Les Mis as part of a Thatcherite global musical theatre ecology, a point more subtly appropriated (in the studio) by co-director John Caird as evidence of people's hunger for compassion and love in a "me first, greed is good" society.
Then there was Cameron Mackintosh and Caird disagreeing about politics in China, and the show's standing there; which opened up the way for Caird to express his and Trevor Nunn's hurt at not being invited to re-visit the show for the 25th anniversary touring production that played at the Barbican (which was, in effect, a pale re-tread of the original, not a re-think).
Cameron replied that, like any great show, Les Mis deserved a creative makeover. To which Caird responded by suggesting a change of producer, too. Ouch.
The critics came in for some flak, and Cameron and Caird were at least agreed on this point: that there is an innate critical snobbery about musicals that just won't go away. Lyricist Herbert Kretzmer was too pained to name the writer who, in the Spectator only the other week, said that Les Mis was a case of the Emperor's New Clothes.
And they all rounded on the Observer critic of the day (my predecessor there, Michael Ratcliffe, though they remembered him, for some reason, as "Michael Hastings" the playwright) who complained about the show for several weeks running.
Fascinatingly, Kretzmer recalled he was stuck for a lyric on "Bring Him Home," with its clutches of three rising notes punctuated by long pauses, until Caird casually let slip, as he left Herbie's house in the small hours after a long session, "Sounds like a prayer to me."
That, of course, is the show's greatest number, though, as Cameron said, there was never a hit song until Susan Boyle sang "I Dreamed a Dream" on a TV talent show nearly thirty years after the premiere.
And Michael Ball, the first Marius, aged just 22, said that the show not only changed his life but also drove him into a major nervous breakdown from which he happily recovered after nine months away.
When Cameron first decided on Trevor Nunn as the director, Nunn had two conditions on which he absolutely insisted: that John Caird came on board as his co-director; and that they would present the musical first at the RSC.
This led to all sorts of rumbles and disputes even within the company, but the fact is that the RSC probably survived in the 1980s because of the annual income of £1m a year from Les Mis. And that pioneering association between the subsidised and commercial sectors is now an everyday fact of life (for good, and for bad).
No dissent of any kind last night at the fourth annual Knight of Illumination Awards sponsored by Italian lighting industry suppliers Clay Paky in the Hyde Park Hilton, where Bruno Poet was dubbed on both shoulders for his sensational work on the National's Frankenstein, and Hugh Vanstone ennobled for his colourful, scene clinching contribution to The Wizard of Oz at the Palladium.
But the night's, and the Knights', standing ovation went to Richard Pilbrow, whose creative lifetime as a designer, theatre consultant and producer, stretching from the West End in the 1950s through to the new National Theatre and beyond, was resoundingly recognised by his peers.
In 1957 he founded the first ever lighting company, Theatre Projects, and has tripped the light fantastic ever since, though he said, "when I started, nobody wanted me... and the pay's still shit!"
He's a wonderful man, Pilbrow, and I can't wait to read his new book. He now lives in Connecticut. Why? "I love it there, and I left this country when they kept on building such bad theatres." I listed a few: Chichester, the Birmingham Rep, Nottingham Playhouse, the National (Olivier and Lyttelton)... he didn't demur.
What theatres does he like? The Sheffield Crucible and the Cottesloe. That's about the size of it. His first shows as co-producer were A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and She Loves Me, but I think the one that meant most to him was Company by George Furth and Stephen Sondheim. He said he will never forget the night it opened, and the audience went stir crazy. I saw that first London production in 1972 three times: it still only ran for a year.
Pilbrow said that when he joined the Association of Lighting Designers he was the only member. Today, there are two thousand, working right across the entertainment industry in theatre, dance, opera, television and rock concerts.
London has the best theatre, and Broadway used to have the best theatre technicians. Now I suspect we have the best of both worlds, and much of this reputation is down to one of our truly great unsung heroes: the prodigious Pilbrow.
- by Michael Coveney
Any opinions expressed above do not represent the view of Whatsonstage.com nor any of its staff or contributors beyond the bylined author.
Related Content
| Other Posts By Michael Coveney |
 | Roll out the banners - 18th Apr 2012 blog |
| Disappearing directors - 24th Apr 2012 blog |
| Shakespeare's global birthday bash - 23rd Apr 2012 blog |
| Spinning a yarn, or telling the truth? - 19th Apr 2012 blog |
| Michael Coveney: Oliviers 2012 Blog - Rice adds class - 16th Apr 2012 blog |
| More awards & May poles - 13th Apr 2012 blog |
| Suchet such a nice guy - 11th Apr 2012 blog |
| Holiday heave-ho: more privacy pleas(e) - 9th Apr 2012 blog |
| Bees in my Easter bonnet - 5th Apr 2012 blog |
| Miller's tale of yielding - 4th Apr 2012 blog |
| | More... |
| |
| Internal Links |
| Danielle Hope is new Les Mis Eponine, Tam Mutu plays Javert - 9th Mar 2012 news |
| Cast: Shannon & Rauch play Jean Valjean, new Jersey Boys - 14th Feb 2012 news |
| Will more of original Les Mis cast join Ruffelle & Wilkinson on big screen? - 27th Jan 2012 gossip |
| Phantom Star Ramin Karimloo Tours Solo Show in May - 29th Dec 2011 news |
| Brief Encounter With ... Alfie Boe - 7th Nov 2011 interviews |
| Karimloo Stars as Jean Valjean in Les Mis, from 29 Nov - 27th Oct 2011 news |
| Photos: Tenor Trumps Les Mis In West End Tug of War - 14th Jul 2011 news |
| Tenor & Les Mis Battle In West End Tug of War??? - 13th Jul 2011 gossip |
| 1st Night Photos: New Les Mis Cast, Boe & Lucas - 24th Jun 2011 photos |
| Alfie Boe 'Bored Stiff' When He Watches Opera??? - 7th Jun 2011 gossip |
| Musicals Cast: Full Les Mis, Trafalgar Betwixt! - 31st May 2011 news |
| Cast: Wilkes Chicago, Sheen Fantine, Union Fings - 5th May 2011 news |
| Boss Blog: The Lure of the Longrunner - & Other Tourist Tales - 29th Mar 2011 blog |
| Longrunners Extend: WWRY, Mousetrap, Les Mis - 21st Mar 2011 news |
| Mackintosh Makes Acting Debut with Lucas & Boe??? - 2nd Mar 2011 gossip |
| Alfie Boe & Matt Lucas Confirm for Les Mis, 23 Jun - 23rd Feb 2011 news |
| WOS Radio: Edward Seckerson Talks to Alfie Boe - 20th Dec 2010 radio |
| Jean Valjeans Raise Funds for Troop Tickets??? - 13th Dec 2010 gossip |
| Alfie Boe Revisits Les Mis in West End, Jun 2011 - 26th Nov 2010 news |
| Musicals Cast: Falls, Love Story, Gates Les Mis - 14th Oct 2010 news |
| WOS Blog: Les Mis Celebrates In Style at The O2 - 4th Oct 2010 features |
| Photos: Les Mis Company of Companies for 25th - 4th Oct 2010 photos |
| WOS TV: Les Miserables Marks Epic 25th Birthday - 4th Oct 2010 tv |
| Artist Seeks Likeness in Les Mis Cast??? - 1st Oct 2010 gossip |
| Final Tickets for Les Mis at The O2, Tube Strikes - 1st Oct 2010 news |
| Les Mis at O2 Broadcast to Cinemas, NT Expands - 29th Sep 2010 news |
| Who Would Have Dreamed? Les Mis Hits 25 - 13th Sep 2010 features |
| Extensions: Sheridan Smith's Elle, Boheme & Mis - 26th Aug 2010 news |
| One Day More for Les Mis Celebrations??? - 14th Jul 2010 gossip |
| Nunn Sparks Row Over Anniversary Les Mis Tour - 30th Jun 2010 news |
| Photos: Jonas Brothers Cause a Stir at Les Mis - 22nd Jun 2010 news |
| Les Mis Has 25th at O2 with Lucas, Boe & Salonga - 2nd Jun 2010 news |
| Cast: Nick Jonas Joins Les Mis, Quinn Gets Dirty - 28th May 2010 news |
| Mackintosh Slashes May Musical Prices by 45% - 14th May 2010 news |
| Les Mis Tour Visits Barbican for 25th Anniversary - 15th Mar 2010 news |
| Les Mis Marks 25th Birthday with Major New Tour - 16th Jun 2009 news |
| - 1st Sep 2000 green+room |
| Les Miserables  - 1st Nov 1997 reviews |
