27 replies to this topic

[angelfan]

I've been listening to the score for Spring Awakenings and it's made me wonder why there aren't more contemporary musicals around.  When I say contemporary I mean a show with a modern sounding score that is more likely to feature guitars than violins and a plot that's based in the modern world.  Although I don't get to see every show in London the last contemporary musicals I can think of were RENT and Taboo.  I don't count jukeobx musicals (We Will Rock You/Mamma Mia as contemporary).

[dan]

I wonder how many have been written though and just not discovered? As refreshing as 'Spring Awakening' may be, it is still based on found material than being a truly original new idea. What was the last ^successful musical based on an original idea? 'Maddie'? That dodgy tango murder thing? I can't think of one since 'Taboo' and even that used a few old tunes. They're just too much of a financial risk to mess around with...Have I forgotten any because I'd love to know.

[Matthew Winn]

What was the last ^successful musical based on an original idea? 'Maddie'?

If you're thinking of the show I think you're thinking of, Maddie was a clear flop. It only ran for a few weeks. It wasn't original either, being based on the movie Maxie (1985) which was itself based on the 1973 novel Marion's Wall.

(Oddly enough, britishtheatreguide.info says in a piece about Lord of the Rings "McKenna & Keeling were the team responsible for the critically acclaimed West End musical Maddie", while the same site says of Maddie that it came to an end "after losing a claimed half a million pounds in its short run. Cameron Macintosh blames the critics who, he says, do not understand musicals". So it closed because it was acclaimed by the critics? It's fun when press releases clash.)

I think the main reason there aren't many musicals clearly tied to the present is that by the time you've written and published a musical, persuaded someone to invest in it, found a venue, assembled a production team, hired a cast, launched a publicity campaign, and finally opened, it's not the present any more. The situations are history; the music has been left behind.

Musicals that are too tightly bound to a particular time rapidly become dated. The only way to avoid that is to base the show on a theme that's universal, and then the setting becomes less important. If you want to write something that's tied to a specific time then it's best to use a time in the past. That way you know that the setting and the musical style of the period will still mean something when your show is produced.

Making your show too modern is a huge risk. Suppose, for the sake of example, you want to write a musical about something really contemporary such as MySpace. Two years ago MySpace was unheard of. Two years from now nobody will care about it: it'll be old news, just another Internet fad that ran its course. You get a year or so and a single chance to make a success of your idea, and if you run out of time all your work is wasted. It's hardly surprising that few people make the attempt.

[Reich]

I guess one the biggest contemporary musicals is Company. It was written in the 70's and it's still big today. Although this donsn’t have an electric guitars in the pit!

I wish we did have more shows that have a modern nature but the general vibe is still for singing nuns,  melodramatic revolutionary students or opera house owners and dancing Nazis’, cats and trains.  

[angelfan]

Well as far as I know although I haven't seen Spring Awakenings it basically revolves around the sexual relationships of college/university students.  I'm sure this is something more young people can relate to than the 50s high school of Grease.  How many people can relate to the French Revolution.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with traditional musicals like Les Miserables but surely there's a place for musicals that young people might actually be able to realte to.

I'm not just talking about plot though.  It's also about the music.  How many current musicals have scores like RENT?  I don't know many musicals with songs like One Song Glory or Out Tonight or La Vie Boheme.  Ok so Taboo used a few old tunes but it had songs like Safe In The City and Genocide Peroxide.  With the exception of the jukebox musicals most current West End shows have traditional musical scores (even Wicked).

[dan]

Didn't know that. Just strikes one more off the 'original' musicals count.

[musicmancjay]

...let's now find the edit button please...

[armadillo]

What does the French Revolution have to do with Les Miserables?


[quote name='angelfan' date='May 13 2007, 03:01 PM' post='9612']
Well as far as I know although I haven't seen Spring Awakenings it basically revolves around the sexual relationships of college/university students.  I'm sure this is something more young people can relate to than the 50s high school of Grease.  How many people can relate to the French Revolution.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with traditional musicals like Les Miserables but surely there's a place for musicals that young people might actually be able to realte to.

[M George]

What does the French Revolution have to do with Les Miserables?

Nothing at all.   Parts of Les Miserables are set against the backdrop of the rather brief student uprising of 1832 and NOT the Revolutions of 1789-1799 and February 1848.

[Peter]

Avenue Q is probably the best example of a successful modern show that appeals to a younger audience - and though it takes it's cue from Sesame Street, it's not really based on anything...