The Problem With Musicals

The Off West End Awards, of which I am one of the judges, has always been eager to support new writing. Indeed there are three separate awards available that lay testament to this namely Best New Play, Most Promising New Playwright and Best New Musical. The first two awards have, for the past two years, garnered plenty of nominations but the Best New Musical Category has always been slightly more difficult to fill.

In 2010, Silence! The Musical at Above The Stag, Britain's Got Bhangra at Theatre Royal Stratford East and Porn – The Musical at Theatre503 all made the running with Porn – The Musical taking the trophy. 2011 saw Burlesque at the Jermyn Street win the award, beating off rivals La Ronde at the Rosemary Branch and latecomer Little Women at the Lost Theatre.

This year, at the beginning of August, there was still not a single nomination for Best New Musical posted. The London Fringe is certainly not afraid of musicals and indeed is awash with revivals of classics such as Mack & Mabel, Carousel and the forthcoming Call Me Madam, not to mention countless revivals of operettas from Merrie England to an average of three Pirates of Penzance a year.

If the classics aren’t your thing – no matter how re-imagined - then there are also plenty of contemporary revivals such as Rent, Spring Awakening and The Drowsy Chaperone to pull in punters. However it is not just revivals out there vying for a share of ticket sales. There is also a healthy contingent of premieres of Off-Off Broadway, Off Broadway and even Broadway shows making their first appearance in the UK in tiny theatres above pubs, like the wonderful production of Kander and Ebb’s Curtains recently at the Landor.

No, when it comes to musicals the London Fringe offers more variety than the West End. Sadly it is new musicals with decent runs that we are seeing less and less of. At the judges debate last year, the question of the relevance of the category arose and I pointed out that I felt it was our duty to support new musicals with the same passion as we support new plays. When judging new musicals I tend to take a much broader view of the production. They seldom arrive upon the Fringe as finished, polished pieces of work. I expect them to flawed and judge them more on their potential, more than upon their production values.

By the time I saw Burlesque in November 2011, I was despairing at the dearth of new musicals that had come my way. I had seen Bed and Sofa, 1888, Slay It With Music and La Ronde, with only the latter making enough of an impression for me to concur with its nomination. Then along came Little Women – The Musical in December, with nowhere near as good production values as, say Bed and Sofa, but a far more impressive musical in terms of composition, structure and ultimately popular appeal. Sadly, with 15 days left before judging closed and at only 10 days before Christmas not many people actually saw it.