Theatrical balance tipping in West End’s favour

Press, 26 February 1987, Page 40

Theatrical balance tipping in West End’s favour

NZPA London London’s theatre world lurches from boom to bust; only 10 years ago the West End was just another stop for a show on its way out of New York.

But this year the predictions are that the theatrical balance between the West End and Broadway would tip in London’s favour. The London “Evening Standard” newspaper called it a “blitzing” of Broadway.

“There is a British blitz about to get under way on a blighted Broadway season which will set all records tumbling and it is being led, of course, by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

“He has succeeded in teaching the Americans how to improve on what they do best—the musical,” it said. ‘ Before Lloyd Webber’s "Cats,” less than six London musicals succeeded in New York. In the last decade alone Lloyd Webber had achieved almost that many hits again—with “Cats,” "Evita,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Joseph,” and “Song and Dance.”

“Starlight Express,” his rock musical on roller skates, had opened in New York with SUS 6 million ($ll.l million) clocked up in advance takings. “Phantom of the Opera”—in London the production is almost entirely funded by New Zealanders—also premieres there in November. Other West End managements have joined the surge to Broadway. Set to join Lloyd Webber’s successes is “Les Miserables,” a musical produced by Cameron Mackintosh and based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel of the French revolution. The show has already been taking SUS4OO,OOO ($740,000) a week in its out-of-town run in Washington. By the time it opens in Broadway it will be worth £ll million ($30.8 million) to the box office.

The choreographer for both “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera,” Gillian Lynne, describes it as “an explosion” and a “renaissance of the musical.”

“It is all quite a miracle to us,” she said. “It is simply to do with the

right sort of people meeting at the right time and at the right stage of their of development "I truly believe that we just hit a winning streak ... our team meeting and sparking has just set off everybody else,” Lynne said. Others have more practical explanations. Shows are cheaper to produce in London than on Broadway. Richard Eyre, the recently appointed director of the National Theatre and the producer of London’s newest musical, “High Society,” said "High Society” cost £1.25 million ($3.52 million) to produce—and by musical standards it was “rather cheap.” “Cats,” which now produces a clear profit of £30,000 ($84,000) a week for its investors and cost £90,000 ($1,372,000) to stage in England, cost SUSS million ($9.25 million) to stage in America. "Andrew LLoyd Webber has created a sort of demand for musical’s,” Eyre said. “He has created a currency for more musicals to hap-

pen.” But with higher and higher production costs, producers rely more on investors—or “angels" — for finance. To limit the financial risk they have to pre-sell shows on disc and make them acceptable to tourist audiences who may not have English as a first language. Almost all West End shows can, consequently, be categorised as either a "golden oldie” or a “new spectaular.” “The Times” newspaper recently called it a “levelling off of storylines.” “At precisely the moment when good classical directors are coming into musicals, scripts have reached an all-time low,” the newspaper said. Eyre admitted the revivals of Broadway classics, like Cole Porter’s “High Society,” were “gold mines” for producers. Inventive theatre, he said, only really thrived in periods of economic growth and expansion. ‘“High Society’ is about people, it’s about society ... I mean, is ‘As You Like It’ serious theatre? It’s a great romantic com-

edy. What I want is just to develop an appetite for the theatre.”

According to the survey carried out by the Society for West End Theatres, the appetite is developing. First-time theatre goers in London have increased to represent 31 per cent of all ticket sales. The West End also has a new,' broader-based audience: ticket sales to overseas visitors have increased by 68 per cent since 1982 and there are 15 per cent more Londoners visiting the theatre than five years ago.

Theatre-goers " contributed more than £lO3 million ($293.55 million) to London’s economy last year—by buying things like sweets and parking spaces and taking taxis. According to Gillian Lynne there is nothing really “new” in the “new musical” formula.

“They haven’t discovered a new form of writing,” she said. “It has always been there . .they have just made it commercial.

“It is simple really: We had it, we lost it, and now we have it again.”