Modern Musicals: The case for Something New

Modern Musicals

The Case For Something New

James McGarry

(aka The Secretary)

Not long ago, a friend of mine told me how hard it is to perform new songs with his rock band. Covers of all the hits play to sell out audiences, but a night featuring new songs seems to leave a fairly sparse pub or bar.

It’s funny because in many ways, musical theatre is the same. Time and again, audiences only seem to want the classic song and dance routine, with well known hits, and a happy ending. From The Sound of Music, to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, these musicals seem destined to dominate the market, both here in the West Midlands, and in the West End of London. Even supposedly new shows like Dirty Dancing and Mamma Mia are based on classic films or classic hits.

Now maybe I’m biased here, but the wonderful genre of musical theatre is not just entertainment, but an art form. It has covered every subject and topic imaginable; from the story of Jesus (Jesus Christ Superstar), to the British mineworkers strike (Billy Elliot); from a social commentary issues of race and class (Ragtime), to the issues of modern relationships (Company). The list goes on, but suffice to say, that musical theatre has explored virtually every type of drama: after all, many plays have been adapted into musicals. The potential of the musical is limitless, and we should be willing to take it in new directions with new developments.

Yet far too often, people seem afraid to put on modern musicals. Time and again, if you look at the fixtures list for amateur shows in the region, the same classic 10-15 well known musicals are well in the lead. Of course, budget constraints’ have to be considered. It costs a lot of money to put on a show, and I can understand producers’ desire to see that money is returned through ‘bums on seats’ shows, that are proven to get a big audience.

But we need to remember, that like any art form, musical theatre must not be defined by ticket sales alone. At the festivals I have volunteered at so far, the companies involved have all put on very avante garde shows that are unlike anything on the conventional stage.

With this in mind, most people would point me in the direction of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which is certainly the epicentre of new developments. New musicals and shows can be tried and tested before a festival audience, and the money spinners let loose on the mainstream theatre goers at the National and/or the West End (remember Jerry Springer the Opera?) But I still say that the UK as a whole needs to be more open minded to new kinds of shows. How receptive might a mainstream audience be to something new?

The most obvious issue here is the entertainment factor: the average person on the street goes to the theatre to be entertained, not so much informed or challenged. I know this from many years of performance, and from working behind the scenes. It is true that audiences don’t always take to a new idea. Musicals with dark, adult themes can certainly discourage people. A performance of Jeckyll and Hyde I went to see was attended by only a select crowd of locals, despite the talent and energy of its performers. Also, serious dramatists, students, and collectors of art may wish for something deeper, but that doesn’t appeal to the masses. Or does it?

I have to wonder, because the most iconic musicals of all time include some of the most thought provoking. West Side Story, and Showboat, for example, deal with many complex issues of race, and rivalry, that are far beyond Broadway’s classic formula of frivolous entertainment. Likewise, some of the most famous musicals actually broke the mould at the time they came out. Guys and Dolls defied convention, by beginning with the instrumental Runyonland, whose movement sequence was a departure from the traditional opening chorus number. Oklahoma also traded a chorus opening in favour of a three handed first scene; and used dance to tell the story during Laurie’s dream sequence.

These classics were the modern musicals of their day, and the development of new ideas must continue if we are to have classics for the future. It can be done. Consider the groundbreaking success of Wicked. Not only has this musical taken the West End and Broadway by storm, but it has inspired a whole new generation of performers. I remember the songbooks for Wicked and Avenue Q lining the shelves of my music teacher’s room. Young students couldn’t get enough of this new musical.

Yet I worry that too many producers, companies and societies (both paid and unpaid) are playing it safe. The next Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Stephen Sondheim, and Steven Schwartz need to step forward. We need more groundbreaking, cutting edge modern musicals, that will take the industry in new directions. And above all, we should not be afraid to try new ideas. Production of any musical always involves taking a risk. And a brilliantly original idea; that could make a future classic, is a risk worth the taking.

Et Tu Caesar?

What a birthday it was! When for a present, I was taken to see a production of Julius Caesar at the newly refurbished RSC, it took my expectations to a new level. The powerful play translates perfectly into a conflict set in modern Africa: no doubt inspired by Nelson Mandela's quotations from its most poignant passages. 

The political repercussions of a country in turmoil from the death of a dictator are all the more relevant today, with the deaths of Muammar al-Gaddaffi, Saddam Hussein; and even Osama Bin Laden, fresh in our minds. When Caesar’s statue falls, the cross reference to the iconic felling of Saddam’s statue couldn’t be clearer. Considering the many revolutions in countries throughout the world in the past few years, Shakespeare’s themes of national pride, identity, have lost none of their significance.

Yet it isn’t just the staging and production that made the play for me. The energy and passion of the performances made the characters as raw and timeless as they ever were. I hate to name names, but Paterson Joseph made an excellent Brutus.  He pretty much stole show for me.

Above all, it was great to have seen the play at last. World class performances were given by all. And Brutus was indeed an honourable man.

A Call To Arms

A Call to Arms

I'd like to bring you up to date with future plans for this blog, as well as the challenges and solutions in the months ahead.

There are indeed many challenges to be faced. I look around and see a lot of broken morale at the moment. People are worried about the future and with good reason. No matter how tough or self-sufficient we fancy ourselves to be, our future depends on the opportunities others give to us. At some point, we will need a break to make it, and people around me are wondering if that break will ever come. They are in good company!

Lack of opportunity is an old story. I've heard it before as I'm sure you have in the 1980's, the 1990's. Even in the 00's, it was a hard fight to secure a place at a good company on graduation. That may be how life goes, but too many of the people I know are unhappy precisely because they missed a vital opportunity sometime in the past, or because they never felt they did anything with their life. We are all in danger of making this mistake.

The problem is that we are all focused on the wrong thing. Technology is the focus of our development: how sophisticated iphones can be, how fast we can make our broadband, how many features or apps can we enable on Facebook? And so on. It is easy to think that because of Facebook, Twitter and other social media, we are all interconnected, but people thought that with the invention of the telephone. We are forgetting that technology is only as good as the people who are using it.

If used to assist a well connected group of individuals, technology forms the icing on the cake. But as on stage, something has to be there in the fist place for the microphones, the costumes, the lighting and the make up to modify. We should remember, that despite all the progress of our technology, there is still unemployment, unequal development, and great social tensions to cure.

The challenge I believe lies not in connecting people: as this has already been made possible by our social media. No, the challenge will be to rebuild members and Alumni's awareness that they can make a difference. So many know more about performance and production than I have learned in a lifetime, and yet so many I speak to are doubtful that they have anything of value to offer.

This isn't modesty, but a fallout of the recession. Funding has been slashed, jobs destroyed, and industry crippled. In a world that's falling apart, it seems harder and harder to believe you can change anything. People must be able to rebuild their self-esteem first and it is my hope, that by being taken seriously, they can at last gain recognition for their achievements: something that is lost all too easily in the turbulent world of the workplace.

At this very moment, someone is filling out job application forms by the dozen, hoping they'll get a yes. Someone else is at a function, smiling through gritted teeth and shaking hands, hoping to make that vital networking connection. And finally, a third person is sitting at home, retired, or perhaps less active than most, with a world of knowledge in their head.

While I don't claim to have all the answers, one solution seems to be: invite all these people round the same table and let's discuss the issues. Countless fellow bloggers have done the same in other industries, so for our part, let us unlock the knowledge of all parties involved, and tap into 25 years of experience. This may not create jobs outright, but will lead to new ways of thinking, which in turn, will mean new developments. Information is a very effective tool, not to be underestimated. My former employer, Shop Direct Home Shopping Ltd., have studied and used vast amounts of it, through customers' opinions and feedback from media from blogs and networks like this, to create billions of dollars in revenue.

If all 600 or so GMTGers, past and present, came together now to discuss and debate the issues, the results would be amazing. This isn't something that can happen sometime in the near future. It is happening, even as I write. The ground swell for change is indicated by the massive growth in GMTG Birmingham's Facebook networks; in the groundbreaking community projects they are involved in, and the careers that Alumni have made for themselves. The blog is for the discussion stage of the process. Eventually, some kind of formal apprenticeship programme will come into being. The society is moving in this direction even now. At the very least, if members and Alumni were to network at a professional level, this will make people's lives easier and allow a few the chance to live their dream.

Once again, I remind members and Alumni reading this, that this is no chat room. The blog is, in effect, like an online magazine of sorts, and should be treated as such. In time, it will need a dedicted team of Alumni and currrent members to run it. The posts on this blog are scrutinised by a global audience of fellow academics, and businesspeople, looking for potential ideas and investments. You can and will be taken seriously here. Make your mark and the world will see it.

Work for the business sector has shown me that you need to be decisive and have a long term plan (or 'strategy' as it is often called), and I have therefore a plan of sorts to put into action in the coming months. But, it is equally important for us to think, as well as do. We need to reflect on ideas and consider different ways of thinking. Academics I've known have spent a long time debating the issues in many topics. Business professionals often undertake development projects to the same end. Whatever their methods, I invite both Alumni and current members to contribute to this process. 

In the coming months, I will build and expand upon the Alumni contingent of the blog, in readiness for the University's new semester. When this arrives, I will then extend invites to current members, and together, we should reach a consensus on the rules of due process for the network. It will take time for them to realise how this blog differs from other social media, but let's remember who the members and Alumni of this society are. They are all highly competent, self-motivated individuals, who are on the look out for networking opportunities like this one. To quote a principle of my former employer, Worcestershire County Council, 'the people are the best assets.' They know what they're doing and it is their experience and skill that will make this network something far more.  A great many are involved in projects of their own, and as a resource, this blog will serve them well.

There are certain key moments in life where we have the chance to make a difference.

This is one of them.

Let us make this moment count, for one and for all.

James Mcgarry,

(aka 'The Secretary')

Founder and Alumnus

Staging - An Amphitheatre in Action

Staging is an integral part of any show, and a very good example is Wings of Desire. Based on the film of the same name (which also inspired City of Angels, the Nicholas Cage movie), it tells the story of how an angel falls to earth. What impressed me about this show, was not only the great performances, and superb technical effects, but most importantly: the use of the surrounding facades to tell the story. Angels float from the roofs of real buildings, and the sheer scale of the event (through use of both the Town Hall and Council Building) makes Victoria Square into a kind of Greek amphitheatre. The fact that dancers and actors invovled all make use of the facades, (thanks to a clever system of pulleys of course)! this makes the event far more dramatic than an onstage perfromance would have been. (Although to be fair, there were some pretty spectacular moves onstage as well.) As the grand finale of  International Dance Festival 2012, it was the dramatic and authentic staging that made the show.

On Pit Musicians and Amateur Theatre

OK, so as The Secretary was kind enough to invite me to post on this blog, I thought it'd be only fair to contribute something.

Now I've not done a great deal of am-dram in the past. There was one production of 'The Hired Man' with Leicester Youth Arts in Edinburgh back in 1999 (my first musical and one of the greatest experiences of my life so far; having just turned 18 and being let loose in the 'Burgh during Festival time). The rest have been GMTG productions, a GMTG spin-off (Tristan Baker Productions' 'Little Shop', Northampton, 2000) and another GMTG spin-off (Through the Window's 'Assassins', Edinburgh 2008). And then there were the three Birmingham Uni Summer Festival Operas (only one of which, 'The Rake's Progress' involved my participation on the night, as a waiter in the brothel scene (dropped trousers and all) and as stage manager/repetiteur/assistant MD).

In none of the above did anyone actually get paid. Fair enough; why would you pay a bunch of school kids taking advantage of a slightly creaky but admirable youth theatre group or, subsidise the frankly terrifying alcohol/nicotine/cocaine (it happened) habits of Birmingham Uni students?

This is where things get a little cloudy for me (nothing to do with the above paragraph I might add). I have no experience of your stereotypical, G&S butchering am-dram-op societies (save for a single performance of 'Madama Butterfly' by a Midlands-based society in which the titular 'teenage' heroin towered over her suiter, was of 'advanced' age and wore some kind of over-sized hat box on her head, a production saved by the ardent singing and acting of my then boss at the Birmingham School of Acting. But then I would say that). As far as I'm aware, no-one in that production got paid either. How could you afford a Puccini-sized orchestra if you are an amateur company?

Do any 'traditional' am-dram-op societies pay their musicians?

I ask this firstly because I really have no idea. But more importantly I have had the privilege to work with a Birmingham based 'amateur' theatre group, named after the theatre in which they are housed, for four years and a total of eleven productions from Sondheim to 'Acorn Antiques' via 'Boogie Nights', 'The Full Monty' and, erm, 'Dad's Army' (an on-stage appearance in which I, thankfully, did not have to drop my trousers and simulate a threesome with two prostitutes). No member of the company gets paid. Not the creative team, or the committe, or the box office staff, the technical crew, the cast. As part of their committment to the company, each member is expected to do occaisonal shifts on the bar. And they have to pay a membership fee.

The band however is paid.

Is this fair? I can see the logic; with only a total of four rehearsals (band call with the cast, band tech with the cast in the auditorium, two dress rehearsals) it is surely wise to 'buy-in' crack players who could sight read their way out of an MC Escher creation and still accompany the cast with great sensitivity and flexibility. And these types of musicians are busy; they teach, they gig. It is their career. Everyone else is indulging their hobby; those who want to use the experience to further career are generally students in limbo between generalised university/college courses and postgraduate study elsewhere. And they rehearse for months at a time, several times a week. Try finding musicians of the calibre necessary who would be willing to devote all that time for free. When I MD'd 'Guys and Dolls' for GMTG back in 2002, I had a whopping 56 hours of rehearsal with my band. But those guys were not being paid. The results spoke for themselves but I think it highly unlikely that any professional producing theatre would be able to run to actually paying 26 musicians a decent fee for 56 hours (before dress/tech/performances), let alone an amateur one.

So four rehearsals for a properly trained, 'professional' band of eight working for £35 per call seems like quite a good deal to me. And I have been known to 'help' behind the bar. Usually on last-night parties.

So, should band members be paid by amateur companies? Is it really fair that those who put in the months of hard work that make a show have to pay for the privilege whilst their 'in-one-day-out-the-next' band members manage to earn just enough to cover a week's drinking,smoking and curryage?

I know what I think but, then again, I'm slightly biased.

Owen

Blog Admin Team

Just to announce that as the first respondants to my invitations, the current Authors of this blog are hereby promoted to Admins. They will have authority to post what they want as before, but also, will be able run the blog itself, and make the necessary changes. All are highly qualified and connected, and their expertise will help this network in many ways.

Welcome Visitors!

All GMTGers reading this now: if you want to join this blog, all I need from you is a contact email address to send the info to. You can find me on Facebook to send it, if you'd like.

This blog has had views from around the world. If you want to be listened to and taken seriously, you will be here.

If you know any fellow GMTGers and/or Alumni who'd like to join, just let me know. They should have easy access, if they have a Youtube or Google+ account already. Spread the word!

James Megarry

Blog Administrator