Please join me in welcoming 4dancers new Intern and Contributor Jessica Wilson to the site. Today she’s sharing some thoughts about what brings success in musical productions, based on her experiences in London…and she’ll be joining us from time-to-time with posts here on 4dancers…

by Jessica Wilson

London’s West End is currently in a state of flux. Musical productions continue to close, making way for others to take their place, for sometime only weeks at a time. At first, this local circumstance appears to be one alone; however, it may be that this occurrence extends further outside of London, nationally, and perhaps even internationally.

Focusing on London primarily, it is vital to draw attention to the fact that the shows closing are generally those which are not based on an existing concept such as a book or film, whereas those that survive are based on an existing commercial success.

In September of this year, Alistair Smith in The Guardian online wrote of “home-grown” musicals such as Betty Blue Eyes, featuring a pig that is being illegally reared to ensure the local dignitaries can celebrate the Royal Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. As one of the shows to be closing imminently, Smith conversely argues that this is not the beginning of the decline of the British musical, citing many alternative successes as Ghost, Billy Elliot, and Matilda. However, Smith does not identify that all of his examples are based on a previous success – be it a Hollywood film, the story of a British mining town or a popular children’s book – despite the productions’ origins. There are musical productions waiting left, right and centre ready to fill previous show’s shoes and they are less and frequently original conceptions for stage. [Read more…]