I’m in New York right now, and am struck more than ever by something that’s perfectly obvious, yet never really analysed: how this town is galvanised by musical theatre, and particularly new musical theatre, in a way that London simply cannot compete on. A comparison of Broadway against the West End only provides part of the picture, but it’s a striking one nonetheless: the West End listings currently include 19 musicals playing there, 14 of which were new when they first opened, plus 3 Broadway imports and 2 revivals; while Broadway has 25 musicals either playing or about to open, 17 of which are either new now or were when they first opened, plus 4 imports from the West End, and 4 revivals (1 of which, Sweeney Todd, also originated in London, or rather Newbury).
But its beyond Broadway that the comparison is even more extraordinary: while musicals are rarely sighted outside of the West End, beyond the Menier, Landor or King’s Head, there’s a huge infrastructure, formal and informal, producing musicals off-Broadway either in their own right or with an eye to the main stem (as Broadway is referred to). The “institutional” or “not-for-profit” theatres as they’re called here (ie producing houses), like Lincoln Center Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage, Playwrights’ Horizons, the Vineyard and more, regularly include musicals in their programmes, and have active musical developmental programmes who are regularly working on new shows. Then there’s a lot of ‘commercial’ product that’s happening off-Broadway as well: listings here currently include some 15 shows receiving open-ended runs there.
And one of the signs of the robustness of musical theatre in this town is the constant round of development, showcases and readings that are happening behind the scenes. Yesterday and today the National Alliance for Musical Theatre — a countrywide organisation dedicated exclusively to promoting musical theatre amongst its 130 members that include not-for-profit theatres, commercial producers and universities — is holding its 17th annual Festival of New Musicals in town, in which extracts from eight new musicals are being showcased in front of members to try to entice them to take them further.
But not all of the developmental work on new musicals is closed to public view, either: running simultaneously now, to October 2, is the second New York Musical Theatre Festival that is showcasing some 34 new musicals. This week, one of last year’s successes, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, opens for a proper off-Broadway run, while Slut — a success from another festival, the New York International Fringe Festival — is also currently in preview for an off-Broadway run.
Both are testament to the fact that there’s an active process for work to find a life through here, completely lacking in London where outside of Lloyd Webber, few composers have a chance of ever having their work heard, let alone seen.
