As I was saying only yesterday, I was feeling nauseous before I even sat down to watch High School Musical the night before, so I can’t blame the show for my physical condition; but by yesterday the experience of seeing it loomed even larger as symptomatic of a larger virus - outside of my own body - infecting the commercial theatre. That’s the sense of financial imperative and artistic laziness that allows this kind of thing to happen at all.
I see that Lyn Gardner made similar points in her Guardian review, and also compared it to The Lion King and Dirty Dancing at the same time: “Julie Taymor’s stage version of The Lion King took the movie and gloriously reinvented it; High School Musical Live on Stage merely tries to cash in on demand. In effect it is a piece of live merchandising. It’s a product, not a production, and one which has a pile it high and flog it cheap mentality…. Will the deficiencies stop this being a spectacular success? No. Because like Dirty Dancing this show isn’t designed for anyone other than those who already have the movie and have bought the I Love Troy T-shirt from the Disney store. It’s not about art, but about artfully parting you from your cash. “
At least I wasn’t parted from my cash - only my time.
By yesterday morning, I was also parted more fully from my health; I was running such a fever that I even bowed out of a planned trip to Chichester to see Six Characters in Search of an Author and The Music Man and retreated to my bed for the day. (Yes, things must have bad; I’m sure that The Music Man would have put me back on track, but I couldn’t face the late night train back that wouldn’t have got me home before 1am this morning).
But even staying in bed isn’t guaranteed to make you feel better. I was pursued to my sickbed in my thoughts of the state of musical play in London by a silly column by Johann Hari in the Evening Standard that accuses critics of “scowling” with “contempt for coach parties” that enjoy West End musicals.
Quite apart from the fact that he provides no evidence for this supposed critical position - and also manages to misspell Rodgers as Rogers, as he suggests that “Only a philistine would deny that Rogers [sic] and Hammerstein or Stephen Sondheim are among the greatest artists of the 20th century” — could it be that he’s indulging only in “class and regional sneering” of his own? I am all for “pure entertainment”, as he calls it. But is that all the general public are good for, and the only thing they demand from a night out? Surely, as the National so vibrantly demonstrates, they can also be taught to enjoy other things, too? Of course I have to let the readers of the Sunday Express know about the big shows - but I regularly steer them to the Royal Court’s Theatre Upstairs, or even the Finborough, too.
But Hari is happy to let the greater public be characterised by a peculiar kind of contempt of his own: “Stand outside the doors to Grease or Wicked or Dirty Dancing any night of the week, and you will see cascades of buzzing, humming crowds awash with endorphins.” Instead of seeing theatregoers as individuals, they’ve become merely a mass of endorphins.
Couldn't agree more re Johann Hari. What he wrote was on the level of the Sun or News of the World rather than the Standard--twisting the remarks of some critics out of shape and using that as a stick to beat the lot. Silly, prissy Tim Walker may have sneered at musicals, but he is, though, disgracefully, in the Sunday Telegraph slot, a gossip writer by trade. Real critics love real musicals, which is why we loathe phony ones. How can people ever learn what a good, or great, musical is if all they see is junk? And, as the success of the junky ones increases, there is less of a chance of any of us seeing the good ones, because producers will be encouraged by the success of the junk to put on more of the same. They will not want to seek a modest profit with a worthwhile show of limited appeal, much less risk no profit on a show that has no actor or playwright to guarantee an audience. When we see crowds ecstatic at having seen garbage we are angry at the future they represent. There are plenty of places, more convenient and less expensive than the theatre, for people to have mindless, exciting fun--pubs, amusement parks, sports fields, movies, pop concerts, etc. Why is it so terrible for one form of entertainment to be devoted principally (no one would ever say entirely) to people who love beauty and ideas? Hari isn't on the side of "the people": He's on the side of the capitalists who exploit them, producers who see a musical show as merely the means to the end of selling T-shirts and mugs.
Hari likes to represent himself as a man of the people, but his kind of laissez-faire benevolence sounds awfully like condescension. Aah, look at the dear, happy people and their endorphins. Why isn't he bothered that they are getting no more or better satisfaction than they would get from an all-shrieking pop concert or a case of Tennant's? He likes to make himself sound like the people's champion against a lot of smug, old, elitist critics, the lad from the hard background who knows what it's like. He is hardly the only newspaper columnist (a species of critic) to come from a background of poverty and ignorance, however). But I don't see the others proclaiming the virtues of the life from which they were happy to escape. How did Hari get to where he is if not by sampling higher forms of cultural entertainment than High School Musical and finding out he preferred them? Don't others deserve the chance to enrich their lives, or are we supposed to stand by and applaud Gresham's Law in action? --Rhoda Koenig
See, I'd disagree. I think a lot of these 'jukebox musicals' actually serve as a sort of live gig - in that it's a chance to communally share something that they love - which they may not get at home, especially if they can't have High School Musical parties with their friends. Celebrating it in a theatre makes it legitimate and more acceptable. I know plenty of people who have gone to Saturday Night Fever/Dirty Dancing and HSM who loved the atmosphere of a big crowd all singing along to something they love. And I don't see the harm in that - whether critically it's artistically justified or not to just reproduce something live - plenty of musicians do it at gigs and just play through their latest album. At least with HSM you get dancing and smiles too!
It would be interesting to see the figures for the number of non-"coach party" musicals in recent years against original "real" musicals in London (whatever these terms mean...I expect these are wildly open to interpretation and individual tastes, but I'm sure most people have the same gut feel on these!). As regular theatre goer, with no connection to the industry, who enjoys plays and musicals of many forms - including some in the "coach party" category which certainly have their place - it feels that the one form that is in biggest threat in London are these "real" musicals. With the National now (shamefully) neglecting this art form, on the whole we're left with an annual event at the Donmar and occasional gems like Marguerite (well I enjoyed it, maybe due to its rarity value!) or good fringe venues like the Menier. Failures like the excellent Drowsy Chaperone really make me worry for the future.
Given the amount of subsidy given to many organisations for plays, ballet, opera etc, is it time for a "National Musical Theatre" or some such organisation. It could be an excellent catalyst for nurturing UK talent in musicals, push the boundaries of the art form, stage the best new productions from around the world that otherwise would never be seen in the UK, and occasionally revive forgotten gems. Ideally this ought to be being covered by existing South Bank venues, but this clearly isn't the case. A pipe dream I'm sure...but wouldn't it be wonderful?! Especially with subsidised tickets...
mmmm...and get well soon, Mark!
Thanks Mark for a heads up on that article at the ES, I thought it was a really silly post he made, I wouldn't think much of it. That's all he is, a pot stirrer.
Oh, and do feel better soon!