Going to the theatre most nights, as I do, is to see a constantly changing canvas of achievement (and sometimes not), as actors, directors and writers whose work you already know grows and changes. You feel invested in them already. But there’s nothing quite like the joy of new discovery, either, and the prospects it promises for the future as we now have someone else to follow.
No wonder that the most intruiging categories in both the annual Evening Standard and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards are the two each boast for most promising playwrights and newcomers (other than a playwright) respectively. The Standard have just announced their shortlist of nominations for this year’s awards, and found room for Lenny Henry on their non-playwright list, on the basis that his current Othello marks his Shakespearean acting debut.
But usually they are less well known that that, and its wonderful to see how much further many of those who have appeared on the Critics’ Circle winners lists over the year have gone onto significant stardom: from Sam Mendes and Julia Ormond (joint winners of the award for most promising newcomer in the awards’ inaugural year in 1989) to Rufus Sewell, Rachel Weisz, Eve Best, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Andrew Garfield (currently to be seen in the new Terry Gilliam film The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus), the critics have regularly spotted huge talents early on. Ditto, on the playwrighting front, the years have seen the likes of Kevin Elyot, Jez Butterworth, Martin McDonagh, Conor McPherson, Charlotte Jones, Gregory Burke, Lucy Prebble, Laura Wade and Polly Stenham variously lauded, while last year’s Critics’ Circle winner Alexi Kaye Campbell is now on the Standard’s shortlist for this year.
But by the time we’ve seen the work of any of these, they’ve gone through a professional production process: we inevitably see a “finished” product. And that’s as it should be: they’re not inviting judgment sooner, so critics are not typically privy to what goes on in a rehearsal room, let alone an audition (though the slew of reality TV casting shows have allowed the world a glimpse behind those particular curtains).
However, it is sometimes instructive to see talent and work at an earlier stage of the game, to see how it emerges and potential spotted. Last night I duly attended the first public outing of a new musical Through the Door, being presented under the auspices of Perfect Pitch Musicals, which has helped develop the show over the last two years. It was originally submitted as merely an idea, with a single song sample attached; and was subsequently workshoped in partnerships with Hazlitt Arts Centre (one of eleven partners, ranging from drama schools to Leicester’s Curve and Northampton’s Royal and Derngate, that have committed to developing a network, now ACE funded, in which to showcase new shows) and Jerwood Space. Then, last year, an abbreviated version was featured in Perfect Pitch’s annual West End showcase at Trafalgar Studios 2; before last night’s first showing of the complete work in the main house.
Of course, that timeline proves that musicals take time; but it also shows that the support that can be given to them as they do so can pay off. But it also takes money, and that’s what Perfect Pitch can now also offer some of. It was interesting that last night’s presentation was also being supported by producer/benefactor Hilary A Williams, who also nurtured its composer Laurence Mark Wythe’s previous show, Tomorrow Morning, to a London production at Hampstead’s New End Theatre in 2006 and then last year to a production in Chicago, where it recently won the 2009 Jeff Award for Best Musical (midsize).
Awards like that are nice to have; but they also offer a massive psychological boost. As Hilary commented in a recent press release, “The warmth and affection which the Jeff Committee showed to Tomorrow Morning and the great reviews it received from the critics encourages me to continue championing new writing. I look forward to seeing Tomorrow Morning playing on Broadway tomorrow….”.
That hope may still be a little premature; but Whyte and his supporters are definitely onto something here with his latest show. And it’s a particular pleasure that the work is being given the space and resources to breathe and be shown to its full advantage, with a full orchestra of 9, plus a choir of 12 voices, in support of the cast of seven.
Just the Sunday before, another producing entity, Speckulation Entertainment, had put their own money where their heart was and brought the work of another bright young composer, Michael Bruce, to the West End for a one-night showcase. As I wrote here, “I suspect that his work won’t be remaining a secret for too long now.”
Seeds, in other words, are being planted at last on what used to the barren soil of new British musicals, and even if it may be too optimistic to expect a forest growing soon, we may at least have a tree-lined avenue on the way, and perhaps it could even be Shaftesbury Avenue.
I also had an inspiring afternoon on Friday, when I attended one of the Theatre Royal, Haymarket’s Masterclass series in which leading theatre professionals offer free talks and workshops to anyone aged 17-30. Obviously I fall out of that age group myself, but I’m pleased that went along to watch Philip Quast offering an amazing session on singing for musicals with six masterclass members, since you’re never too old to learn new things!
This was not, of course, an audition but a work session simply being conducted in public view, so I’m not going to comment on the individual talents on display. But its one of the most exciting, and humbling, of things to watch young talent being nurtured and blossoming before your very eyes; and one of the most inpiring of things, too, to see the generosity and warmth of someone like Quast being offered to them, as he passes the wit and wisdom of some of his own experiences in approaching a song that they (and some of us) think they knew so well. I heard a song like “Giants in the Sky” from Sondheim’s Into the Woods in a completely new way.
I was also very fortunate to be at the Philip Quast Masterclass at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 6th November. I definitely do not fall into the 17-30 age group – way beyond that time in my life! Like Mark, I was there as part of the audience and what a wonderful place to be. Philip’s knowledge and understanding of his profession alongside his skills as a performer and his innate gift of communicating was a joy to behold. His love, enthusiasm and passion for his art illuminated the stage and were totally infectious.
Philip’s Masterclass made me realise how little I know about this wonderful world that is theatre. As Mark says he made you look at songs you thought you knew in a completely different way. It was a very humbling experience but at the same time also uplifting and thrilling. Philip’s passion for his art has made me, a run of the mill theatre goer, eager learn more, so I am sure the students he worked with will be inspired to keep on learning and to strive to be the very best they can in their chosen career.