Tuesday 30 September 2014

"I really should see more shows...."


I've never been a big fan of musicals. Growing up I watched the occasional kids' musical movie, but Disney animations aside, I don't list any musicals within my all time favourites. People find it hard to believe that I've never seen The Sound Of Music. (Yes, never) I think I've seen parts of it, but never beginning to end  - apart from the Queen's Speech, my Christmases are not marked by scenes of rolling hills and political messages.

London's West End is world renowned for its stage productions, rivaling that of Broadway across the pond. Many times the conversation comes up about how "we really should see more shows.. tourists come from all over the world to see these, yet we hardly go to any". In my teens I saw Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat purely because a boyband member I liked was playing lead role. Hmm.

When I landed a job working in Covent Garden, at the heart of London's Theatreland, I was surrounded by numerous theatres within a stone's throw of the office door. Within a few minutes walk, more historic theatres, more glitzy lights, more post-dinner pre-theatre excited crowds filled the streets. Yet I can count the number of shows I saw in my five full years there, on one hand. (Yes, terrible, I know)

I saw Mamma Mia! and cringed throughout at its hideous Abba-tastic cheese - that put me off for a long time. Chicago with its scantily clad women and American accents I couldn't decipher didn't convince me either. Though on the flipside, The Lion King was spectacular, Sister Act was fun and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert had me smiling all throughout - though, this was largely down to the Australian theme. Ghost impressed me with its staging, if not much else.

I'd like to think I'm an open-minded person and having enjoyed some of the shows I've seen, I'd like to see more but the ticket prices can be hard to justify - upto £100 per ticket for some, or cheaper seats with often compromised views and the rest. Then comes the problem of convincing someone to go along, which at that price, is not easy. I understand shows are costly to produce and run, but high pricing is making theatre trips exclusive rather than inclusive to the majority - it is unsurprising London theatres are struggling.

This Summer, I spent two days in blazing hot London sunshine on Trafalgar Square, in the audience of a free London event called "West End Live" - a showcase on a giant stage of around 40 West End musicals, including favourites from the past and new upcoming shows. I am surprised at quite how much I enjoyed it and thinking about it now is still making me smile. The atmosphere on the Square was fantastic, the crowd friendly (mostly) and the performances were great. I liked the the way it gave the audience a taster of so many shows that are running, showing the range of themes - from 60s and 70s music, kids' stories with hilarious adult undertones in the lyrics, and more.

I could say the event entirely changed my viewpoint on musicals, but instead it separated the "I really don't think I could see two hours of that show" from the "I really want to see that now", mainly for shows I had an inkling before that I'd like.

London as a city is intimidating and overwhelming in a way that makes "locals" feel bad for not being embedded in its heaving richness of culture and arts. But I'm beginning to realise you should do something because you want to, not because everyone else is doing it. Sounds so simple doesn't it?





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