Editorial: Spring Term 2 2019-20

I went to see Waitress in the West End the other night and secretly didn't really like it – while the performances were energetic and characterful, and there was one excellent belter of a song, I came away without a single melody to hum and feeling that the plot, which purported to be about female empowerment, was really a relatively hackneyed old trope: man mistreats woman, woman plays away (with another man who is effectively mistreating her, though less two-dimensionally); with support of friends and an injection of cash, woman escapes both men. No real surprises, although at least she didn't end up dead.

The show is, however, doing relatively well – it moves on to another new cast in February and is currently booking until July. Clearly not everyone feels the way I did about it. Musical Theatre is the ubiquitous live art form and the public has a seemingly insatiable appetite for it, though they're quick to vote with their feet when something isn't up to scratch (remember the fiasco over Viva Forever! The Spice Girls musical which, ironically, didn't…). There is also an enormous variety of styles and subjects: personally I'm a die-hard Sondheim fan, but I loved Come from Away, and am also a lover of Ragtime which, with a huge multiracial cast and epic sets would be a serious challenge for an ambitious school production director.

After Waitress, I reminisced with a friend who had been in the original cast of The A-Z of Mrs P, a musical with real heart, a small company and a creative and interesting score, on the subject of the woman who invented the original searchable map-book of London, by walking its streets, drawing them, and writing down their names. You really can write a musical about anything.

This issue of D&T, Alex Thomas shares with us his research and creative process leading to the writing of a musical about rebel jazz-loving teenagers in Nazi Germany (page 14). Musical theatre is perfect for young performers: it gives large-cast opportunities across year groups and allows for inter-departmental collaboration, building a real sense of community within a school. While you and your colleagues may not have the confidence to follow Thomas’ example and write a new work from scratch, there are countless options to fit every specification available for license from such organisations as Music Theatre International (MTI) – turn to page 39 for some ideas – or you can encourage your most talented and promising students to audition for British Youth Music Theatre (some enthusiastic alumni are interviewed on page 18).

In all your endeavours, musical and otherwise, I hope you've had a great start to 2020.

Sarah Lambie

Editor