Fans of musical theatre have completely lost their ‘shit’ after being exposed to sounds from the 20th century and the notion of ethnic diversity. Many audience members are reported to have been astonished by the concept of rhythm or that a musical does not have to involve cats; said one: ‘It’s was like Dr Seuss but with drums!’
Cleaning up at the Olivier Awards, ‘Hamilton’ won the award for the ‘Best Musical thankfully not involving Andrew Lloyd Webber’, ‘Best revival of a sound from the 1980s’ and ‘Best civics lecture on an obscure piece of American History you really didn’t care about’.
The show itself is based on the last successful US military campaign – back in the 1700s. Explained one of the backstage team: ‘Musical theatre audiences wanted something edgy, something contemporary – so naturally we went for the 18th century. Anything later, would have been seen as too much, too avant garde; a bit like John Barnes on ‘World in Motion’.
So the question is, is musical theatre is now ready for a fusion of ‘Les Mis’ and N.W.A.? Probably not. Yet one producer is confident that Rap can work in the West End: ‘I’m hoping to push a few musical boundaries, by getting ‘PJ and Duncan’ to reprise Terry Wogan’s ‘Floral Dance’.
