The Wall Street Journal-20080216-WEEKEND JOURNAL- Entertainment - Culture -- Theater- Let-s Go On With the -TV- Show- How Television Is Transforming London Theater- and Vice Versa
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WEEKEND JOURNAL; Entertainment & Culture -- Theater: Let's Go On With the (TV) Show; How Television Is Transforming London Theater, and Vice Versa
Full Text (1421 words)Critics say it's destroying London's West End. Producers say it's saving it. What no one can deny is that it's packing in unprecedented audiences. Increasingly, television is changing the face of the London theater scene.
Next month, a new reality show called "I'd Do Anything" will begin airing in the United Kingdom on BBC. It's not a "Fear Factor"-style competition for thrill-seekers. It's a talent contest staged by mega- producers Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh for a chance to play the leads in their coming West End revival of "Oliver!"
Some of the West End's most popular musicals now are being cast through TV shows. It's a strategy -- largely engineered by Mr. Lloyd Webber -- that has boosted West End ticket sales to new levels. London box-office revenue hit a record high of nearly $1 billion in 2007, up from about $786 million the previous year. Attendance at musicals shot up 19%. Primarily responsible for the increase were two revivals launched by Mr. Lloyd Webber in the past two years: "The Sound of Music" and "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," both cast on reality-TV shows where audiences at home voted for their favorite contestants to play the lead roles.
"I've found so many talented people this way, people that would never come through the route I normally see," Mr. Lloyd Webber says of the TV casting route. He says he will appear on "American Idol" as a guest "mentor" in April. (Fox, the network that airs "American Idol," declined to comment on the appearance, saying that the show's guest- star lineup was not yet confirmed.)
Two weeks ago, on the popular British soap opera "Hollyoaks," one of the show's central characters, played by actress Summer Strallen, auditioned for Mr. Webber and won the role of Maria in his hit production of "The Sound of Music." What audiences didn't know was that in real life Mr. Lloyd Webber had secretly cast Ms. Strallen as his next Maria six months earlier, and wanted to use the soap to build momentum around the musical, which re-opens with Ms. Strallen Feb. 26.
Overall attendance at London theaters increased by 10% last year, in part because first-time theater-goers who came to see reality television stars in "Joseph" and "The Sound of Music" returned a second -- or third -- time to see another musical, like "Hairspray" or "Wicked," producers say. "The TV shows have been the key to the rise in sales. They've inspired people who thought 'theater is not for me' to buy tickets to see the stars they chose," says the Society of London Theatre President Rosemary Squire.
In the U.S., a similar strategy has had more mixed results. Last year, NBC aired the reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want" to cast the leads in a Broadway revival of "Grease," launched by stage-actor-turned-producer David Ian. The TV show had lackluster viewership -- it consistently ranked third or fourth in its Sunday night time slot, unlike BBC's "Joseph," which was No. 1 in its Saturday night slot in the U.K. The Broadway production has been far more successful than the TV show: Before the musical opened, producers had already sold $14 million in tickets. But sales have slowed since the August opening.
Other U.S. reality-TV stars have had better luck lifting ticket sales for Broadway musicals. The arrival of "American Idol" star Clay Aiken in Broadway's "Spamalot" last month immediately raised that week's ticket sales by $137,902 -- one of the largest week-to-week gains seen this year. When another "American Idol" winner, Fantasia Barrino, made her Broadway debut in "The Color Purple" last April, the show brought in an extra $413,292 her first week.
The success of the U.K. reality shows helped the West End pull ahead of Broadway last year, a time when New York shows were hit hard by a November stagehand strike. In 2007, London ticket sales sharply outpaced New York's: More than a million more tickets were sold for British productions than for those on Broadway. And for the first time in more than five years, the London box office brought in as much revenue as Broadway did.
More than a million people have seen "The Sound of Music" since it opened in November 2006, compared with just 600,000 who have seen "Spamalot" in London, which opened around the same time. "Joseph" was even more successful: More than a million people have seen the production, which opened only last July.
"More than ever before in my lifetime, the British public seems to be embracing live entertainment in musical theater," says Mr. Mackintosh.
Many theater critics have been less enthusiastic about the migration of reality-TV stars to storied West End stages -- known for launching the careers of actors like Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. Michael Billington, one of the Guardian's top theater critics, assailed "Joseph" in a review last summer, arguing that "the synthetic gloss of show business" had ruined the musical.
Other critics have seen the television shows as a welcome change for the staid London scene. Charles Spencer, one of the Telegraph's main theater critics, wrote that he experienced "a sugar rush of pure pleasure" at the "Joseph" premiere.
While producers have enjoyed the upswing in sales on the West End, many say they doubt the boost provided by TV can be sustained for very long. "None of us believe that the sales will stay at this level, because it seems like such a one-off with those reality shows," Ms. Squire says.
The success of reality-cast musicals has taken a toll on the professionally trained actors and actresses who used to dominate the London scene in both straight plays and musicals. "Plays without stars in the West End struggle -- musicals are their own brand, so that helps -- but plays don't have even that," says Terri Paddock, editorial director of Whatsonstage.com, a popular theater Web site in London.
A spate of early closings have plagued plays recently on the West End. "The Lady from Dubuque," the Edward Albee play starring Maggie Smith that opened last March, closed after just three months. Adrian Noble's production of "Kean," a Jean-Paul Sartre play, closed a month earlier than planned this summer.
Mr. Mackintosh says that casting new, inexperienced actors from these televised talent contests has an advantage.
"We are not looking for trained people," he says of the contest to cast "Oliver!" "We are not looking for the most glorious singing voice. Our Nancy has to live in her voice -- she swigs gin, and you've got to hear it in her voice. As for Oliver, we don't want another pretty boy -- we want someone who stands up for himself."
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What to See Now in London
PLAYS
Speed-the-Plow/The Old Vic
Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum star in the David Mamet satire of Hollywood. When Mr. Spacey took over artistic direction of the Old Vic in 2004, some of his early productions were poorly reviewed, but his 2006 staging of "A Moon for the Misbegotten" was a success.
God of Carnage/Gielgud
Opening March 25, the play has received strong early buzz. Starring Ralph Fiennes, it tells the story of two sets of parents who meet up to deal with their badly behaving children.
Othello/Donmar Warehouse
Michael Grandage's "Othello," closing in a week, has sold out nearly every performance. Chiwetel Ejiofor ("American Gangster," "Dirty Pretty Things") stars as Othello; Ewan McGregor plays Iago.
Dealer's Choice/Trafalgar Studios
A West End transfer from a smaller theater, Patrick Marber's story of a casual poker game takes a darker turn when the stakes are raised. Samuel Barnett of "The History Boys" stars.
MUSICALS
Hairspray/Shaftesbury
Since opening last fall, the American musical has become a huge hit in London and has picked up 11 nominations for next month's Olivier Awards, England's answer to the Tonys.
Billy Elliot/Victoria Palace
Based on the successful British film about a young boy who dreams of the ballet, the musical is coming to Broadway in September after three sellout years on the West End. Elton John wrote the music.
Jersey Boys/Prince Edward
The Broadway transplant opens on the West End next month. Some initially questioned whether the story of four blue-collar boys from New Jersey would resonate with British audiences, but the appetite for blockbuster musicals has quieted most naysayers.
The Lord of the Rings/Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Transferred from Toronto, it's one of the costliest productions to hit the West End -- the combined cost of the London and Toronto shows was $25 million.
