Why Former Film Hits Account for So Many London Musicals

Article Written By: Kathryn Dawson

If one were to look at the theatre listings for the West End, it would be forgivable to mistake it for cinema listings. Successful films from Hollywood have been making it onto the stage, in a transition that is opposite to the more common move from stage to film. Exactly why so many of these London musicals should be former celluloid hits may seem to be a mystery, but there are tangible reasons for it.

The list is quite impressive and includes the full range of genres, from comedy to romance to drama. With some of the most successful examples being Billy Elliot the musical, an adaptation of the 2000 Oscar winning British film, and the 1987 Hollywood hit dirty dancing, London audiences of different generations are obviously very taken by the idea of such a transition.

Of course, it is important to stress that the more orthodox creative sources are not disappearing as a result, with love never dies, for example, the sequel to the hugely successful phantom of the opera already finding its own legs.

To some, the whole exercise might seem a bit cynical, with producers simply changing the medium to make more money, but this is not necessarily fair. After all, just as popular literary works can sometimes prove to be failures on the screen, it is always possible that a transition will fail. The fact that dirty dancing is one of the definitive films of the 1980s, and is almost insanely popular amongst women of a certain generation, means that it is a harder task to please audiences who are fans of the original. Therefore, producers actually face a harder job.

Perhaps easier to please are fans of comedies and children orientated films. For example, legally blonde was a hugely successful 2001 comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, but it is now an Olivier winning musical that emerged from the US in 2007 and reached the west end via Broadway in 2009. It has enjoyed rave reviews, mainly because the spirit of the comedy film is retained, with music and dance added to enhance its entertainment.

Shrek, another 2001 film, has been a major phenomenon in its own right, with children, the chief demographic of the film, making it a success by their willingness to embrace a fantasy animation that depicted a world where every nursery rhyme and fairytale character lived. It was adapted for the stage in 2007, opening first in Seattle. Its success there led to it to Broadway, where it took its audiences, a mixture of children and adults, by storm.

It is now set to achieve something similar on the west end, with that stage production also benefiting from the enthusiasm of young audiences, even if some fans of the original film have grown to become adults. However, parents are happy to bring their own kids to theatres to enjoy the songs, costumes, humour and general fantasy.

Producers are well aware of the desire that parents have to share their joys with their children. Therefore, there is a greater chance of success than perhaps a new drama or romance that appeals only to adults, who are a vastly more discerning theatre goer.

Of course, nothing is for certain in the world of entertainment. Les miserables, for example, was a critical failure when it originally opened in 1985, but it was loved by the public and is now considered one of the greatest musical works of all time. Which, in fact, leads to another factor that west end producers consider.

The sequel has the same strengths and vulnerabilities that an adaptation does, with expectation often high if the original was successful. A perfect example is the phantom of the opera, which is one of the most popular musicals ever to grace the west end. The Andrew Lloyd Webber work has been running since 1986, but Lloyd Webber has now developed the sequel, love never dies, which is based in the US and not Paris.

Whether this sequel runs for the quarter of a century that the original has so far, remains to be seen. But, just as with Billy Elliot and dirty dancing, London is set to see more musical versions of its favourite films.

In fact, with current London musicals also including the lion king, Priscilla queen of the desert, and ghost the musical, it seems there is no genre that cannot attract audiences to theatres.

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson - London musicals such as dirty dancing London, one of the most popular musical in the city.

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