80s Musicals 582r6w

80s Musicals

Throughout the 1980s musicals saw the influence of ‘pop operas’/’mega musicals’ produced predominantly on Broadway and the West End, however occasionally elsewhere. Up until this point, it was possible for a show to be considered a success after running several hundred performances, but with the mega musicals huge budgets redefining expectations for financial accomplishment a show must run for years before turning over a profit. The score of these musicals typically featured a pop influenced soundtrack, with large casts and very apparent stage effects, for example:  A helicopter landing on stage – Miss Saigon (1989)  The falling chandelier – Phantom of the Opera (1986)  Performing on roller skates – Starlight Express (1984)

Many of the musicals of the 1980s were based on novels/other works of literature, with – arguably – the most important writers, consisting of the French team Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, collaborating to produce the longest-running international musical hit in history, Les Miserables. The team, in association with Richard Maltby Jr. continued to produce such huge hits that are still with us today, including the hugely popular Miss Saigon (1989) inspired by the Puccini opera, ‘Madame Butterfly’.

British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber saw similar success in the West End with musicals such as:  Cats – derived from the poems of T.S. Elliot (1981)  The Phantom of the Opera -derived from the Gaston Leroux novel, "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra" (1986)  Starlight Express – performed on roller skates (1984)  Aspects of Love (1989)

These musicals ran/are still running, for decades in both New York and London, as well as having extraordinary international and touring success.

British Musicals in the 1980s: By the start of the 1980s, Britain itself was in a recession and the West End was facing rising costs of production and falling audiences, so it wouldn’t have seemed like the ideal time for Andrew Lloyd Webber to attempt such a predominantly dance based musical, Britain never having had a successful dance musical before – however the production was pivotal to the direction of musicals and signalled the birth of the mega-musical as it went on to be known. Cats was the starting point of a major change in British musical theatre as it had previously been known, with both Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber both becoming increasingly known on a global stage. Against all odds, the musical went on to be hugely successful, running for 21 years in London, closing in May 2002 after nearly 9000 performances. As well as original, key musicals being produced throughout the decade, many old favourites became hits again after being adapted and updated, such as Noel Gay’s ‘Me and My Girl’ which became a popular show once more, nearly 50 years after its original release in 1937. Whilst Cats/Starlight Express truly introduced dance to musical theatre, Les Miserables (1980) would be the first to bring the Royal Shakespeare Company’s expertise in everything, from high drama ability through to the set design. One of the big reasons that Les Mis remains as popular today as it was all those years ago is because the storyline remains just as relevant and recognisable in society today as it was 150 years ago.