ONE of the biggest collaborative investments in the history of Scottish theatre is being made in a bid to capture the burgeoning market for musicals.
While audience numbers in Scotland have dropped for many productions as a result of the pandemic and cost of living crisis, musicals continue to draw in the crowds – not just in theatres but also in cinemas, with films like Wonka and Mean Girls proving to be big hits.
The problem is that much of the revenue from ticket sales is sucked out of Scotland, according to Dundee Rep artistic director Andrew Panton.
“Musical theatre has always been popular and there has always been an audience for it but at the moment, a lot of musical theatre here comes from outside Scotland to the number one touring venues,” he said. “It attracts top ticket prices but that revenue goes out of Scotland.”
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This is despite Scotland having an “incredible” history of telling stories with music, as well as homegrown hits like Dundee Rep’s Sunshine On Leith, which was turned into a film, and the more recent No Love Songs. Inspired by the experience of co-writer Laura Wilde and her partner Kyle Falconer – best known as lead singer of The View – the musical is about to tour the US after sell-out shows in Scotland.
Now, in order to nurture new talent, a host of Scottish theatres led by Dundee Rep are collaborating with New York’s famous Octopus Theatricals – which is currently staging Hadestown in London’s West End – and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai.
“It’s probably the biggest collaboration of organisations in my memory across Scotland and it is a first for the UK for this kind of residency,” said Panton. “I believe that this is a huge investment in the talent that we need to create the next decade of great musicals.”
Thirteen people have been selected from almost 200 applicants for a residency fortnight at Cove Park near Glasgow, where they will benefit from sessions given by musical luminaries such as Tony Award winners John Doyle, Mara Isaacs and Rashad V Chambers.
“Having the international aspect makes it even more exciting,” said Panton. “We have people like Jeanie O’Hare – the producing dramaturg behind Matilda – and Donna Lynn Hilton – the artistic director of Godspeed Musicals. For our participants to be working with that level of artists is really amazing.”
The residency will see the teams developing their ideas, with projects and themes including a punk rock musical based on the story of Scotland’s most militant suffragettes, a 90s-inspired sci-fi romp set around Scottish UFO hotspot Bonnybridge, and a haunting horror musical that blends dark rock, urban grime, pop and cinematic scores with Hindu mythology.
“We want to be able to create a space where artists can play with the form but critically be nurtured and supported by artists working at the top of the industry,” Panton said.
“I’m very conscious that in the last 10 years, there has been a real rise in the amount of musical theatre being developed in Scotland – we know there is a demand for it but what we have not really done as a sector is invest in the creators of it.
“There’s a lot of commissioning that goes on which is fantastic but what we are not doing is nurturing the writers, composers and lyricists to really allow them to experiment which is really important.”
Partners include Capital Theatres, Citizens Theatre, Macrobert Arts Centre, the National Theatre of Scotland, the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh and the Traverse Theatre. Associate partners include A Play, A Pie and A Pint, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Playwrights’ Studio Scotland and the Tron Theatre.
Mara Isaacs, creative producer and founder of Octopus Theatricals, said: “This residency represents the kind of multi-national, multi-sector collaboration that is essential to the flourishing of our field.
“There’s no telling what inspirational sparks will fly in a room filled with and supported by theatre companies, artists and colleagues representing the future of musical theatre in the UK, the US and India.”
The artistic collaborators include Debbie Hannan, Andy McGregor, Linda McLean, David Paul Jones, Samir Bhamra, Devesh Sodha, Robby Khela, Jonathan O’Neill, Issac Savage, Nikki Lynette, Lili-Anne Brown and Sushma Soma.
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