Best British Musical of the last decade

[anita]

School of Rock & Jamie. Just booked for Benjamin - never seen film - Will it matter?

[BVM]

Oct 5, 2024 4:16:22 GMT andypandy said:

The answer guys… is Six.

It’s made more money than all the shows you mention all PUT together! it’s been the biggest smash hit show of the past decade.

It’s currently on Broadway and 8 other productions around the world (or more) It was created in the UK by two British new composers.

Yes it’s a concert concept musical (as Cats was a concept musical or Working a themed musical) but nevertheless it’s still a West End musical.

We can discuss Sky’s Edge, Bake Off, 42 Balloons or Flowers For Mrs Harris (I loved them all) or the fact that there are sadly so few new shows. But the answer to this thread for size, success, worldwide fame and box office revenue

IS SIX!!!!

I mean. Not sure you can really compare Cats and Six. Former a sung through musical with repeating themes and motifs and linking of musical sections with music. A narrative woven through (I’d argue - appreciate not everyone sees it). Almost entirely live with 8 - 22 piece orchestra depending on production. 2.5 hours.

Six is 8 pop songs plus dialogue, majority music pre recorded with a token 3 musicians on stage.

I’d agree with you on success, fame and box office revenue though. But that doesn’t make it “best!”

Truly a fringe piece that got lucky IMHO. (Didn’t help I had mental fangirls next to me both times I went. Had I seen it in an empty theatre might have enjoyed it more. A few of the songs are catchy).

Feel a bit for the writers - they’ve yet to prove they’re not a one hit wonder really….

But yeah - I sure take your points on it’s success. And my nieces are OBSESSED with it. So yeah. No doubting it has an audience!

[rayc]

For me I guess Standing at The Sky's Edge is stand out top of the list. Followed by Bad Cinderella, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and then Tammy Faye. And I know it's a minority view, but what people see in Six is a mystery to me! Sorry ,Six fans!

[theatreliker]

Now does Groundhog Day count as British because that's won it hands down if so.

[Being Alive]

Something making the most money does not make it the best 😂 with that logic The Lion King is the greatest musical ever made in the history of the world.

[BVM]

Oct 5, 2024 10:05:02 GMT theatreliker said:

Now does Groundhog Day count as British because that's won it hands down if so.

I'd say yes overall. Writers not British of course but it's a British production and largely British production team.

Like the 1985 onwards version of Les Mis. The writers are French but I'd call the version that made it a worldwide phenomenon British! Actually now I think about would I. I think so. Well. French/British. Like Concorde. Miss Saigon I think I'd also call a British musical.

[Steve]

Oct 5, 2024 9:35:58 GMT anita said:

Just booked for Benjamin - never seen film - Will it matter?

No. Both the film and the show are based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's original short story and are nothing like each other, except they are both about a guy living his life backwards, from old age to birth. 

This is what I said in 2019, when the matter was fresher in my mind lol:-

"Forget the film. That film was a very free adaptation of the Fitzgerald, integrating original material relating to race, ballet dancing and some very creepy scenes of Cate Blanchett cuddling her former lover who has become a baby.

This adaptation is equally free, sets the story in Cornwall, avoids the creepiness, excises the unpleasantness of the Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald's Benjamin Button was a cad), and focuses squarely on the best thing about the story: that this guy knows when he's going to die and feels life acutely."

[highonahill]

Oct 5, 2024 9:35:58 GMT anita said:

School of Rock & Jamie. Just booked for Benjamin - never seen film - Will it matter?

No! I'd seen the film, and I enjoyed that, but the musical is its own piece, with the common ground being inspired by the original short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born old and ages backwards.

This is just one of the articles out there from the creatives about the early writing process which is a fascinating read www.jethrocomptonltd.co.uk/post/darren-clark-the-curious-case-of-writing-a-new-british-musical

Enjoy... Can't wait to read what you think of it!

[highonahill]

Oct 5, 2024 10:03:43 GMT rayc said:

For me I guess Standing at The Sky's Edge is stand out top of the list. Followed by Bad Cinderella, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and then Tammy Faye. And I know it's a minority view, but what people see in Six is a mystery to me! Sorry ,Six fans!

Again, Standing at the Sky's Edge is a production I really enjoyed. The music is great, and I have listened to it since and found some of the tracks very powerful. But on that first time of watching the show itself, some of the songs just felt like they didn't need to be there, for me there was no correlation between the story and the song, other than the emotion the music itself it evoked.

[highonahill]

Oct 5, 2024 8:45:16 GMT viserys said:

I'd vote for Six as the best "theatre production in general" in that it was fresh, different and topical.

But not so much as a musical. I realize I find it hard to settle for 1-2 musicals here. Jamie perhaps, which was great when it started and had some good songs with good lyrics (my bugbear), also Eugenius, which deserved a West End production instead of a tiny cheap revival. Broken Wings very much underrated.

Tammy Faye also had great songs, but I still find it hard to care for the subject matter. Similiarly, Standing on the Sky's Edge had brilliant storytelling and great songs, but ultimately those were jukebox songs not specifically written for the show and the storylines were a bit too clichéd for me. Groundhog Day I can't bring myself to consider a British musical, if so, it would be up there.

Operation Mincemeat I haven't seen yet. What stands out to me is that British musicals have become smaller and smaller in recent years. Which is fine as such, but not worth it for a foreign musical tourist like me. I now booked Benjamin Button based on all the hype here, so y'all better be right

Everyone I've taken along to see it has believed me, so 🤞🤞!

[Dr Tom]

Everybody's Talking About Jamie was the first one that came to mind when I saw the thread title, and even reading the rest of the comments, my mind hasn’t changed. I like many of the others, but Jamie feels so much more British and of relevance today.

[crabtree]

thirteen years or not, Betty blue Eyes gets my vote.

[darvsplanet]

1. My Son’s A Queer
2. Standing At The Sky’s Edge
3. Operation Mincemeat
4. Benjamin Button
5. Two Strangers
6. The Little Big Things

[fiyerorocher]

Ride definitely deserves a mention, doesn't it? As does Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder.

[Someone in a tree]

I enjoyed Ride. Good show. At least i could hear it, unlike K&S

[theatrenerd]

Based on what I’ve seen, my choices are (if they count);

Groundhog Day (as mentioned before)
The Boy in the Dress
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
and if we’re counting jukebox musicals… What’s New Pussycat?

[ladidah]

Operation Mincemeat or Standing at the Sky's Edge

[fiyerorocher]

Actually I do believe we're all overlooking what is obviously the great new British musical of all: Hex.

[badlydrawnhamster]

1) Groundhog Day
2) Grindr The Opera
3) Operation Mincemeat
4) Police Cops: The Musical
5) Everybody's Talking About Jamie
6) Ride
7) Two Strangers Carry A Cake Across New York.
8) Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist
9) String V Spitta
10) Oubliette

There's a good few that didn't make the top 10 as well, like Babies, The Unconventionals and Jenny Bede: The Musical, all of which were entertaining at the very least.

[Someone in a tree]

Oct 8, 2024 23:00:55 GMT badlydrawnhamster said:

1) Groundhog Day
2) Grindr The Opera
3) Operation Mincemeat
4) Police Cops: The Musical
5) Everybody's Talking About Jamie
6) Ride
7) Two Strangers Carry A Cake Across New York.
8) Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist
9) String V Spitta
10) Oubliette

There's a good few that didn't make the top 10 as well, like Babies, The Unconventionals and Jenny Bede: The Musical, all of which were entertaining at the very least.

I've just googled 9 &10. They sound very interesting, very Inside No 9. Certainly ones I'd be interested in seeing.

[greatauntedna]

1. Six
2. Standing at the Sky’s Edge
3. Groundhog Day
4. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
5. Operation Mincemeat
6. Why Am I So Single?
7. Ride
8. Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
9. Flowers for Mrs Harris
10. Tammy Faye
11. 42 Balloons
12. The Great British Bake Off Musical
13. Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder!
14. Calendar Girls
15. Babies
16. Opening Night

[jaqs]

I was thinking American psycho but that’s over the ten years now.

[ceebee]

Oct 5, 2024 10:15:33 GMT BVM said:

Oct 5, 2024 10:05:02 GMT theatreliker said:

Now does Groundhog Day count as British because that's won it hands down if so.

I'd say yes overall. Writers not British of course but it's a British production and largely British production team.

Like the 1985 onwards version of Les Mis. The writers are French but I'd call the version that made it a worldwide phenomenon British! Actually now I think about would I. I think so. Well. French/British. Like Concorde. Miss Saigon I think I'd also call a British musical.

Definitely - the French album of Les Mis is delightful in its own way, but feels conceptual and unfinished.  The British team created the monster that is Les Mis as we know it today!

[badlydrawnhamster]

Oct 9, 2024 7:12:35 GMT Someone in a tree said:

Oct 8, 2024 23:00:55 GMT badlydrawnhamster said:

1) Groundhog Day
2) Grindr The Opera
3) Operation Mincemeat
4) Police Cops: The Musical
5) Everybody's Talking About Jamie
6) Ride
7) Two Strangers Carry A Cake Across New York.
8) Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist
9) String V Spitta
10) Oubliette

There's a good few that didn't make the top 10 as well, like Babies, The Unconventionals and Jenny Bede: The Musical, all of which were entertaining at the very least.

I've just googled 9 &10. They sound very interesting, very Inside No 9. Certainly ones I'd be interested in seeing.

9's more of a broad comedy that a potential Inside No.9, though Kiell Smith-Bynoe is absolutely fantastic in it, but I'd agree with you with Oubliette, it was a weird old thing but something I'm very fond of.

[fiyero]

Oct 8, 2024 14:09:19 GMT fiyerorocher said:

Actually I do believe we're all overlooking what is obviously the great new British musical of all: Hex.

Not sure if it would make my top list but I really enjoyed Hex! Shame it had so many issues both creatively and logistically (Covid etc...)