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Post by Oleanna on Aug 31, 2017 22:36:22 GMT
Have been reading Dom's posts in the Starlight Express thread, and re-reading some of the articles written about Andrew Lloyd Webber this year being the first composer to have 4 shows running on Broadway concurrently since Richard Rodgers.
It got me thinking about the record in the West End (surely also held by Andrew Lloyd Webber?).
Since there is less information out there about historic West End runs (unlike Broadway's IBDB for example), I'm just using my own memory. Would I be correct in saying that in December 1993, you could have seen:
Aspects of Love at the Prince of Wales
Cats at the New London
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium
The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's
Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria
Sunset Boulevard at the Adelphi
Equalling 6 shows running concurrently?
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Post by horton on Aug 31, 2017 22:42:05 GMT
Correct
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Post by Oleanna on Aug 31, 2017 23:04:09 GMT
Thanks Horton, very impressive! Also interesting that many of these were very different types of shows (from family-friendly spectaculars like Joseph and Starlight Express, chamber dramas like Aspects of Love and Sunset Boulevard (underneath that set), and high romance like The Phantom of the Opera) but all managed to fit into the "mega-musicals" trend (a term I personally don't like), and perhaps provided the dying breath of this movement into the 90's (subsequent shows didn't do as well, audience taste for that type of production seemed to diminish, and most shows would never get done on that scale nowadays). P.S Great display picture Horton! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 23:17:17 GMT
Have been reading Dom's posts in the Starlight Express thread, and re-reading some of the articles written about Andrew Lloyd Webber this year being the first composer to have 4 shows running on Broadway concurrently since Richard Rodgers. It got me thinking about the record in the West End (surely also held by Andrew Lloyd Webber?). Since there is less information out there about historic West End runs (unlike Broadway's IBDB for example), I'm just using my own memory. Would I be correct in saying that in December 1993, you could have seen: Aspects of Love at the Prince of Wales Cats at the New London Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria Sunset Boulevard at the Adelphi Equalling 6 shows running concurrently? Ahhhh I could go on about this era forever, I was a teenager and just discovering my passion for MT! So I think Aspects closed before Sunset opened. ALW did have 6 shows at some point then though, the 6th was a Far East version of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Dominion. Not sure if it overlapped with Aspects or Sunset though. Aspects if I had to guess. Was also an incredible era for John Napier! |
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Post by Oleanna on Aug 31, 2017 23:29:51 GMT
Brilliant era for John Napier!
The Aspects of Love I referred to was the limited run of the UK tour which came into the Prince of Wales in December of '93. Didn't know anything about that Jesus Christ Superstar at the Dominion though, have you any more memories of that?
Also, please do go on forever!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 23:33:10 GMT
Thanks Horton, very impressive! Also interesting that many of these were very different types of shows (from family-friendly spectaculars like Joseph and Starlight Express, chamber dramas like Aspects of Love and Sunset Boulevard (underneath that set), and high romance like The Phantom of the Opera) but all managed to fit into the "mega-musicals" trend (a term I personally don't like), and perhaps provided the dying breath of this movement into the 90's (subsequent shows didn't do as well, audience taste for that type of production seemed to diminish, and most shows would never get done on that scale nowadays). P.S Great display picture Horton! I completely agree with you :-) They all fitted the "mega-musical" mould (Les Mis and Miss Saigon the notable other two) but were indeed quite different as you describe. And yeah was both the height then the end of the era, with Sunset Boulevard really being the last one. The next era I guess was the pop catalogue musical, starting with Mamma Mia! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 23:36:04 GMT
Brilliant era for John Napier! The Aspects of Love I referred to was the limited run of the UK tour which came into the Prince of Wales in December of '93. Didn't know anything about that Jesus Christ Superstar at the Dominion though, have you any more memories of that? Also, please do go on forever! Haha, don't tempt me! Oh yeah I totally forgot about that, you're spot on. The Gale Edwards tour came in for a stint at The Prince Of Wales! So JCS is the only one I never saw and have to say don't recall much of it. In fact before the internet, it had completed it's limited run before I knew anything about it! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 23:40:40 GMT
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Post by Oleanna on Aug 31, 2017 23:46:17 GMT
What a great picture, Dom, thank you! So yes, it seems Andrew Lloyd Webber had six shows 2 years before I estimated (although he did then too)! I found this programme for that production of Superstar on eBay: m.ebay.co.uk/itm/JESUS-CHRIST-SUPERSTAR-Souvenir-Prog-JAPANESE-LANGUAGE-KABUKI-STYLE-London-1991-/321665265087It says: This Shiki Theatrical Company Of Tokyo production was part of the Japan Festival and ran from 09/24/91 - 09/28/91. Inside are production photos, headshot photos, bios and a history of the company. The cast includes Yuichiro Yamaguchi, Jun Swaki, Chizu Hosaka, Morimasa Sagawa, Akira Aoki, Goro Matusmiya, Akio Yoshiya, Takao Okamoto, Kiyomichi Shiba, Masayuki Sano, Akihiko Mitsueda and Takanori Shimomura. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Translation by Tokiko Iwatani and Keita Asari. Directed by Keita Asari and choreographed by Takashi Yamada. If the postage wasn't so expensive, I'd buy it! Funny, I consider myself to be a hardcore ALW fan, and I never knew about that production up until now! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 23:49:16 GMT
Likewise a hardcore fan but I still come across things I knew nothing of! Usually abroad, but occasionally at home.
(Call me a nutter but I have a spreadsheet for Starlight Express so I can keep track lol).
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Post by Oleanna on Aug 31, 2017 23:52:54 GMT
Likewise a hardcore fan but I still come across things I knew nothing of! Usually abroad, but occasionally at home. (Call me a nutter but I have a spreadsheet for Starlight Express so I can keep track lol). Not a nutter at all, I find the history of Starlight Express very confusing! Have you ever got round to seeing it in Bochum? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 23:57:03 GMT
Likewise a hardcore fan but I still come across things I knew nothing of! Usually abroad, but occasionally at home. (Call me a nutter but I have a spreadsheet for Starlight Express so I can keep track lol). Not a nutter at all, I find the history of Starlight Express very confusing! Have you ever got round to seeing it in Bochum? I have indeed - I first started going when the 1st UK tour (which went on 3.5 years with two major and one minor cast changes) finished as Bochum then became the only production in the world. Never looked back and have been going once a year plus of minus for the last decade. Really couldn't recommend it highly enough. Is Starlight in a purpose built theatre, exactly as the original team imagined it! |
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Post by Oleanna on Sept 1, 2017 0:16:35 GMT
Not a nutter at all, I find the history of Starlight Express very confusing! Have you ever got round to seeing it in Bochum? I have indeed - I first started going when the 1st UK tour (which went on 3.5 years with two major and one minor cast changes) finished as Bochum then became the only production in the world. Never looked back and have been going once a year plus of minus for the last decade. Really couldn't recommend it highly enough. Is Starlight in a purpose built theatre, exactly as the original team imagined it! Would love to make the trip one day, especially as the 30th anniversary is coming up! Will be happy to make do with The Other Palace in the meantime! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2017 0:32:36 GMT
I have indeed - I first started going when the 1st UK tour (which went on 3.5 years with two major and one minor cast changes) finished as Bochum then became the only production in the world. Never looked back and have been going once a year plus of minus for the last decade. Really couldn't recommend it highly enough. Is Starlight in a purpose built theatre, exactly as the original team imagined it! Would love to make the trip one day, especially as the 30th anniversary is coming up! Will be happy to make do with The Other Palace in the meantime! Ah amazing. I'd be up for a mini Theatre Board interval or pre show quick meet up at The Other Palace of others were interested! |
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Post by viserys on Sept 1, 2017 5:10:34 GMT
Those were happy days for an ALW Fan like me. I actually remember that photo. Oleanna @dom - they mentioned at the "Open Doors Day" in Bochum last week that another performance in English is being planned for next year, so keep an eye out for that? |
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Post by steve10086 on Sept 1, 2017 6:09:20 GMT
The days of the six concurrent ALW shows was my favourite time in the West End. Unimportant detail, but if you bought merchandise from any of the six shows you'd be given a carrier bag that had all six logos on it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2017 8:19:36 GMT
Brilliant era for John Napier! The Aspects of Love I referred to was the limited run of the UK tour which came into the Prince of Wales in December of '93. Didn't know anything about that Jesus Christ Superstar at the Dominion though, have you any more memories of that?Also, please do go on forever! I have! It was a Kabuki style presentation, performed at the Dominion for just one week. 24-28 September 1991 It was magnificent, unlike any other production of it I'd ever seen or have seen since. (The use of stylised choreography in the recent Regents Park version comes closest to it, I reckon.) It had the feel of a Greek Tragedy about it, with a huge chorus who entered running towards us over a wall at the rear of the white(?) stage and who moved around as if one body, an incredidbly tall Jesus and lots of carts being wheeled around to create height. Everyone had white faces. The costumes looked modern with lots of netting used as shawls and I think they were used to trap Jesus later in the show (The Arrest, the ending of Pilate and Christ (  ) etc. They also used lots of very long sticks! The orchestrations were completely original with Eastern instruments adding to the atmosphere. Youtube has some great bits to watch but only compilations or selected scenes. You can definitely get the flavour if it. You can listen to it in its entirety, I think, but the recording is pretty poor and doesn't convey the sheer energy and originality of it. I Googled 'Kabuki Jesus Christ Superstar' and found a few titbits, the first of which is a Los Angeles Times review of the London show which was apparently performed as part of a Japan Festival. In it ALW states: "It's the best production of JCS I've ever seen." (There's a surprise!) I have the poster and the programme. They were great times... |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2017 8:44:32 GMT
Those were happy days for an ALW Fan like me. I actually remember that photo. Oleanna @dom - they mentioned at the "Open Doors Day" in Bochum last week that another performance in English is being planned for next year, so keep an eye out for that? Thanks very much I will do! The last one was an amazing night! I follow the Bochum production on Facebook and Twitter but my German is pretty basic so I get a lot of info that I have to interpret via the slightly iffy Google Translate! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2017 8:48:47 GMT
I Googled 'Kabuki Jesus Christ Superstar' and found a few titbits, the first of which is a Los Angeles Times review of the London show which was apparently performed as part of a Japan Festival. In it ALW states: "It's the best production of JCS I've ever seen." (There's a surprise!) I have the poster and the programme. They were great times... Thanks so much for the info! Really interesting. So funny re ALW isn't it. EVERY production is aways the best he's ever seen (and how he always imagined/intended it). The Ben Forster arena tour also had that accolade. And no doubt the Regent's Park one does now (that at least IMO is justified!) |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Sept 1, 2017 10:12:26 GMT
Is ALW writing anything at the moment ?
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Post by anita on Sept 1, 2017 10:15:52 GMT
Rewriting Starlight Express by the sounds of it.
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Post by Mr Snow on Sept 1, 2017 11:42:33 GMT
Would any of you fancy running a Best Show of ALW poll? I'm not a moderator but when we created the thread below, the hope was that other composers work would be similarly evaluated by the group. It’s hard to come up with a bigger body of work and he seems the most logical next candidate. theatreboard.co.uk/thread/3178/theatreboard-official-top-sondheim-recordingsThe format doesn’t have to be the same so you can tweak it, but a poll should be fun. You will need the help of a moderator to set it up. Good luck. |
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Post by westendwendy on Sept 1, 2017 11:46:44 GMT
We don't need to do one - Sunset then Starlight will win!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2017 12:14:00 GMT
We don't need to do one - Sunset then Starlight will win! Haha we do need one - It's Starlight then Aspects! (And then Sunset :-)) |
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Post by anita on Sept 1, 2017 13:30:18 GMT
Actually it's "Whistle Down the Wind" then "Phantom"
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) etc. They also used lots of very long sticks! The orchestrations were completely original with Eastern instruments adding to the atmosphere. 
