ALW's The Illusionist (Dir. Jamie Lloyd)

[BVM]

I honestly couldn't be more excited or pleased to hear that they're going for a hat-trick with Jamie Lloyd. Evita was sensational (IMHO). Sunset was sensational (IMHO). He's clearly the man of the moment and him and ALW clearly have a good working relationship currently, so why wouldn't you - it's more or less a no brainer.

And surely a director where most people come out saying "it was incredible" and a few people come out saying "it was dreadful" is better for art than everyone coming out going "meh."

In choice of directors in general there is an awful lot of arm chair criticism. Inevitable in a discussion forum and I am no doubt as guilty as anyone else. But I do think you have to have some faith in writers and producers being in a better position to pick the director for their work than us. Like, considerably better. Do they pick the wrong person? Occasionally. Do they pick the right person most of the time? Absolutely.

And whilst there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Jamie Lloyd is a thrilling director in a way Laurence Connor isn't, I don't think the latter was wrong for the stuff he's done. School of Rock wasn't for me, but had a big family audience and was a real surprise hit for ALW at a time when people had more or less written him off. His Joseph, again for me is nothing compared to Pimlott's but it did what Harrison wanted, and again is a big hit. It is serving the masses well. (At the risk of sounding like a snob. Appreciate it does).

The "oh he's a yes man" is more or less as lazy as "Jamie Lloyd never has sets," "ALW wants to be down with the kids," etc etc - maybe sparked from an element of truth but sweepingly used and massively overgeneralised. Can anyone imagine ALW saying "I want Pharaoh Story barely sung, full of cheesy comedy and the big note at the end removed" and LC going "yes!" And as for Bad Cinderella does anyone really think a different director would have turned it into a Broadway smash? It was what it was. I truly think handed the Fennell script and the ALW score he made it as good as it could be. He was the right director for that project. IMHO. Maybe Jamie Lloyd will direct it one day and I'll eat my hat IDK.

Anyway, I digress. But yeah, very exciting news on this one I'd say.

[talkingheads]

I have to say that a musical that includes magic is very intriguing, I wonder who he'll get to do the magic? Mischief got Penn and Teller for Magic Goes Wrong, I wonder if Webber will be able to get Andy Nyman and Derren Brown.

[unseaworthy]

There could be cameras though... Showing card/coin tricks projected onto a big screen?

[BVM]

Call me very old but I fondly remember when Paul Daniels was the go to magician and they made a big deal of him being the magic "consultant" for Phantom in 1986.

[parsley1]

I hope it’s just as successful

As

Cinderella

And love

Never

Dies

One thing about ALW is he never gives up hope

Ever the optimist

He often conflates short limited revivals of his best work

And forgets he has long seen his creative peak for anything new

JL isn’t composing the score or lyrics

This is the crucial part of a musical

[BVM]

Oct 29, 2024 11:28:02 GMT parsley1 said:

I hope it’s just as successful

As

Cinderella

And love

Never

Dies

One thing about ALW is he never gives up hope

Ever the optimist

He often conflates short limited revivals of his best work

And forgets he has long seen his creative peak for anything new

JL isn’t composing the score or lyrics

This is the crucial part of a musical

I mean I don't think he does conflate this. He'll know full well how long Woman In White, Love Never Dies, Stephen Ward and Cinderella ran for here (I mean, don't even mention NYC lol) and that it's not the same as reviving Sunset, Starlight and Evita.

That aside I do think you make an excellent and key point. We are indeed getting massively ahead of ourselves worrying who will direct it - as ALW does indeed need to write a decent musical first! (With the small caveat that directors who are on board early can help shape a piece and steer creatives. Trevor had a huge influence shaping Cats and Starlight for example. JL asked for sections of Sunset to be re-written and ALW just did it).

And whilst I am sure myself and the hardcore fans will find lots to like musically, was remarking to a friend this morning that I think people expecting another Phantom or Sunset will be rather disappointed. If he's not going pop or rock (Cinderella/School of Rock) and going more romance then you need to look at Woman In White/Love Never Dies/the ballads in Stephen Ward to see what kind of fare we might expect. Personally I like all three of those but I do think they all had some great melodies within some pretty unremarkable recitative. Compared to Sunset backwards where I generally love every single note. And nobody could deny their critical and public reception was mixed.

That said I remain very hopeful he can pull it off and can't wait to hear it. And he does seem very energised which can only be a good thing for creative inspiration! But I agree with you, a tide of successful revivals has minimal bearing on the fortunes of a new piece. It does need to be good. Not to mention the fact that we remain in an era where (more or less) sung through melodramatic musicals are not remotely on trend for the public.

 

[crabtree]

Michael Grandage, anyone? Intelligent, inventive, classy.....

[viserys]

But the biggest problems with Love Never Dies and Stephen Ward (IMHO) were the terrible books. LND especially could have been GORGEOUS if it had been a new fresh story and not a misguided "Phantom sequel" - if The Illusionist surfaces with a score and stage sets/costumes PLUS a good book like that I would be HAPPY.

Woman in White... yea, that was a bit clunky, but I also remember that back then it was the first thing to use merely projections instead of sets and many people were disappointed and everyone was laughing about that scene where they had to pantomime walking up the stairs. It was also never reworked; maybe ALW lost interest in it, but it was by no means terrible or unsalvageable.

I also loved School of Rock and what makes me hopeful is that The Illusionist much like SoR is based on a movie with fairly tight plotting. ALW has been at his worst in recent years when he tries to somehow cobble an original story together from a source.

Oct 29, 2024 12:04:29 GMT BVM said:

Not to mention the fact that we remain in an era where (more or less) sung through melodramatic musicals are not remotely on trend for the public.

 

PS: I think the tide may be turning on that. People are TIRED of wannabe Hamiltons with "meta" storytelling and poppy teen-oriented shows. Broadway has this year swung back to more traditional straightforward storytelling and while the "MT experts" sniffed at the traditional Gatsby coming out of Paper Mill Playhouse, the general audience turned it into a success on Broadway as it was clearly something they wanted to see (while the more "artsy" Gatsby in Boston ultimately fizzled out and has been sent back to the drawing board). So ALW might actually be on trend here. Hopefully.

[ntherooh]

Oct 29, 2024 12:54:50 GMT crabtree said:

Michael Grandage, anyone? Intelligent, inventive, classy.....

Frozen was the most basic Disney show you could put on imo. I like it, but it could have been much, much more.

[blamerobots]

If this is a hit I'll be really happy. The Illusionist feels like the material that ALW will gel with.

[max]

Lots of scenes in the film (I've only seen the trailer) feature a bare stage and footlights, just like many magic acts.
Darkness to help achieve the illusions is all part of those acts too. This could be Jamie Lloyd's sign-off for this style he's become known for; repeating his signature, but this time it would be faithful naturalism at the same time - and perhaps via magic moving on to other territory. Or back to it; I saw his production of 'Urinetown' in the West End.

[newyorkcityboy]

Oct 29, 2024 13:33:36 GMT viserys said:

But the biggest problems with Love Never Dies and Stephen Ward (IMHO) were the terrible books. LND especially could have been GORGEOUS if it had been a new fresh story and not a misguided "Phantom sequel" - if The Illusionist surfaces with a score and stage sets/costumes PLUS a good book like that I would be HAPPY.

Woman in White... yea, that was a bit clunky, but I also remember that back then it was the first thing to use merely projections instead of sets and many people were disappointed and everyone was laughing about that scene where they had to pantomime walking up the stairs. It was also never reworked; maybe ALW lost interest in it, but it was by no means terrible or unsalvageable.

I also loved School of Rock and what makes me hopeful is that The Illusionist much like SoR is based on a movie with fairly tight plotting. ALW has been at his worst in recent years when he tries to somehow cobble an original story together from a source.

Oct 29, 2024 12:04:29 GMT BVM said:

Not to mention the fact that we remain in an era where (more or less) sung through melodramatic musicals are not remotely on trend for the public.

 

PS: I think the tide may be turning on that. People are TIRED of wannabe Hamiltons with "meta" storytelling and poppy teen-oriented shows. Broadway has this year swung back to more traditional straightforward storytelling and while the "MT experts" sniffed at the traditional Gatsby coming out of Paper Mill Playhouse, the general audience turned it into a success on Broadway as it was clearly something they wanted to see (while the more "artsy" Gatsby in Boston ultimately fizzled out and has been sent back to the drawing board). So ALW might actually be on trend here. Hopefully.

Woman In White was reworked (by ALW) as a smaller scale chamber musical at Charing Cross a few years ago. It was much more successful, artistically speaking, but did not find an audience so did not transfer to the WE.

[blamerobots]

Likely because it was at the Charing Cross Theatre...

[tom]

Oct 29, 2024 11:28:02 GMT parsley1 said:

I hope it’s just as successful

As

Cinderella

And love

Never

Dies

One thing about ALW is he never gives up hope

Ever the optimist

He often conflates short limited revivals of his best work

And forgets he has long seen his creative peak for anything new

JL isn’t composing the score or lyrics

This is the crucial part of a musical

Or
Bend
It
Like
Beckham?

[Marwood]

I liked the film a lot but haven’t seen it in best part of twenty years (I preferred it to The Prestige which a lot of people have been comparing it to, and it was probably Edward Nortons last semi-decent lead film role, all the promise of American History X and Fight Club was frittered away a long, long time ago) so I won’t be rushing to book this the day tickets go on sale but I’ll keep an eye on this.

[theatrefan62]

Oct 29, 2024 20:41:27 GMT Marwood said:

I liked the film a lot but haven’t seen it in best part of twenty years (I preferred it to The Prestige which a lot of people have been comparing it to, and it was probably Edward Nortons last semi-decent lead film role, all the promise of American History X and Fight Club was frittered away a long, long time ago) so I won’t be rushing to book this the day tickets go on sale but I’ll keep an eye on this.

The movie is on Amazon Prime if you have that, I watched it again for first time in years the other week.

I agree, I much preferred it to The Prestige

[lolaluffneggle]

In the article ALW did say it wasn’t hugely based on the film so even if you’re not a huge fan of the film the musical still has potential for you. I don’t think it can be written off based on the film alone.

[Marwood]

Oct 29, 2024 20:54:44 GMT theatrefan62 said:

Oct 29, 2024 20:41:27 GMT Marwood said:

I liked the film a lot but haven’t seen it in best part of twenty years (I preferred it to The Prestige which a lot of people have been comparing it to, and it was probably Edward Nortons last semi-decent lead film role, all the promise of American History X and Fight Club was frittered away a long, long time ago) so I won’t be rushing to book this the day tickets go on sale but I’ll keep an eye on this.

The movie is on Amazon Prime if you have that, I watched it again for first time in years the other week.

I agree, I much preferred it to The Prestige

I have the dvd sitting on a shelf somewhere at home (saw it there the other night when I was looking for something else), but thank you.

[AddisonMizner]

I’ve just sat and watched the film, and really enjoyed it. I can see why Lloyd Webber is attracted to the material - it will really suit his milieu. It has a lot of promise.

[justsaying113]

Wouldn't it be rather nice, after his recent projects, if ALW went out with a huge (original) hit.