Musical theatre, which is not always taken as seriously as it deserves, is having a moment
Musicals, to twist an old Kern and Hammerstein title, are in the air. In London there are new productions of Cabaret, Moulin Rouge and Hex (a retelling of Sleeping Beauty at the National), and in the next month – if the pandemic does not force a delay, Spring Awakening at the Almeida. The Drifters Girl (starring Beverley Knight) has just opened, as has Get Up, Stand Up! (about Bob Marley); Andrew Lloyd Webber’s over-the-top (and inside-out) Cinderella got a belated de facto opening gala at the end of November. Steven Spielberg’s film remake of West Side Story arrives on 10 December. The recent death of Stephen Sondheim produced an outpouring of song and memory.
Perhaps this has something to do with needing an antidote. Anything Goes, a frothy romp set on an ocean liner with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, is due to return next summer after a run that enjoyed ecstatic word-of-mouth reviews stressing its joyousness. There is also, of course, the theatre sector’s urgent need of income after months of closure, and musicals – of which there are 30 now playing in the West End, back up to pre-pandemic numbers – are reliable crowd-pleasers.
