Will Education Get You a West End Role?

This week on the Simon Morris blog, I ask; will an education in musical theatre actually get you that role on a West End stage you’ve been dreaming about since you were a kid.

It’s Extremely Hard to Get a Role in the West End

You don’t have to be a musical theatre expert, Simon Morris readers, to know that it is monumentally hard to break into the West End.

It’s a simple matter of mathematics. There are only a handful of roles for a large number of applicants. That is why most people assume that a first class education in musical theatre will give you the edge to outshine your competition and get the role of your dreams.

Only 2.6% of Musical Theatre Graduates Work in West End in First Five Years

But is this the case? This week I came across a fascinating article on The Stage that revealed that only 2.6% of jobs taken by top musical theatre graduates in their first five years actually see them land on a West End Stage.

According to the online publication, this finding came from research commissioned by Drama UK and carried out by Jane Dietch, a casting director.  It went on to show that out of the almost 500 performing arts jobs that were taken by musical theatre graduates who had been studying a three year course in 2013, a mere 13 were for roles in the West End.

Where are Musical Theatre Graduates Getting Jobs?

The figures went on to show that 13 jobs were provided to graduates from the larger theatre companies. These include the National Theatre, the National Theatre of Scotland and the Donmar Warehouse.

Meanwhile 3.4% of jobs (17) were given to graduates by regional theatres, whilst 4.6% (23), were provided by commercial tours. Yet the largest proportion of jobs given to graduates (26%) were for roles in cabaret, pantomime, events, cruises concerts etc. whilst the second largest proportion (20%)  were provided by Off-West End and fringe work.

You Have to Work Your Way Up

So will an education get you a West End role; eventually. However what these figures show, Simon Morris readers, is that you have to work your way up. If you want to be successful in any industry, you have to pay your dues and gain experience before graduating to the big leagues.

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Mobile Phones to Be Banned in Theatres?

A director has said that mobile phones could be banned in the West End to stop patrons from filming. On the Simon Morris blog this week, I ask, could this really happen?

Simon Morris Wishes He Could Throw Mobile Phones into the Thames!

We all know it’s really annoying when you’re watching a musical you’ve spent money to see, and have waited for, for ages, when someone breaks out their phone. Whether they’re answering a text, calling a friend or filming a production with plans to post it later on YouTube, it makes you want to grab the phone and throw it into the Thames.

Whilst I have blogged about how to be an audience member when watching a musical theatre production, and I did talk about mobile phones, I do recognise that we need to have them on us when we’re in a theatre. That’s why I’ve always been dubious when West End personnel have talked about banning mobile phones in theatres (and they talk about it a lot). It just seems so impractical.

He Was Only Texting His Son, Who Was Ill.

And someone else has been at it recently; this time acclaimed West End director Anthony Biggs. According to the Daily Mail (who absolutely love this kind of thing) Biggs made the suggestion due to audience members constant need to film productions.

The publication has revealed that recently, actor David Judge interrupted a performance Athol Fugard’s Statements. Why? He and Jasmine Hyde, a fellow cast member, saw a man in the front row using his phone continuously. They thought he was filming them. Turns out, he was just texting his son, who was ill.

Phones Can “Ruin the Experience” But the Audience Does Tend to Rely on Them

This lead Biggs; artistic director at Jermyn Street Theatre, where the production was based, to make the suggestion that phones should be banned in the West End. He said that phones can “ruin the experience,” for the audience, and that because of this, new measures may need to be put in place to curb mobile phone use in shows.

I get what Biggs is saying. I also think it’s highly impractical. In this day and age, people use their phones all the time, that’s just a fact. Stop them, and watch, as ticket sales plummet faster than the economy did back in 2008.

Simon Morris Suggests that Actors Just suck it up!

Simon Morris readers, I really do understand how annoying mobile phones are when you’ve invested you heard earned time and money into watching a musical in the West End. However, in modern life, you just have to suck it up and deal with it. These are some of our country’s best actors. If they can’t put up with a few mobile phones, maybe they aren’t really up to the job!

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My Top Four Movie Musical Actors of All Time

This week I want to celebrate the leading men, who have made the movie musical what it is. Here on the SimonMorris blog are my top four leading movie musical men ever!

Behind Every Great Diva is A Leading Man

We tend to focus on the women who have made the movie musical what it is. Maybe, that is because the ‘stereotypical’ movie musical audience have always admires strong divas. That’s why when we think of the genre, our minds immediately go to sirens of song such as Judy Garland, Barbara Streisand and Liza Minnelli.

But we really shouldn’t discount the men. Have you ever heard that saying, behind every great men is a great woman? Well, in this artistic field, the opposite is true. Behind every dazzlingly delightful diva is a leading man of epic proportions.

These Four Leading Men Simply Shined on Screen

Of course, not every actor was able to hold their own against the star power of icons such as Garland and Streisand. However, some matched them note for note, step for step. These four simply shined on screen:

1)      Fred Astaire: No one did it quite like Fred Astaire. Arguably one of the very first actors to make it big in movie musicals, he was a demon on the dance floor. Along with Ginger Rogers, he formed one part of tinsel town’s most memorable dancing duos, and helped make dance an integral part of the movie musical in productions such as Top Hat, Follow the Fleet and Swing Time. Every actor who came after owes Astaire a huge debt of gratitude.

2)      Gene Kelly: If Astaire was one of the first memorable movie musical lead actors, then successor Gene Kelly was arguably one of the most iconic of all time. His roles in mega movie musicals An American in Paris and Singin’ in the Rain were so monumental, they still stand as the ones to beat to this very day.

3)      Mickey Rooney: The last of the Hollywood movie musical leading men, Rooney sadly passed away this year. But what a life he had. A veritable silver screen icon, he shone in a number of movie musical roles, including Babe in Arms with Miss Garland herself!

4)      Hugh Jackman: Frankly, since the golden age of Hollywood, the movie musical has gone downhill. When it did wow audiences all over again, we tended to focus on the performances of the leading ladies. However, that changed with the film version of Les Miserables, with Hugh Jackman in the leading role. A musical theatre veteran, you could tell he’d been cast perfectly, and could very well revive the classic movie musical leading man role that typified Hollywood in its heyday. 

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The Versatility of the Musical Theatre Heroine

What fascinates me about the role of the heroine in musical theatre is that it comes in so many shapes and sizes, speaking to the audience on an array of differing levels, which is why on the Simon Morris blog this week, I want to explore the versatility of the musical theatre heroine.

The Societal View of the View of Women

To play a heroine on the musical theatre stage is no easy task. Women often get the hardest, most vocally challenging of numbers, the most elaborate of costumes, the most strenuous of dance routines. Technically, it’s an exhausting job.

However there’s also the added pressure of societal views of women to contend with. Society has a complex relationship with its perceptions of the female gender, with old stereotypes clashing dangerously with modern beliefs in the power of the strength of women. Often, heroines (especially in older productions) need to communicate both to the audience to fully capture their imagination, and this takes a truly gifted actress, no matter the type of heroine they’re playing.

Simon Morris Explores Every Shade of Heroine

There are several types of heroine that demand talent to truly communicate their complexity, and I want to examine a few to show the true versatility needed to play the role of a heroine:

·         Elphaba: Your classic modern woman in green skin, Elphaba is a sympathetic take on an archetypal villain and the trick to nailing the role is to balance the innate goodness of the character with the pain that allows others to perceive her to be the Wicked Witch of the West.

·     Mary Magdalene: A woman often damned and hailed in equal measure, Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar is both selfless and selfishly in love, and any woman taking on the role needs to be able to communicate the full spectrum of this most complex of emotions to make her even slightly believable.

·         Maureen: If Elphaba is the modern woman, Maureen is the post-modern one, all brash rebellion and pure intentions, an idealist and a dreamer. However the trick to getting Maureen right is to balance her bravery with the faint vulnerability that lies underneath and drives her insecurity.

·         Evita: If the first three are heroines with a shade of villainess, Evita is a villainess with a shade of heroine. The very definition of ambition, her actions are questionable and self-motivated but any effective Evita makes her believable by providing that balance that suggests that beneath the glaring blonde ambition lies at least some convoluted form of altruism.

What I hope to have shown you here, Simon Morris readers, is that there is no straightforward modern heroine. No black and white, good or evil, rather there are shades of all, and that is why the musical theatre heroine is the most versatile of roles any actress could ever hope to take on.

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RENT: A Story That Resonates Even Today

Is RENT as relevant today as it was when it first hit the Broadway stage back in the mid-90s? That is the question I seek to address today on the Simon Morris blog. Is this classic modern musical still relevant?

This is a problem that every musical theatre production faces at some point or another, as does every piece of art that has ever been created. Art often depends on the societal trends of the day to make an impact, however it is its ability to rise above its own cultural environment and tap into common human emotion that makes great art timeless.

RENT: The Tale of One Group of Friends in Alphabet City

The show itself chronicles a year in the life of friends as they struggle with love, loss, addiction, desperation and so much more. Classic tunes from the show include fan favourites such as ‘La Vie Boheme,’ ‘Seasons of Love,’ ‘I’ll Cover You,’ ‘Take Me or Leave Me’ and ‘Without You’

The general story sees these friends meet, connect, fall in love, struggle with issues such as heroin addiction and AIDS, deal with the death of one of their own (Angel) and survive, coming together in Mimi’s hour of need and saving her from following Angel to an early grave.

A Musical That Taps Into the Very Essence of Humanity

On the face of it, RENT has endured because the issues that plague its characters are ones still very present in modern life. Many people still suffer from drug addiction and AIDS, LGBT rights, which are skilfully explored in the production, are more prevalent than ever and the excesses that so typified the 1980’s backdrop of the piece still reverberate in 2014.

However, I would suggest that this is an overly simplistic explanation of the enduring popularity of RENT. Yes, many of the issues it explores are more prevalent than ever in today’s society, but it’s the musical’s ability to tap into common themes in human emotion that made it, and continue to make it, a massive hit with audiences across the musical theatre loving world.

So, Simon Morris readers, if this little analysis has taught you anything, it should be that a musical works when it resonates with audiences. Only through the exploration of complex human emotion can audiences gain that window they need to form a connection with the characters up on that stage and, ultimately, grow to love them!

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