Three Broadway Musicals I'd Like to See in the West End. And One I Wouldn't.

by Daniel Hill

Finding Neverland

In February this year I was lucky enough to go to the theatre capital of the world, New York. I was also lucky enough to see two productions on Broadway. One of them was Finding Neverland, which is written by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy. It follows the same story of the film by the same name starring Johnny Depp. The story of JM Barrie was welcomed onto Broadway with great reviews, and it has been announced that it will be transferring to London; however, the date seems to be constantly shifting, suggesting uncertainties of how it will be reviewed by a British audience. Gary Barlow is also interested in rewriting  the  score for its transfer over this side of the pond. Although it may not do as well as it has on Broadway, I am still excited for its run on the West End stage. Rumours for the cast have included Alfie Boe and Kelsey Grammer.

Cabaret

Although it has been in the West End previously (last production being 2012) I would love to see Cabaret back in a West End theatre. I was also lucky enough to go over to New York last year as well on the Drama Trip and we were taken to see Cabaret starring Alan Cummings who is no newbie in the role of the emcee. The production was full of exciting music and dance. The film itself is a must- see and the live musical is even better yet. I hope that sooner than later we get Cabaret back onto the West End Stage, even possibly with Alan Cummings in the role of the emcee again.

Fiddler on the Roof
Having seen a few scenes of the past PGS production, directed by current teacher Mr Robinson and starring another current teacher Mr Frampton (as a pupil) made me realise what an exciting production the musical is. As it is currently on Broadway at the moment, it would be great to see it back on the West End stage. It has been nearly 10 years since we saw this production professionally in the U.K. Slowly the odd musical does tend to disappear from public minds and eyes so it would be a shame if this is one of the musicals that starts to disappear over the next few years, especially after such an amazing run on Broadway.

And why I am not excited about Hamilton.

Hamilton is written by sudden musical theatre royalty Lin Manuel Miranda who has had this new idea of combining rap music with musicals. I suppose you could say that modern musicals maybe getting a bit repetitive and so this new idea is a blessing for musicals and will change them for the better. But why do we seem to think, as we do with many things, we need to fix things that aren't yet broken. It may also be the case that Billy Elliot the Musical has been closed to make way for this new musical phenomenon, as this was such a great musical. It has to be said though, that this musical that is sold out must have some special musical chutzpah or it would not be as successful as it has been.

Overall Broadway and the West End are made up of different audiences, but it would be nice to have a bit more similarity for the two biggest theatre stages in the world, as so many great shows are on either stages, and many people sadly miss great theatre all over the world.