Thread by @AdamLenson, I spent lockdown writing a book about this. Am available for any [...]

I spent lockdown writing a book about this. Am available for any and all panel discussions https://twitter.com/MorganLarge/status/1291762443899875329

https://twitter.com/MorganLarge/status/1291762443899875329

It is a multifactorial problem that I think has two main causes
1) Subsidised theatres rarely meaningfully support the form and treat them as anomalous rather than canonical.
2) The most visible musicals for a long time have been from a very restricted set of examples

So everyone in the UK thinks they know what a musical is. Whether they love them or hate them. The form is thus represented by a few examples which then rigidly define people's opinions and assumptions

A musical that does something different, something intelligent, something meaningful is seen as a counter-example rather than an example.

In addition while those in the upper levels of theatre know a lot about Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov, Euripides, Churchill, Prebble. They know almost nothing about Rogers, Hammerstein, Bernstein, Kander, Ebb, Sondheim, Tesori, Taub. And insecurity breeds defensivness.

And this defensiveness shows; In audience development, in artist development, in programming. And it leads to musicals always looking and sounding a certain way. And this leads to a reinforcing loop of assumption and insecurity

Also, the great success of the mega musical in the 1980s did three things
1) Removed subsidy from musical theatre
2) Fixed people's assumptions of what musicals were in the UK
3) Formed a tight core of replica musicals that haven't gone anywhere for decades

Those successes have both codified what a musical is in an unduly restricted way and also taken up the oxygen and the space that should have been afforded to writers and creatives making new work in the space

I know some of the most talented musical theatre writers in the UK and they have not been afforded anything like the careers their talent deserves, because producers, literary departments, theatres don't know what to do with them

And if artists aren't given space and time and money, then we get the same old shows, and audiences don't grow and shift and change, and neither does the form. So the form has sort of been stuck on repeat in the UK since the 1980s in many ways

I would also say that musicals convey a lot more information at once than plays and are highly expressive. And this isn't for everyone. Some people love naturalism, they love information and emotion being held back.

But also, how many times have you seen a literary department say they don't want you to send them musicals? British theatre has shown almost no interest in developing the form, in discovering voices, in building audiences and understandings.

Instead it seems like many venues are preparing one musical. A cash machine sort of idea that might make them lots of money but that they treat as an anomaly. It is made by artists the theatre already knows. It is made in secret.

Hamilton seemed to change that. Suddenly UK theatres were interested in musicals and in 'classy' musicals. But they didn't read books about musicals, they didn't meet artists writing them, the didn't study the history of the form, they didn't go to America and watch lots of them

They seemed to want to reverse engineer the next Hamiltion. Rather than build it the way Hamilton was built. By trusting an artist to lead. By giving their ideas time and space and money.

I have been running an acclaimed concert series for 4 years and have platformed over 60 of the best writers in London. Almost none of them have ever had a meeting with a major theatre, have never had a discussion with a literary manager.

So I think it is simple. If we want musicals to be cared for then we need to care about them. Stop saying what they can't do and start asking what they can. Because music and stories are limitless and so are musicals.

Some solutions:
1) Treat canonical musicals with the attention, respect and care that we treat canonical plays.
2) Educate industry and audiences about the range, breadth and capabilities of the form
3) Programme more musicals
4) Support UK musical theatre writers more

Also
1) Literary departments to develop musicals
2) Yearly slots at theatres for new musicals
3) Major financial awards for musical theatre writers
4) Writers' Retreats

UK Theatres will find the next Hamiltons when they care about musicals as much as the Public Theatre do and when they support artists who care about musicals as much as Lin Manuel does.

But in addition, we should be reviving and premiering more musicals than the ten that seem to be cycled and repeated over and over.

Anyone who wants to see 15 new songs by some of the best new musical theatre writers on earth should put August 18th in your diary

And if anyone knows someone who might want to publish my book of 35 essays about musical theatre then let me know!

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