British Musical Theatre Since 1950 by Robert Gordon, Olaf Jubin, Millie Taylor (review)

Gordon, Rubin and Taylor lend their substantial academic expertise to the frequently maligned and critically neglected British musical in this new Critical Companion from Methuen Drama. By broadening the scope beyond Broadway and exploring British musicals from a variety of perspectives the trio attempt to fill the gaps in musical theatre research and provide a context for a specifically British contemporary phenomenon. As notions of British identity evolve there is an ever increasing need to explore and celebrate British musical outputs rather than making unfavourable comparisons with the ideas and aesthetics of Broadway. This book’s refreshing tone and approach is welcome amongst a sea of nostalgia for the Great White Way, as the brightly lit theatre district around New York's Times Square became known in the early twentieth century.

The book is divided into three sections with the authors studying a number of musicals from their area of specialism. Gordon looks at musicals and social change, Taylor investigates the impact of British popular culture and Rubin unpacks the, for him, problematic concept of the “megamusical”. Each section is rich with detail, presenting some excellent case studies of key works. Gordon’s exploration of Lee Hall’s and Elton John’s 2005 Billy Elliot, a musical where “not only the stars but a huge chorus sing and dance together to make moments of joy in the sheer sensual pleasure of being fully alive” (68), analyses the different methods used to articulate meaning in musical theatre. He situates the musical in the wider context of political, social and economic change exploring how Peter Darling’s choreography represents the conflict between gender and class in the musical, and the inherent contradictions of staging this conflict in a medium as collaborative as musical theatre. Taylor’s work is not as accessible as that of her co-writers but provides valuable insight into the “diverse ways in which musical theatre responds to the popular cultures of its communities” (83), particularly the impact of multiculturalism on British musical theatre. Her analysis of Bombay Dreams (A. R. Rahman, Don Black, and Meera Syal, 2002) explores the “glocal” aspects of the show, its specificity to the United Kingdom, and reaction to charges of cultural imperialism.

The structure is such that a reader can easily dip in and out of the book as required, or enjoy reading it in a linear fashion. There is also crossover between the sections. Gordon and Taylor, for example, both explore Lionel Bart’s 1960 musical Oliver!. Their approaches are different with Gordon discussing the musical’s continuing impact on British theatre and Taylor taking a more in-depth look at its development and musical elements which allows for a more advanced understanding of the texts being analysed.

The end result is an engaging critical commentary that should prove to be a catalyst for further investigation into the British genre’s rich history. As the authors note in the conclusion, British musical theatre is undergoing something of a renaissance at present, driven by organisations like Musical Theatre Network and Mercury Musicals, and only time will tell which way the art form will develop. It is to be hoped that as Gordon, Taylor and Rubin continue to document and critique the genre, that they are joined by other scholars in the field to enable a more balanced overview of musical theatre on both sides of the Atlantic.