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A Historical Analysis of the Megamusical Boom of the 1990'S

A Historical Analysis of the Megamusical Boom of the 1990'S

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A Historical Analysis of the Boom of the 1990’s

Musical is an immensely popular performing arts form. Stemming from of the early 20th- century, the American musical has gained momentum as a masterpiece of performing art. Combining , dialogue, and into one exposition, musicals have grown into prodigious pieces of spectacle. Commercialization of the art form has led to an escalation in public interest for many works, and the emergence of the megamusical. Rising to prominence in the 1980’s in and , have made a global impact as ‘cultural events, marketed with unprecedented force’1. The term megamusical makes reference to a large commercial musicals’ massive, spectacle- driven stylings. Defining characteristics of a megamusical include large sets, plots, casts, music, and marketing2, often making them the most consumable, commercially- driven operations in the realm of musical theatre. In the 1980’s, a boom in the number of megamusical productions took place, with the most famous shows blowing through the city of in the 1990’s. I chose to investigate how the megamusical boom impacted Toronto’s musical theatre scene, and what marks it left on the city. Toronto, already being Canada’s centre for all forms of English- Canadian theatre3, has played host to a number of different Canadian, British, and American musical theatre works; most notably Andrew Lloyd Weber’s and The of the , and Schoberg and Boubil’s Les Miserables and . According to Atkey, the city has laid claim to being third in the world, having sold over 7 million tickets annually in past years4. Outfitted with over 5 large-scale theatre houses, a number of repertory companies, and a diverse pool of talent from which to draw, the city of Toronto has become a thriving place for commercial musical theatre productions. In tracing the history of megamusical productions in the city Toronto, I discovered the immense impact that the megamusical carried with it, and how it left Toronto in a vibrant social, cultural, and economic state.

1 Sternfeld, Jessica. The megamusical. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. Pg. 3 2 Ibid. 3 Atkey, Mel. north: the dream of a Canadian musical theatre. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2008. Pg. 23 4 Sternfeld, J. Pg. 3

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Cats: Commencing of the ‘Megamusical Boom’ The first commercial megamusical production to be brought to Toronto was ’s Cats (first staged in 1980). Based on pieces of poetry from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (originally published in 1939), the show was developed and marketed as a concept work, rather than a traditional musical. The show explores the whimsical life of various cats, though an exhaustive and impressive amount of and dance. A unique attribute of the show is its’ use of environmental staging, partly due to the work of set designer John Napier5. The entire show is set in the midst of a Junkyard. It takes place on the night of the Jellicle Ball, where one is chosen to ascend towards the Heavyside Layer. No other plot points are given away to viewers. The show ran for a record- breaking 18 years on Broadway at the re-designed Winter Garden Theatre6. Having done well in the U.K., the show entered the US with much momentum, breaking advance ticket- sale records at $6.2 Million before opening 7 (a common trend for megamusicals of the 1980’s and 90’s). Prior to opening, producer chose to advertise the show without any photos of the actors or staging, but rather with a single pair of cat- like eyes on a black backdrop. This was a bold and innovative marketing move that proved highly successful in luring from 1982 to 1997, helping the production break Broadway records for the longest-running show8. Immediately after opening in New York in 1982, theatre critic theorized that the show would run for a long time on Broadway due to its ability to “transport members into a world of pure fantasy”9. The show would enter Toronto with the same momentum as it had on Broadway. In 1981, the Government purchased the Elgin Theatre in downtown Toronto10. The theatre was built as an opulent house in the early 1900’s by architect Thomas Lamb. In 1983, the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture invested over $19 million into a renovation project,

5 Lundskaer-Nielsen, M. Directors and the new musical : british and american musical theatre in the 1980s and 90s. Place of publication not identified: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Pg. 50 6 Sternfeld, J. Pg. 113 7 Ibid. 8 Grimes, William. 1997. With 6,138 lives, 'cats' sets broadway mark. New York Times (1923-Current file), Jun 19, 1997. https://www.lib.uwo.ca/cgi- bin/ezpauthn.cgi?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/109784230?accountid=15115 (accessed August 24, 2017). 9 Rich, Frank. 1982. : Lloyd webber's 'cats'. New York Times (1923-Current file), Oct 08, 1982. https://www.lib.uwo.ca/cgi-bin/ezpauthn.cgi?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/121933106?accountid=15115 (accessed August 24, 2017). 10 Atkey, Mel. Pg. 202

Yauk 3 hoping to restore the theatre, and enhance Toronto’s attractiveness to tourists as a major theatrical centre, in league with New York and London.11 In the early 1980’s, producers Marlene Smith and Tina Vanderheyden of MTE productions acquired the rights to Webber’s Cats in a breakthrough licensing deal for one of the most iconic megamusicals12. The team was able to secure a lease on the newly restored Elgin theatre, and open on March 14, 198513. The entire cast of this large production was Canadian, meaning that it would be the first time for large group of singers and dancers to contemplate home ownership of a megamusical work14. The production was a dazzling spectacle. It ended up running for two full years and surpassed $10 million in ticket sales in July of 1985, a record for Canadian musical theatre productions. The same creative team that had designed the original London and Broadway versions of the show staged this production, contributing to its perceived “authenticity.” While Cats was only the first of many megamusicals to be brought to the city, it marks the commencement of the Toronto’s own megamusical boom of the 1980’s and 1990’s15. The production ended up closing and touring Canada in 1987, leaving Toronto with a new arsenal of performance talent, a restored and usable theatre space, and a local thirst for musical theatre productions.

Les Miserables: Mirvishs’ First Megamusical Sensation! The next megamusical to sweep through Toronto after Webbers’ Cats was Claude Michael Schonberg and Alain Boubil’s Les Miserables. The show originated from a French concept that Schoberg and Boubil had created in the early 1980’s. It was inspired by Victor Hugo's original novel published in 1862. The heavy, sweeping plot would give this megamusical its’ ‘mega’ qualities. The plot shadows of male protagonist Jean Valjean through his pursuit of freedom and liberty amidst the French Revoluion. The musical was developed by the Royal Shakespeare in London, . When it first opened at the Barbican theatre in 1985, the show clocked in at just under three and a half hours in length, far longer than any other

11 Fish, Susan.. Notes on the Elgin Project. December, 1983. Ministry of Citizenship and Culture of Ontario. Pg. 4 12 MTE Productions. “Cats” is Coming to Toronto. press release. August 8, 1984. 13 Atkey, Mel. Pg. 203 14 Ibid. 15 Ateky, Mel. Pg. 202

Yauk 4 contemporary musical16. It was later shortened to just under two and a half hours, but still stood as one of the longest- running megamusicals ever produced. It was received well by the public in London, and eventually opened at the in New York in 1987. Critics raved about Schonberg’s score, calling it “A mix of madrigals, rock, Bizet, Weill, and the worlds of ‘harpsichord and synthesizer.’”17 In addition to its’ phenomenal score and sweeping plot, the musical acquired many more of its “mega” qualities from its fierce marketing campaign. Producer Cameron Mackintosh used the same marketing strategy as he had for used Webber’s Cats: oversaturating the market with hype for the show prior to its opening18. The show’s iconic logo of the young orphan Cosset would appear on marquis and billboards in New York and Toronto many months before opening. The show went on the be the third-longest running Broadway show, closing 16 years after opening in 1987. Producers Ed and , having had prior experience producing musicals in the city of Toronto, worked with Cameron Mackintosh to secure the rights to do a Canadian version of Les Miserables at the . They were successful in obtaining the rights, and opened house on March 14, 1989. Like the previous megamusical production of Cats, the show’s cast was entirely Canadian. In my interviews with performers and others who were involved in this momentous production, I learned that the show’s smaller theatrical venue contributed to its success. At the time, performers and audience alike described the shows as being very unique. The sets, sounds, lighting, and staging remained exactly the same as the large Broadway production, though the smaller theatre gave the show a much more intimate feel for audience members. The production was received extremely well by critics, who commended performers such as Canadian tenor Michael Burgess, and French- Canadian actress . The show ran for two full years at the Royal Alex before it was shipped off on a Canadian tour. This megamusical further enhanced Toronto’s talent pool, and drew much international attention towards the city for its flourishing commercial theatre scene. This show was the start of the Mirvish company’s rise to preeminence in the Toronto musical theatre scene.

16 Sternfeld, Jessica. Pg. 189 17 Ibid. Pg. 214 18 Ibid. Pg. 189

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The Phantom of The Opera: Drabinsky’s LivEnt Empire

By the late 1980s, a pattern had started to develop in which mega musicals would open in London, then transfer to New York, and then venture to cities like Toronto19. Another influential show following this pattern was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s . The show was based upon Gaston Leroux’s French novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, which tells the tale of a murderous masked figure who haunts a Parisian opera house in nineteenth century . Directed by , Phantom opened in London on October 9, 1986 at Her Majesty’s theatre to much critical acclaim. The show was “mega” in its grand emotion, intriguing characters, and dazzling set design. It combines operatic scenery with highly technical special effects and lighting. The show went on to open at the Majestic Theatre in New York on January 26, 1988. Frank Rich, a famed theatre critic at , wrote in his review, “Prince and Bjornson’s dark images were so heartfelt that their for theatre itself was the real romance here.”20 He commended the scenery and images of the show as being the real star of the production. The show continues to at the Majestic Theatre in in its 1980’s originality, making it a truly exemplary megamusical, and arguably the most successful British theatrical import on Broadway. In the late 1980’s, Canadian real estate and entertainment mogul Garth Drabinsky acquired the Pantages theatre from Famous Players with Cineplex Odeon Entertainment group21. He made plans to bring The Phantom of the Opera to Toronto by 1989. In order to acquire the license for the show so soon after its Broadway opening, the theatre itself had to be completely re-worked and customized for the show. The Pantages theatre was renovated to reflect the spectacle and opulence of the show itself, fully immersing audience members into the world of the opera. Live Entertainment—Drabinsky’s theatrical division—put together a large cast, comprised of mostly Canadian actors and actresses, with the exception of some of the leads. The cast trained under the supervision of the original Director Harold Prince, who had designed the shows in London and New York. Prior to its opening, the production was marketed intensely, similarly to the way that

19 Sternfeld, Jessica. Pg. 4 20 Ibid. Pg. 226 21 Ateky, Mel. Pg. 205.

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Cameron Mackintosh marketed Les Miserables and Cats. According to Drabinksy, effective marketing means skillfully implanting in the public’s mind a strong sense that an extraordinary event is taking place in their midst, which they must attend to fulfill their cultural lives22. Viewers came across advertisements for the show all over the city: on public transit board, on the sides of buildings, and on all media streams including television and radio. The show opened on September 20, 1989, with Andrew Lloyd Webber's original choice of the Phantom, , in the title role23. The show was received well by critics and public alike [?], and went on to become the longest- running musical in Toronto, finally closing on October 31, 1999. The Pantages became one of the highest- grossing in the world for a continuous run of a show 24 . This megamusical production brought Toronto a large, restored theatre space, and an immense boost in tourism, with a streams of busses operating between Canadian and U.S. cities and Toronto just for Phantom25.

Miss Saigon: Mirvish and The Princess of Whales Theatre

Immediately after finishing Les Miserables, Schonberg and Boubil went to work on another sociopolitical : Miss Saigon. Inspired by Puccinni’s opera , Schonberg envisioned a contemporary musical that would shadow the story of Puccinni, but with the backdrop of The War. Like Les Miserables, the show is completely sung-through. The massive emotional plot, relentless score, and large sets are what give this show its megamusical attributes. assembled an international cast, with many actors being of South Asian descent. were intensive, and technical issues related to the sheer size of the sets made it very difficult to stage. The show opened in London in September of 1989, after many weeks of previews. Cameron Mackintosh, the show’s producer, broke box office records in New York for the highest advance ticket sales for a musical: $30 million before opening26. The show was received well on Broadway, with critics paying homage to the Schonberg’s intense score in their

22 Drabinsky, Garth, and Marq De Villiers. Closer to the sun: an autobiography. Toronto, Ont. McClelland & Stewart, 1995. Pg. 393 23 Atkey, Mel. Pg. 205 24 Drabinsky, Garth. De Villiers, Marq. Pg. 395 25 Ibid. 26 Sternfeld, Jessica. Pg. 293

Yauk 7 reviews. A talented stage man with an operatic background, directed. The sets for the London and Broadway productions remain the most expensive and elaborate pieces in musical theatre history. The production went on to play for ten more years in London, closing in 1999. Inspired by the successes of Miss Saigon in London and the U.S., and driven to compete with Garth Drabinsky’s successful hit The Phantom of the Opera, David Mirvish struck an agreement with the show’s producer Cameron Mackintosh. He would stage a definitive Canadian production of Miss Saigon in a brand new, theatrical space, built to house it. Roused by Drabinsky’s renovations to the Pantages theatre, and the recent restoration of the Elgin Winter Garden theatre complex prior to the opening of Cats, David Mirvish hired a team of architects to construct a band new theatre, which would be named the Princess of Wales. Mackintosh said, “I feel about the new theatre that the Mirvish’s are building a bit of both flattered and in awe at the risk that they are taking.”27 The show was directed by Canadian stager Mitchell Lemsky, and was comprised of an almost all-Canadian cast and creative team. No expense was spared in both the crafting of the production and the building of the new theatre. It currently stands as one of Canada’s largest theatres, with a total capacity of 2,000 seats. Similar to what Drabinksy had done with the interior of the Pantages Theatre, Mirvish had the every aspect of the theatre’s interior be built to enhance the overall experience of the theatregoer. The show opened on May 26, 1993, and ran for a full two years. This megamusical left Toronto with a state-of-the-art 2,000 seat theatre, a large amount of design and performance talent, and like previous megamusicals, a wide regard for the city’s growing musical theatre community.

Conclusion Since the close of Miss Saigon, the number of long- term musical engagements has decreased; but not for the worse. Productions such as Disney’s and Beauty and the Beast, and Mirvish’s Mama Mia have enjoyed successful and long runs, due partly to the effects left by the mega-musical boom. A commercial theatre revolution allowed a number of commercial, blockbuster megamusicals to venture directly to Toronto from London and New York, and settle into lengthy runs in the city. A characteristic which all of the mentioned megamusicals share in

27 The Making of Miss Saigon at the Princess of Whales Theatre. Produced by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Canada, 1993. VHS.

Yauk 8 common is the element of spectacle. Katz and Dayan theorized that spectacle implies a distinction between the roles of performers and audience members28, likened to that of cinema. Further immersing viewers in the world of the show through the environmental staging styles of Cats, the intimacy of Les Miserables, or in an enhanced theatrical facility like that used for Phantom or Miss Saigon, appeals to a much larger bracket of viewers who might otherwise be disinclined to visit the theatre. These megamusicals, due partly to their volume and timing, gave the city of Toronto a boost in both musical theatre works and theatrical infrastructure. According to performers who worked in Toronto during the boom, producing homegrown commercial megamusicals with open- ended runs has become a thing of the past. Toronto stands as an established and internationally regarded commercial musical theatre community. Without the influences of these four distinct megamusical productions, the city would not have a theatre district in its downtown core. The commercialization and growth of these large shows foreshadows an even larger, global phenomenon of the megamusical’s transcendence of borders. In reviewing the history of megamusicals, along with their status as pieces of commercially successful musical theatre nowadays, one might presume that they will continue to grow and spread musical theatre around the globe.

28 Bennett, Susan. Theatre audiences: a theory of production and reception. London: , 2009. Pg. 93

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Bibliography

Atkey, Mel. Broadway north: the dream of a Canadian musical theatre. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2008.

Baron- Woods, Kristina and Sean Yauk. Interview with Kristina Baron- Woods, actress and merchandise saleswoman, and lecturer in Musical Theatre at the University of Western Ontario. Personal interview. London, May 10, 2017.

Bennett, Susan. Theatre audiences: a theory of production and reception. London: Routledge, 2009.

CBC. The Making of Miss Saigon at the Princess of Whales Theatre. Produced by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Canada, 1993. VHS.

Conlogue, Ray. Mizen Scene. The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Mar 11, 1989.

Drabinsky, Garth, and Marq De Villiers. Closer to the sun: an autobiography. Toronto, Ont. McClelland & Stewart, 1995.

Fish, Susan.. Notes on the Elgin Winter Garden Theatre Project. December, 1983. Ministry of Citizenship and Culture of Ontario.

Grimes, William. 1997. With 6,138 lives, 'cats' sets broadway mark. New York Times (1923- Current file), Jun 19, 1997.

Harvey, Dennis. Show Stopper: The Theatrical Life of Garth Drabinsky. Daily Variety, 22 Oct. 2012, p. 14.

Lundskaer-Nielsen, M. Directors and the new musical drama: british and american musical theatre in the 1980s and 90s. Place of publication not identified: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

Marcus, Mitchell and Sean Yauk. Interview with Mitchell Marcus. Artistic Director of Musical Stage Co. Toronto. May 23, 2017.

McQuillan, Paul and Sean Yauk. Interview with Paul McQuillan, actor. Personal interview. via. email. June 4, 2017.

Michael Storey. Behind the Mask- The making of Toronto’s production of The Phantom of the Opera- Video, 1990.

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Mirvish, David. Miss Saigon and the Princess of Wales Theatre. Toronto: Bownel, 1994.

MTE Productions. “Cats” is Coming to Toronto. press release. August 8, 1984.

Rich, Frank. 1982. Theater: Lloyd webber's 'cats'. New York Times (1923-Current file), Oct 08, 1982.

Sternfeld, Jessica. The megamusical. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006.

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