As a number of people have pointed out, many venues around the country are doing new and exciting stuff.
But something new arriving in the West End is incredibly rare.
Mostly because it is ****ing expensive.
There are still a tonne of places you can get to to watch new stuff inside the M25.
When I get this feeling I try to cope by saying ah well these adverts are only for the old people as the young ones are being advertised to on their phones, that they are looking at right now.
🎼 Why does every
🎼 [every, every]
🎼 cultural artifact
🎼 [artifact, artifact, oh why!]
🎼 Become a
🎼 [what does it become?]
🎼 A Musical!
[cue: fanfare]
[cue: dancers, acrobats, performing seal]
[repeat verse]
Writing a musical is a lot of work even if you don't have to come up with a plot, plus having a built in audience is good for ticket sales and musical audiences skew older in any event
There was once a lunatic plan to turn A House for Mr Biswas into a musical, but it fell through. Bizarrely enough it's what the James Bond theme tune was originally composed for.
Say what you will about trap and dubstep, they at least broke new ground. I’m middle aged now, the new shit is supposed to sound alien and scary to me!
Beyond the "only old people can afford theatre" observations - we have so much entertainment now that we have so few shared experiences and very little becomes iconic. There are a handful of massive acts, everyone else is niche.
Interesting how many responses here are fixing on Ben Elton, even though his show will literally be new material. As will the Inside Number 9, of course. So, do you yourself become not “new” even if your show is? Asking for… a friend.
Nothing wrong with older acts producing new material. But the question is where is the next 25 year old Ben Elton coming through? How can a new original sci fi movie be made when all the old favourites are being rebooted? How can the next young musician be discovered and championed?
Edinburgh, and then the Soho theatre, for a start. 1200 shows last year, I think, at the Fringe. Also, Instagram and TikTok. They just aren’t being advertised on the tube.
Exactly! Newer acts don't have a spare few thousand quid to spend on advertising on the tube. Acts who can advertise on the tube have management, PR and a marketing budget. They're already on a different level.
Yes, this, really. I'm sure those shows are good - there are several of the acts there i really like! But it just feels indicative of something, that changing business models means culture sometimes feels a bit stuck
We went to Warner Brothers in California 10 years ago. The tour guide told us that the policy of all major studios was to make movies that “already had an audience or brand awareness” as this was less risky than “new” work. That conversation has resonated so many times over the years since.
I think there’s also a piece around where the new acts coming up the ranks are getting their followings. People like Ali Woods, Eleanor Morton, Munya Chawawa, Vittorio Angelone, Fred Asquith et al have gained their followings on Insta and TikTok. That’s their main source of new fans
I know it's a much more complicated answer but one reason i think is the Internet has changed how we consume media. It's much more fragmented now. So I imagine much more difficult for new artists to develop a large audience compared to 20 or 30 years ago.
Interestingly, our industry is full of stories of people finding huge live audiences without needing “traditional” media. Quite new names playing huge rooms, based on social media following. The landscape is changing a lot.
Big example is Laura Ramoso, did brilliant tik tok sketches and they translated to the stage and she sold out a lot of big spaces. Helped by the fact that she’s also very very good.
It’s very similar to what happened in music in the early 2000s, with MySpace and YouTube etc. All of a sudden, new artists get a huge following without the traditional need for label exposure/PR etc.
I think you’re right about all these movies being turned into musicals. But I also think Tube ads are like sides of busses; really expensive sites, so will only be really mainstream stuff.
Those tube posters are 'Nostalgia Marketing'- it associates a brand with memories from the past to establish an emotional bond. New acts haven't got the nostalgia factor or money to advertise on the tube. When it comes to getting a 'break' into the business, new acts use social media cos its free.
I assume this is a "the show literally hasn't started press previews yet" thing, but that quote is entertainingly "we can confirm she worked here between January and April 2023" isn't it
I left Ireland in 1990 at 17 and haven't been back since and I know what every single one of these things are (though I just caught up on No.9). The dream of the 90s might be alive in Portland, but the dream of the 80's is in the West End.
It’s less unnerving and more disappointing that there is such an unwillingness to commit big money to shows that don’t already have a devoted following.
Been saying this for a while. Everything is either a sequel, a spin off, or a reboot. Decision makers want guaranteed returns riding on the back of successful projects rather than trying new things and creating new classics
All the time I am thinking this now. Its so boring. Where is the creativity now? Would be delighted to hear its going on somewhere I don’t know or see - at least its going on then
There are plenty of theatres producing new material if you look for them. @theatrnanog.bsky.social , StoryhouseLive in Chester and Theatr Clwyd in Mold to name a few have produced and are making exciting new shows. ❤️🎭 #SupportTheArts #SupportOurVenues
Comments
But something new arriving in the West End is incredibly rare.
Mostly because it is ****ing expensive.
There are still a tonne of places you can get to to watch new stuff inside the M25.
The media equivalent of "in my day, we were happy with a stick and hoop!"
It's obviously cope.
🎼 [every, every]
🎼 cultural artifact
🎼 [artifact, artifact, oh why!]
🎼 Become a
🎼 [what does it become?]
🎼 A Musical!
[cue: fanfare]
[cue: dancers, acrobats, performing seal]
[repeat verse]
https://youtu.be/9pFbzrbzrtE?si=o2xTJxbafIB8gdn4
(Plus some great original concepts)
Alien?
The Road?
There's one called 'Deal Or No Deal', and another called 'You Bet!'.