80s Musicals

Throughout the 1980s musicals saw the influence of ‘pop

operas’/’mega musicals’ produced predominantly on Broadway and
the West End, however occasionally elsewhere. Up until this point, it
was possible for a show to be considered a success after running
several hundred performances, but with the mega musicals huge
budgets redefining expectations for financial accomplishment a show
must run for years before turning over a profit.

The score of these musicals typically featured a pop influenced

soundtrack, with large casts and very apparent stage effects, for example:
 A helicopter landing on stage – Miss Saigon (1989)
 The falling chandelier – Phantom of the Opera (1986)
 Performing on roller skates – Starlight Express (1984)

Many of the musicals of the 1980s were based on novels/other works of

literature, with – arguably – the most important writers, consisting of the
French team Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, collaborating to
produce the longest-running international musical hit in history, Les
Miserables. The team, in association with Richard Maltby Jr. continued to
produce such huge hits that are still with us today, including the hugely
popular Miss Saigon (1989) inspired by the Puccini opera, ‘Madame Butterfly’.

British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber saw similar success in the West
End with musicals such as:

 Cats – derived from the poems of T.S. Elliot (1981)

 The Phantom of the Opera -derived from the Gaston Leroux novel,
"Le Fantôme de l'Opéra" (1986)
 Starlight Express – performed on roller skates (1984)
 Aspects of Love (1989)
These musicals ran/are still running, for decades in both New York and London,
as well as having extraordinary international and touring success.

British Musicals in the 1980s:

By the start of the 1980s, Britain itself was in a recession and the West
End was facing rising costs of production and falling audiences, so it wouldn’t
have seemed like the ideal time for Andrew Lloyd Webber to attempt such a
predominantly dance based musical, Britain never having had a successful
dance musical before – however the production was pivotal to the direction of
musicals and signalled the birth of the mega-musical as it went on to be
known. Cats was the starting point of a major change in British musical theatre
as it had previously been known, with both Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber
both becoming increasingly known on a global stage. Against all odds, the
musical went on to be hugely successful, running for 21 years in London,
closing in May 2002 after nearly 9000 performances.
As well as original, key musicals being produced throughout the decade,
many old favourites became hits again after being adapted and updated, such
as Noel Gay’s ‘Me and My Girl’ which became a popular show once more,
nearly 50 years after its original release in 1937.
Whilst Cats/Starlight Express truly introduced dance to musical theatre,
Les Miserables (1980) would be the first to bring the Royal Shakespeare
Company’s expertise in everything, from high drama ability through to the set
design. One of the big reasons that Les Mis remains as popular today as it was
all those years ago is because the storyline remains just as relevant and
recognisable in society today as it was 150 years ago.