Limited Choice

After the bomb threats in Piccadilly Circus in the last couple of days, I’m not sure that I’m dead keen to go to London to see any of the big shows anymore; at present it doesn’t seem like the safest part of town to be in.

And the other aspect of the big shows is that so many of them are recycled pieces or revivals:

Billy Elliott: the musical (recycled film)
Blood Brothers – been around forever
Cabaret – been around forever (and been filmed)
Chicago – been around forever and been filmed)
Dirty Dancing: the classic story on stage – (recycled film)
Fiddler on the Roof – been around forever and been filmed)
Kismet – been around forever and forever – and been filmed
Les Miserables – been around forever
The Lion King – (recycled film)
Lord of the Rings – (recycled film) (And can you imagine this saga being reduced to an evening's musical entertainment?)
Mamma Mia! – recycled music
Mary Poppins (recycled film)
The Phantom of the Opera – been around forever and been filmed
The Sound of Music – been around forever and ever and been filmed and shown forever

Out of these shows only The Lion King, Mary Poppins and Mamma Mia! get enough stars to warrant making the effort to go.
That leaves just two shows that are original pieces: The Drowsy Chaperone, and Spamalot. The DC is about a modern-day theatre buff whose favourite 1928 musical comes to life. Though this is a Tony award-winning show, and stars Elaine Page, it doesn’t get many stars. Spamalot, it turns out is another recycled piece: it’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail turned into a musical. However, it does get the fingers up as worth going to.
When I was in London last time, there was always so much on you didn’t know what to go to, and got to the point where you went to nothing through having so much choice. Now it’s the reverse: so little that’s really worth the effort. And when I was here last time, I went to Fiddler on the Roof after having seen it already in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney version was vibrant, and breathtaking; the London edition, which had been going for ages, was a total bore.