Theatre & Globalization

Training for Writers and Performers

“…The global export of the socalled 'megamusical' by Disney, Cameron Mackintosh or Andrew Lloyd Webber may call for a versatile performer, repurposed for the exacting specifications of these highly franchised musicals. 16 The more sophisticated character-driven musical dramas such as those exemplified in Sondheim's oeuvre, demand acting as the core skill of the integrated performer (e.g., the actor-singer); more recently, innovative musicals with embodied instrumentalist in character, such as Once (2011), have generated a need to train the integrated actor-musician. 17 In Anglophone cultures, the requisite dramaturgical principles for the making of a good musical are grounded in classical (and unacknowledged Aristotelian) paradigms of drama, effectively promulgating the concept of unity and coherence in aspects of character, song, dialogue, plot and spectacle.…”

Geen Grenzen Meer: An American Musical's Unlimited Border Crossing

“…18 Rebellato concurs, proposing that 'these shows appear almost entirely unchanged wherever they are', and that 'the workers have little or no control over their conditions of work; all the creative decisions were taken years ago and are locked down'. 23 Rebellato goes on to value how 'in a theatre audience we can have a very sharp sense of being both ourselves and part of a larger unity', an experience which it would be difficult for Wicked spectators not to have, given the musical's celebration of individualism, its global brand and active fan communities. If the workers have no input into creative decisions, how can spectators discern any differences between their performances?…”

“…20 Certainly any play that is performed in another cultural context is likely to yield differing interpretations, and part of the attraction of theatre is its potential for introducing audiences to the cultural specificity of other 'local' cultural contexts. 27 The audience's awareness of local potential for change and of its productive relationship with the musical onstage thus contributes to Wicked's appeal, and leads to the ultimate purchase of a ticket. 22 These opportunities might not just be reinterpretation, but potentially even the social action and empowerment that Wicked's characters model and its productions encourage.…”