Lately I've been thinking alot about my friend and collaborator Adam Lenson. For the last 17 years Adam has been ploughing the hard, arid land, planting seeds, providing nutrients for the soil slowly making the ground fertile.

But Adam is not a farmer.

He is a director, a producer, a creator, tireless advocate for new British musical theatre. He's not the only one who has been doing this, but he's certainly the one who seems to have been shouting the loudest for the longest. 

Conversations with Adam inspired me to be part of a solution. A solution to a question that 15 years ago seemed so nebulous, so vast and so impossible to solve that even the attempt felt like folly...

Why are there so few new musicals by UK musical theatre writers being produced by in the UK? And how can we change that?

17 years ago I wrote my first amateur musical with friends at Putney Arts Theatre Company. Little did I know the path that this experience would set me on. Years later, after throwing myself into the fledgling world of new musicals, I met Adam. I wouldn't have described myself back then as a passionate advocate. I hate upsetting people and I have an almost pathological need to be liked by everyone I meet. But by the time I met Adam, I had been trying to break through (by which I mean make a reasonable living) as a musical theatre maker for 9 years. I was tired but I was also fed up. And that's when the fires started to burn...

Adam's fire had already been burning for a good long while when I met him, but the thing about fires is that they have a tendency to spread. So I started going to events and talks and concerts that Adam was organising...

Adam set up forums, working groups, conversations and concerts where we began to talk about how we could change things. How could we help make this country better at producing new musical theatre. Bear in mind that these groups were made up almost entirely of people who had no real "power" to speak of. We were freelancers, writers, creatives, performers and we came together to try and understand why the doors we had been pounding on for so long remained closed to us. Because it was only in understanding WHY a door is closed that we could learn HOW to open it.

We did not have venues, we were not artistic directors of large theatres, we did not have money but we talked and we learned and we figured out what we were able to do that might ultimately make a difference. We could do what the organisations with the money and the power were not doing. We could support each other, we could encourage each other as we ploughed the stone filled fields in the depths of the icy winter. 

Okay, a little dramatic, but ask any of us musical theatre creators who have been trying to break through for at least 16 years what it felt like (and still does) and I would imagine that isn't too far from the mark. In fact I know it isn't, because many of those creators have become my friends and stout-hearted colleagues.

But the key thing that was really going to help us all, was that whilst supporting each other we had to keep WRITING.

We had to keep getting better at our CRAFT. Because once those doors were opened we had to be READY for what lay on the other side. So what did Adam do, he created SIGNAL where writers could present their craft. An incredible concert series that gave writers the opportunity to hear their material sung by amazing performers and performed by a world class band. And it was all FREE!

Adam created this. I don't know how many shows, collaborations, songs, partnerships, productions began purely because of this incredible act of generosity from a man who refused to let the world he was in dictate the world he wanted to create. But believe me... It's ALOT.

Essentially, along with other tireless producers, BML, MMD and MTN, Adam's work and his concert series have led to the fertilisation of the new musical theatre landscape in this country. There is now a fledgling orchard offering the beginnings of shade and fruit to a younger generation. 

The main thing that I'd like to say is that often this immeasurable contribution passes unnoticed and goes without thanks. We all need to keep planting and growing that orchard, we need to keep supporting the farmers like Adam who with limited resources are nurturing it. And when we get to climb the ladder to harvest the ripest fruit... we cannot pull the ladder up behind us. So if you end up with a platform for a big show with a big marketing budget, please don't forget to use your platform (as much as you are able) not just for yourself and your show but for the industry as a whole. 

Please thank people like Adam and all those who have been fertilising that soil, because years ago they saw an arid, stone-filled field and decided to change it into a beautiful orchard. We sit in the shade of their labour, we eat the ripening fruits of their hard work.

​It's time to give them something back.

Don't be ashamed about writing for money, inspiration can come from anywhere... a flower, a sunset and yes... a paycheck.

Story is influenced by character. Character is influenced by story. As in life, so in art. This is why musicals can take a long time to write. Let your story influence your characters and let your characters influence your story. See where it leads you...

Give yourself an impossible deadline. The impossible deadline is a wonderful thing. It inevitably enables you to achieve the impossible.

If you are stuck in your writing. Stop writing. The idea that you should write even if you don't want to is madness. It follows that you will just write what you don't want to. 

Forget the idea that you are not working if you are not sat at at your piano, playing your guitar or at your laptop. Your brain, your unconscious mind, are working all the time whether you realise it or not. 

Advocate for other storytellers. There is room in the world for all of us and what is good for one, is good for all. The beauty of another's work does not detract from the beauty of your own.

There are people who will tell you story is most important, there are others who will say lyrics and music are most important. The truth is that all must be given detailed care and attention. Book must tell the story, music must tell the story, lyric must tell the story, tone must tell the story and structure must tell the story.

Your first draft will never be the best. Let it be the starting point. Let it be the beginning of it's own story. The story will tell you what it requires along the journey.

Try not to force the story down a path it does not want to go. 

Talk to people about your work. Do NOT keep it a secret. No one is going to steal it from you. Talking to people interrogates your work . It raises questions. It makes your work live. It makes you accountable to your story.

Do not forget that show business is a BUSINESS. If you want your work to appear on the West End or Broadway one day then you need to treat yourself as a business, not just a songwriter. If you don't then that's fine, you don't need to worry. But question yourself as to what you really want. There's no point lying to yourself and then waking up when you're 80 and wishing you had a show on Broadway.

There are a lot of different types of shows. Some can sell 800 tickets a night, 8 times a week. Some can sell 300, some 100. Put yourself in the mind of an audience member and see which one your show fits into. That way you will have practical expectations for a realistic outcome.

Training is important. But not the sort of training that you think. You just need to learn to how tell a story. 

Learning how to read and write music will NOT stifle your creativity. On the contrary it will free you from the limits of your technique. It is simply another tool in your songwriting arsenal. It will help you move beyond your own ability as a performer and into the realm of writing.

It is NOT difficult to learn to read and write music. It just takes time.

If you want to write a musical you should go ahead and write one. And you should expect it to transfer to the West End and you should expect it to be a huge success. And you should also expect it to never be heard beyond the confines of your bedroom.

It is a simple thing to believe that you are right. It is a complex process to come to the understanding that you are SO SO wrong. Your collaborators will teach you this. Don't worry if you get angry with them, or if they get angry with you. The end result will be so much better for the fact of conflict.

Drama is conflict. Every scene. Someone wants something. Something stops them from getting it. END OF. If this is not playing out in the scene then it does need to be in your show.

Look at your favourite song. And then cut it. Cut it for a day or for a week. See what happens. Often, your favourite song is the first one you wrote. And inevitably as the story grows it's original sentiment can become the most redundant. Or it can reinforce it's importance. Either way you will learn something invaluable about the heart of your story.

Cut. cut. cut. You will always have the original version of your script. You can always go back. I can guarantee that you never will.

Let your ego run wild. Believe that you are the best. There is no harm in believing a little white lie if it gives you the confidence to write.

Comedy is surprise. Laughter only comes from someone not expecting something. So imagine what you'd expect and then do the opposite.

Drama is someone wanting something they can't have. The gap between them is the important thing and you must linger there as long as possible in order to maintain tension.

You must give the audience what they want sometimes. Not all the time but sometimes. Or else they will get frustrated with you and the story.

Lyrics must do more than rhyme. Rhyme is the LEAST important aspect of a lyric until you've got the meaning, voice and intention right. Once you've got them right then rhyme becomes the MOST important aspect of a lyric.

Perfect rhymes act as a function beyond themselves. They will make you work harder, they will make you see things you did not see. In extraordinary circumstances they can even change the course of a story. Pursue them relentlessly.

Failing will hurt. No one expects you to get up straight away. But you must get up.

Splitting your focus can be useful for figuring out what it is you actually want to do.

Once you have figured out what you want to do, splitting your focus can only be a bad thing.

​Just write.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed but something very exciting is happening to the West End...

New smaller productions of high quality musicals are making their way to the West End for shorter runs than the traditional 20 years. This is clearly one of the results of a new generation of pioneering producers who are evolving their practice to survive and thrive in a world where Covid-19 has wrought devastation on our traditional West End.

Adam Lenson is bringing Francesca Maria Forristal and Jordan Paul Clarke's Public Domain and Katy Lipson
 is bringing her Southwark Playhouse production of The Last Five Years.

A year ago it would have been nearly impossible that small Off West End productions could have made it to the West End, now these producers and writers are taking the opportunities they have long deserved.

Now, my lovely ego Jasper Mountbatten III who has been rather quiet during lockdown would probably be spitting tacks that he's not on the West End-

JASPER: You're fucking right I am! I'm a steaming shit pile of envy. I'm literally like a green eyed trash fire of stinking jealousy!

But calm down Jasper. You should be delighted that these guys are all going to the West End.

JASPER: Like crap I should! Why?

Because, what is good for one is good for all. If these fantastic producers are finally being able to push open the previously locked doors of the West End, that means there's an opportunity for a shift in the landscape of the West End. That there is opportunity for new UK musicals to make it to the wider audience that they are now deserving of.

The number of quality writers is growing, the shows they are producing are stronger, better and now deserve a wider audience and I for one am so glad that they West End is opening up to them for these shorter but still incredibly important opportunities.

LONG MAY THIS CONTINUE.

But in order for it to continue...

There is one thing that needs to happen to ensure these opportunities remain open in the future to the next generation.

They need to be VIABLE. That means they need to SELL. And that means...

YOU need to buy a ticket to these shows and you need to tell your friends to buy tickets. It's a chance to see brilliant new material in the incredible theatre's of London's West End.

What's not to like. Buy a ticket now. Best thing is that the producers have fought to make sure the West End tickets for their shows are affordable for everyday folks like you and me!
​
Links below:
Public Domain
https://www.theatreticketsdirect.co.uk/.../public-domain...
The Last Five Years
https://seatplan.com/london/the-last-five-years/...

I was just listening to Desert Island Discs and was inspired to make a list of my early influences. Unsurprisingly only one pair of musical theatre writers makes the list. The rest are artists of different genres that have all nevertheless contributed an enormous amount to my growth as a writer of musical theatre.

​Enjoy!

Yusuf Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman
I listened to and played Cat Stevens entire catalogue over a period of my teenage years and through my early twenties. I was obsessed with the guitar work, the beautiful arrangements, the constantly searching lyrics and that voice. I used to try an imitate his voice. I thought I was doing a pretty good job until I eventually heard a recording of my voice. Stevens work is at the heart of my folk voice. Whilst I have written and performed in a multitude of styles from gypsy jazz, flamenco, heavy metal, pop, opera, classical, old school jazz and afro beat to country, dance, hip hop and reggae. I must say that folk music is the heartland of my musical soul. Stevens curiosity about life and philosophy captured in song is both entertaining and meaningful. Something which I am constantly trying to acheive in my own work.

I swam upon the devils lake
I'l never, never, never
I'll never make the same mistake.... (listen for the pause here, genius)
I'll never, never, never

Paul Simon - Graceland & Monday 
Paul Simon's musical curiosity and diversity is extraordinary. From his early days with Art Garfunkel through to the Graceland Album, the Rhythm of the Saints and even an original musical, Simon has never been satisfied with sitting on his laurels. Arguably one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century he was constantly borrowing from other cultures and styles and yet always confidently putting his own spin on them. The result was some of the most unique music of modern times, both lyrically and musically. His lyrics tend towards the poetic, juxtaposing images conjuring a rich tapestry of life and all it's strangeness whilst also maintaining an emotional intimacy and powerful storytelling arc. Again, it is something I strive for as a storyteller. I think it's really Paul Simon who has influenced my metaphorical work. I mean seriously:

Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

Joni Mitchell - Blue 
I started listening to Joni Mitchell in my mid twenties. I can't remember who introduced me to her but it was a revelatory moment. I quickly became obsessed with her work and life. Several of my early songs are direct responses to her own work and if you listen carefully you can hear the nods to her work throughout. I use her work when teaching songwriting because she is the absolute master of showing rather than telling. She can make you feel her loneliness without even going near the word "lonely", she can make you feel her obsession with using any word even associated with "obsession." To me this is masterclass songwriting. She makes the specific universal. It is a skill that in the pop mainstream has almost disappeared and is the poorer for it. When I'm teaching songwriting it is one of the first things I talk about. Anyone can say they are lonely. But only Joni Mitchell can say:

On the back of a cartoon coaster, in the blue tv screen light
I drew a map of canada, oh canada
And sketched your face on it twice

Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice - Joseph & the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat & Jesus Christ Superstar
One of the first albums I ever listened to. And I listened to it over and over again. One of the best things about this is Tim Rice's lyrics. The man is just very funny, extremely theatrical. It is not easy to write a joke in lyrics or make people laugh when they're expecting a rhyme but Tim Rice does this in spades. And Lloyd Webber's music compliments it perfectly, Certainly there is alot of pastiche being played with here but also you can hear the beginning of contemporary musical theatre. From which many writers of todays generation have drawn their influence. Always tuneful with masterful lyrics. Lloyd Webber and Rice were a brilliant combination. It's a shame that they were unable to continue their collaboration. I think from them I learned how important it was to have humour in my stories and how that humour can go hand in hand with the drama. In fact, you can't have Close Every Door to Me without Those Canaan Days. You can't have Gethsemane without Herods Song. There is only so much drama that an audience can withstand without having some release through laughter. It makes the drama all the more powerful.

Robert Schumann & Robert Schubert - Dichterliebe, Die Schone Mullerin & Die Wintereisse
When I first started learning classical singing officially from a teacher. I started listening to a singer called Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. He was the preeminent proponent of interpretation of the lied (german classical song) and I listened to every recording he made. Through his recordings I came to know the works of Schumann & Schubert (along with Brahms and Beethoven). In particular I became completely obsessed with the songcycles Dichterliebe, Die Schone Mullerin & Die Wintereisse. All settings of romantic german poetry. Both heartbreaking and tragic and yet full of hope and joy. The variation, the tunefulness, the utter drama and the height of human emotion conveyed in these settings is extraordinary. But for me the thing I took away the most was the importance of the arrangements. These were piano accompaniment but they never failed to capture every element of the world in which the song was taking place. If there was a river, it sounded like a river, if there was wind in the trees it sounded like wind in the trees. And the voice sat beautifully upon the top of all of this as just another addition to the world. Another thing I learnt from these guys is you've got to hold back your exciting moments. If your whole song is set in a higher register then there ain't no way that top G is going to be exciting. Hold back. Build them up. Make them wait.

Coldplay - Rush of Blood to the Head
It's the euphoria of coldplay that I love. I don't necessarily understand all of their lyrics but the pulsing rhythm and joy of the sound of their work is utterly compelling. And indeed would perhaps be lessened by actually being able to understand the lyric. I can lose myself in the simple pounding heartbeat of the rhythms and feel things that words cannot attain. I think that's one of the most important things that has influenced me. I sometimes get carried away with the clarity and perfection of a lyric. But it's important to remember that music on it's own can tell a fantastic story in the right context and sometimes it's just smart to let it do it's thing. Let an audience be overwhelmed by the sound of a moment. Give them time.

Metallica - The Black Album
At school, while I was listening to Cat Stevens I was also listening intently to Metallica's Black Album. It's the family friendly one. Nothing Else Matters, Enter Sandman etc. I don't know if you can really call it heavy heavy metal. But I loved it. I loved it so much I did a mathematical statistics project analysing the songs of metallica and comparing them with those of Eric Clapton. Again, the power of the sound was something extraordinary. The electric charge of the music. I learned to play all of their songs (much to my mother's irritation). They are the reason I got my first electric guitar. But what I took away from Metallica is the deep sense of drama and variation in their songs. The Dynamic range of their music is astonishing. Often starting with an almost acoustic sound before letting rip on the overdriven guitars and pounding drums. That sense of build and anticipation is something that every musical theatre writer should know about.

Queen - A Night at the Opera
Well, quite simply this is pop musical theatre isn't it. I would have loved to have heard an original musical by Queen. The sheer theatricality of their performance, lyrics and music. Each song was a mini musical in itself. Bohemian Rhapsody does exactly what it says on the tin. It's poetic, hilarious, beautiful both musically and lyrically and contains a huge amount of pathos, drama and humour and being held together with fantastic musical hooks. It's everything musical theatre should be and I only wish we had more of their work. From them I learnt about the theatre. What it is, what it can be and who it's for. 

I call these influences because they were present in my earlier years, they are part of my musical DNA. Of course I'm inspired by many different musical artists and have huge respect for so many musical theatre writers but because I was not obsessed with them back in my early years they are not listed here.

There is clearly so much to learn from musical artists of other genres that contribute to the musical theatre art form and I am very grateful that such artists existed and still exist and are still making music.