Ahoy Peter Pan

Musical theatre is a costly enterprise and so much can go wrong, so it’s no surprise Ireland hasn’t seen much of it. Now a new production of ‘Peter Pan’ aims to reverse our fortunes – but will it succeed?

THE COLOSSAL PROBLEMS of the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Darkon one of Broadway's largest stages has put the spotlight on the mechanics that underlie the production of musical theatre. On paper, the musical's success seemed certain. Julie Taymor, its director, was responsible for one of the most successful new musicals in recent years, The Lion King,which debuted in 1997 and is now the seventh longest-running show in Broadway history. The involvement of Bono and the Edge lent commercial credibility to Turn Off the Dark's music, promising a score that would have pop-rock as well as Broadway appeal. A famous comic-book hero made the subject matter both cutting-edge and timeless. And, finally, a seemingly inexhaustible supply of cash was available to fund the spectacle – eventually, more than $75 million, making it the most expensive production in the history of musical theatre. What could go wrong?

Everything, apparently. Musical theatre is a risky business, and with so many creative and investment interests involved it can be difficult to predict success. The fact that it is so expensive to produce makes the stakes even higher.

The enormous financial investment is one reason Irish theatre, whose commercial aspect is still relatively underdeveloped, doesn't really have a tradition of producing musicals. But this week a new musical version of Peter Panis being produced at the Grand Canal Theatre, marking significant progress for musical theatre in Ireland.

So what is involved in creating a musical? How do you maximise innovation while minimising risk? How do you ensure your Broadway Baby doesn't turn into the webbed mess of a Spider-Man?

THE PRODUCER

Michael Rose is in a perfect position to explain the vagaries of the industry, as this is his second attempt to launch a musical version of JM Barrie’s famous story. The first was a co-production at Leicester’s New Theatre, “which didn’t turn out as I expected”.

" Peter Panis a very delicate piece that can seem quite dated if it's not told properly, but the one thing it does have going for it is the magic; this idea of being able to fly. The flying was very disappointing – you could see the wires – and while the score was fine, if you are going to update or retell a classic story, you have to play around with it, come up with something just as good or better, and it just didn't have that spark."

After bringing Chitty Chitty Bang Bangto the Grand Canal Theatre last year, Rose was so impressed with the theatre's facilities that he mooted the idea of collaboration on a new musical that would open at the theatre. " Peter Panimmediately came to mind again," he says. "I thought that we should scrap everything we already had and start again."

REHEARSALS

When Peter Panhas its first preview performance on Friday, it will have been in gestation for 12 months. It may seem a short lead-in time to compose a score, write a script, find a director, work out technical requirements and recruit the obligatory stars for the principal roles, but the world of musical theatre moves faster than you might think: the rehearsal process for the production itself is only four weeks. As director David Morgan explains, "the main challenge is one of time and running out of it" – and the cast of 39 are all rehearsed separately. "We have flying rehearsals, music calls, dance calls, fight calls and that is just for all the actors stage."

The ensemble, principals, orchestra and dancers rehearse separately before the entire ensemble is brought together for the first time for “costume fittings, technical and sound checks” five days before the first public performance. Rose is typically buoyant. “The days are planned like a military operation, so everybody is absolutely sure what is happening: technically, musically, choreographically. It’s like putting a jigsaw together – the orchestra, costume, scenery – making sure the pieces fit.”

MUSIC

The popular success of most of the major commercial musicals depends on audience familiarity, and this seems especially true when it comes to the music, whether this familiarity comes from film versions of stage musicals ( Cabaret, Evita) or musical movies remodelled for the stage ( West Side Story, The Sound of Music), or the more recent musical spin-offs from the world of pop ( Mamma Mia, We Will Rock You).

A composer for a new musical score needs to be aware of musical conventions as well as have an original vision for new catchy numbers. Rose explains that the original score by Robert Scott started off as a “very raw piece of material: first just piano and then the lyrics are added.” Prestigious Broadway composer Larry Blank was brought in then “to do the orchestration, the designers come in to visualise it, and the music starts to take completely different shape”.

Composer Robert Scott says that, with the music itself, “the melodies have to have [an] easy and familiar sound to them” and be “accessible to the whole audience from six to 60. I would like to think they may leave the theatre having been enchanted and entertained, but also humming a couple of the tunes. Though you certainly don’t try to write anything that would specifically be for merchandising or ‘album’ purposes, there have been a couple of songs – one in particular – people have been excited about and that we feel may reach a much wider audience.”

DESIGN

One of the most common ways that commercial theatre producers economise on technical and touring budgets is reflected in the growing use of digital projection instead of 3D scenery. For Peter Pan, Rose explains, the use of digital projection also allows them to enhance the transformative nature of the story itself, as it moves from the real world of the London nursery to the magical Never Never Land.

The rear projection is also pre-filmed, which cuts down on rehearsal time and production staff costs; instead of flying in different painted cloths and 3D stock, nearly everything is facilitated with a single piece of high-spec equipment.

Rose insists that the visual element is not compromised because of the story itself. “A lot of it is live animation, because that is the easiest and most convincing way to make an audience, used to 3D film and technology, feel like they are in a real place when we get to Never Never Land. But we combine it with stock 3D scenery to fill in the rear side-lines so that it there is depth and movement to it too.”

TECHNICAL

Among the biggest challenges the Spider-Man musical faced were the technical aspects of the show – namely, the flying sequences and aerial fight scenes.

Peter Paninvolves both, and Rose credits recent technological developments with enabling these essential elements. The flying is managed using sophisticated software and a special programming computer "that calculates the different flight speeds and the angle of various carriages allows the actor to fly effortlessly around the stage without any visible mechanism. Because it's all being done by computer, rather than someone on the end of a rope, pulling someone up and down human hand, there is a smoothness to the flight and that's important because you've got to convince the audience that Peter Pancan fly – that it's as natural to him as walking or running."

The realisation of the fairy character Tinkerbell is also a technical challenge. “There is a point in the story where Tinkerbell threatens to morph from a magical flashing light into human form and we see her grow from tiny fairy up to adult size. That moment is quite magical for young people – to be able to see that trickery and illusion.”

BOX OFFICE

In terms of its production budget, Peter Panis not at the same level as Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, yet even with a budget of just €2.2 million it seems impossible that the producers will recoup their investment through the box-office alone.

"That's true," says Rose. "But that is why we hope the premiere in Dublin will be well received. We are taking it to Southampton at Christmas for a five-week run which will hopefully allow us to amortise the costs." If Southampton proves a commercial success, further touring will be considered. And if it all goes wrong, there might be some consolation from the failure. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Darkhas gained perhaps more media attention than any other production in musical theatre history, with sell-out audiences attracted by the vicarious potential for disaster.

Peter Panpreviews at the Grand Canal Theatre from Friday. It opens on July 19th and runs until August 6th.