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Larry Ryan
Larry Ryan joined The Independent's website in November 2007. He writes the "Caught in the Net" music column for the paper's Arts & Books section on Friday. He wears thick glasses and talks slowly, traits which people occasionally mistake for signs of intelligence.
Imagine This is a musical which recently opened at the New London Theatre. The show is a big schmaltzy West End affair that happens to be set in the Warsaw ghetto in 1942. Aside from some pretty bad reviews - writing for this paper Michael Coveney awarded it one star out of five - the setting of the musical has unsurprisingly caused some controversy. This morning on the Today programme a nice brewhahah broke out with the musical's producer Beth Trachtenberg facing off against the Evening Standard critic Norman Lebrecht.
The critic, who wrote an article about the show entitled "This is one musical too far", kind of blew his argument when he admitted he had not actually seen the whole thing (just some scenes in rehearsal and a showreel). He didn't help matters by comparing the show's premise with making a musical about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
By the end of the discussion, producer Trachtenberg got all in a tizzy and declared that the audience should decide whether the subject matter was offensive. To prove her point she offered 800 free tickets to tonight's show for listeners. Whether the theatre will actually honour this offer isn't clear, but it is quite a good way to drum up publicity and fill seats for a show that has tanked with the critics.
Listen to the discussion here.
UPDATE: I just spoke to the show's press office and they said the offer will be honoured on a first come first served basis. Get to the box office before 7pm, tell them you heard about the offer on the radio this morning and a free ticket is yours. Granted a lot of reviewers have been underwhelmed, but writing for Independent Minds Edward Seckerson has a somewhat more upbeat view of proceedings. You can make up your own mind tonight for free.
The critic, who wrote an article about the show entitled "This is one musical too far", kind of blew his argument when he admitted he had not actually seen the whole thing (just some scenes in rehearsal and a showreel). He didn't help matters by comparing the show's premise with making a musical about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
By the end of the discussion, producer Trachtenberg got all in a tizzy and declared that the audience should decide whether the subject matter was offensive. To prove her point she offered 800 free tickets to tonight's show for listeners. Whether the theatre will actually honour this offer isn't clear, but it is quite a good way to drum up publicity and fill seats for a show that has tanked with the critics.
Listen to the discussion here.
UPDATE: I just spoke to the show's press office and they said the offer will be honoured on a first come first served basis. Get to the box office before 7pm, tell them you heard about the offer on the radio this morning and a free ticket is yours. Granted a lot of reviewers have been underwhelmed, but writing for Independent Minds Edward Seckerson has a somewhat more upbeat view of proceedings. You can make up your own mind tonight for free.
