0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains some strong language
0:00:05 > 0:00:06Theatreland.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08London's West End.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10One square mile of musical talent
0:00:10 > 0:00:14worth over a quarter of a billion pounds a year.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17One of the cultural epicentres of Great Britain and the world.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22But it wasn't always this way.
0:00:22 > 0:00:2765 years ago, the West End was parochial,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29trapped in a time warp of pre-war nostalgia,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33completely unprepared for a new breed of musical emerging from America.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43This is the story of the rise of the British musical,
0:00:43 > 0:00:47how the British fought back against American domination,
0:00:47 > 0:00:49to not only reclaim the West End,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53but to become a driving force behind musical theatre around the world,
0:00:53 > 0:00:59turning it into a global industry worth over £1.5 billion a year.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04It's a tale of titanic shows.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06Half of it wasn't written,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09and the bits that had been written were far too long.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14Nobody in our team had done it before, except for me.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16This was a sort of a musical phenomena.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19A story of prodigious talent.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23All the talent that was being invented were all in Britain.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25We just thought, "This is working quite well."
0:01:25 > 0:01:28And that was the day my life changed for ever.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30And phenomenal daring.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34After the reviews, our box office was shredded.
0:01:34 > 0:01:35They gotta see some ass!
0:01:35 > 0:01:37They took him off screen and we never saw him again.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40That's how difficult that show is.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55MUSIC: "We'll Gather Lilacs" from Perchance To Dream
0:01:55 > 0:02:02# We'll gather lilacs in the spring again... #
0:02:02 > 0:02:05At the end of World War II, the West End musical,
0:02:05 > 0:02:11cut off from outside influences for six long years, was looking tired.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15The musicals of one-time giants Ivor Novello and Noel Coward,
0:02:15 > 0:02:17with their polite tales of romance,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21were feeling as out of date as their Victorian settings.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26And in 1947, London found itself under a new bombardment -
0:02:26 > 0:02:30a wave of American musicals quite different from anything
0:02:30 > 0:02:33any British audience had ever seen before.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37I remember when Oklahoma! came over. It had a terrific effect on us.
0:02:37 > 0:02:43# O-O-O-O-O-Oklahoma where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain... #
0:02:43 > 0:02:47I was just knocked out. Absolutely knocked out. Breathless.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51# When the wind comes right behind the rain... #
0:02:51 > 0:02:56It was just wallop, on, you know? # Oklahoma... # And, wow!
0:02:56 > 0:02:58And the energy of it sort of took your breath away.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03It was the first time after the sort of dreary years
0:03:03 > 0:03:04of what was going on in the war,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08where a vibrant new musical had opened in London,
0:03:08 > 0:03:10and it was a burst of sunshine.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12# And when we say...
0:03:12 > 0:03:16# Yow! I-yip-I-yo-I-yay!
0:03:16 > 0:03:20# We're only sayin' You're doin' fine, Oklahoma
0:03:20 > 0:03:24# Oklahoma OK. #
0:03:24 > 0:03:27In its choreography, lighting, even its cowboy setting,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Oklahoma! was light years away from what the British were doing.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35But its most revolutionary aspect was the way it seamlessly
0:03:35 > 0:03:39stitched dance, song and dialogue into a dramatic whole.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43The dances and the songs were all part of the show,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45which was unusual.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49In the old days the songs just came in for no reason at all.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52But it was all a whole, you know, integrated.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55# There's no business like show business
0:03:55 > 0:03:58# Like no business I know... #
0:03:58 > 0:04:00The Americans had arrived.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Powerhouses like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin
0:04:04 > 0:04:06and Lerner and Loewe.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10The Americans had so many great writers in full swing.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13They just came one after the other, you know. It was marvellous.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17# There's no people like show people... #
0:04:17 > 0:04:20The Americans were in the ascendance.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Unable to rival them, British composers came up with breezier,
0:04:24 > 0:04:30small-scale musicals like Salad Days and The Boy Friend - curiosities,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34quite different from the loud, flashy shows coming from Broadway.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38I never felt that I could really write that sort of show.
0:04:38 > 0:04:44And in fact, writing The Boy Friend was in direct contrast.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48It was very old-fashioned, it was an old-fashioned 1920s musical.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55# We've got to have We've got to have
0:04:55 > 0:04:57# For it's so dreary not to have
0:04:57 > 0:05:00# That certain thing called the boy friend... #
0:05:00 > 0:05:03The Boy Friend's story of love on the French Riviera
0:05:03 > 0:05:07was inspired by the dance crazes of the Roaring Twenties.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10With Britain in the grip of a revival
0:05:10 > 0:05:12of those happier pre-war years, The Boy Friend
0:05:12 > 0:05:16became a rare British musical success.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20I think it was the timing was right.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24We'd had so many American musicals,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27and suddenly The Boy Friend... It was so simple,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29it was not sophisticated at all,
0:05:29 > 0:05:34and the music was pretty, the lyrics were lovely.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38# I could be happy with you
0:05:38 > 0:05:44# If you could be happy with me.... #
0:05:44 > 0:05:45It was thrilling, really.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Because somehow in my childhood I'd always imagined
0:05:49 > 0:05:53that I would write a musical comedy that would be a hit on the West End,
0:05:53 > 0:05:58and it actually happened with the first show I'd wrote.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10The Boy Friend's use of 1920s American dance music made it
0:06:10 > 0:06:12an appealing prospect to Broadway producers.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16In 1954, it became the first post-war musical
0:06:16 > 0:06:17to go against the tide
0:06:17 > 0:06:20and transfer to New York.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24I drank Manhattans, I ate hamburgers,
0:06:24 > 0:06:28I went to Macy's and Bloomingdale's.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31That was the culture for me.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33It was like an Aladdin's Cave, to tell the truth,
0:06:33 > 0:06:38coming from...not war-torn Britain, but we were a bit deprived here.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45The American producers on Broadway were Cy Feuer and Ernie Martin -
0:06:45 > 0:06:49showmen whose latest blockbuster, Guys and Dolls,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52was an altogether more showbizzy affair
0:06:52 > 0:06:55than the intimate period piece that was The Boy Friend.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58They were very charming to begin with.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00But not for long.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05They were brutes.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10They were determined to make it a hit, come what may.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13They suddenly turned on us and said, "Get out."
0:07:13 > 0:07:18In fact, I was literally picked up and flung out onto the sidewalk. Yup.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22And we weren't allowed in at all until the first night,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26and by that time they had done a lot of damage.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29They'd turned it into a burlesque.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Only by hamming up The Boy Friend for cheap laughs
0:07:39 > 0:07:42did the American producers believe it could be a Broadway hit.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46If the British were ever to find success in America on their own terms,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50a radical rethink of musical theatre would have to happen.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57By the late 1950s,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00the seeds of that revolution were beginning to be sown,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03not in West End's Theatreland,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06but in the socially deprived East End
0:08:06 > 0:08:10and the politically radical Stratford East theatre workshop.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16At present, the company are working on a new musical
0:08:16 > 0:08:20about the Soho underworld, under their director, Joan Littlewood.
0:08:20 > 0:08:21Joan Littlewood was probably
0:08:21 > 0:08:24the most important theatre director in Britain
0:08:24 > 0:08:26in the second half of the 20th century.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28She sort of reinvented theatre.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31She got fed up of this notion that theatre was posh people.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34She allowed you to be yourself.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37I mean, I was a working-class, lower-class girl,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41and I was forced to be middle class by the theatre of the day,
0:08:41 > 0:08:42because that's what you did.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46You spoke nice, and you looked pretty, and you weren't tall,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50so I always wore flat shoes, and, you know, you conformed.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52And Joan suddenly threw all that aside.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54Coming here, expecting to have a card game.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55They look around, and what do they see?
0:08:55 > 0:08:58You, and your bleedin' birds, and 'im, lying about all over the place.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01So they went off to that bleedin' Frenchy's down the road.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05She actually directed shows in a way they'd never been directed before.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08She improvised scenes with the actors. Scripts were built up
0:09:08 > 0:09:10through the process of improvisation with actors.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Everybody threw in their two-penn'orth.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15And she always had music in her plays,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19because it seemed right and proper that people would burst into song.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23So I don't think she distinguished between "a musical" and "a play."
0:09:23 > 0:09:25She was a total original, Joan.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33While Littlewood was transforming theatre,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36a revolution was happening in the world of popular music.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Rock and roll was the sound of a new generation,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41and a young East End Jewish songwriter named Lionel Bart
0:09:41 > 0:09:43was making a name for himself
0:09:43 > 0:09:47penning hits for the likes of Cliff Richard and Tommy Steele.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51I met him about two o'clock in the morning,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53at a party that I'd been invited to
0:09:53 > 0:09:57in a bombed ruin next door to Waterloo station.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01And there was this fella wearing a big pitcher hat,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04a big feather boa, and one of those oil lamps,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08swinging it round his head, singing There Ain't Nothing Like A Dame.
0:10:08 > 0:10:09And it was Lionel.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Crazy. Mad.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14Absolutely potty.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16But brilliant.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22In 1959, Joan Littlewood asked Bart to add music and lyrics
0:10:22 > 0:10:25to Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27a comedy about the Soho criminal underworld.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29The meeting of two mavericks
0:10:29 > 0:10:33would have lasting consequences for the British musical.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36Lionel loved working on his feet, and he loved working with other people.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Joan would say, "We need another song here." "What about?"
0:10:40 > 0:10:43"About, er, this guy comes on." "OK!" And he'd go away.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48He loved that show-off thing of being able to go "There you are, there's the song." And it was brilliant.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Fings' story of bent coppers, spivs and prostitutes
0:10:53 > 0:10:56became a surprise hit.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Publicity was helped with a spin-off single by Max Bygraves.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04- CHORUS:- Oi! Do me a favour!
0:11:04 > 0:11:09# They changed our local pally into a bowling alley
0:11:09 > 0:11:15# And fings ain't what they used t'be... #
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Now, if you listen to that, you get no indication at all
0:11:18 > 0:11:21of what the show was about, because the words were completely rewritten.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25The original words for Fings are entirely different
0:11:25 > 0:11:26from the Max Bygraves version,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29and the BBC could not in a million years play it.
0:11:29 > 0:11:35# It's toffs with toffee noses and poofs in coffee houses
0:11:35 > 0:11:40# And fings ain't wot they used t'be
0:11:40 > 0:11:42# There's short-time low-price mysteries
0:11:42 > 0:11:44# Without proper histories
0:11:44 > 0:11:48# Fings ain't wot they used t'be
0:11:48 > 0:11:51# There used to be class doing the town
0:11:51 > 0:11:53# Buying a bit of vice
0:11:53 > 0:11:57# And that's when a brass couldn't go down
0:11:57 > 0:12:00# Under the union price Not likely
0:12:00 > 0:12:05# Once in golden days of yore Ponces killed a lazy whore
0:12:05 > 0:12:09# Fings ain't wot they used t'be. #
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Want a second chorus?
0:12:14 > 0:12:17With its subject matter and language,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Fings was a direct challenge
0:12:19 > 0:12:21to the office of the Lord Chamberlain,
0:12:21 > 0:12:22which for over 200 years
0:12:22 > 0:12:25had been the country's official theatre censor.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28The interior decorating,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Wallas Eaton carrying a ladder.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35The censorship man said that we mustn't carry the ladder
0:12:35 > 0:12:40in a sort of semi-vertical position, because that's suggestive.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43The night he came in, it was carried at an "erotic" angle,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45and he wasn't standing for that.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47He wanted a lot of the words taken out.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Nobody took any notice of him - the show was semi-improvised,
0:12:50 > 0:12:52so they'd just make up new stuff.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59With Fings, the British musical seemed to be finding its feet.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01But the Americans had already unleashed
0:13:01 > 0:13:04yet another game-changing blockbuster.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06# La-la la-la-la America
0:13:06 > 0:13:09# America
0:13:09 > 0:13:11# La-la la-la-la America
0:13:11 > 0:13:14# America. #
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Overriding the whole of musical theatre
0:13:18 > 0:13:21from the late '50s to the early '60s was West Side Story,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24which was just such an overpowering achievement.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28Everybody just watched it with open mouths, and said, "How the hell d'you do that?"
0:13:28 > 0:13:32West Side Story's update of Romeo and Juliet
0:13:32 > 0:13:34using rival ethnic street gangs
0:13:34 > 0:13:37left audiences shocked.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Never before had a musical attempted such adult themes,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43and tied it together with a bristling soundtrack
0:13:43 > 0:13:45and electrifying choreography.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47No-one knew what to do.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50The musical had come to a stop, killed by genius.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55Bernstein's genius stopped them
0:13:55 > 0:13:57knowing where they were going to go next.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59So along comes Lionel Bart,
0:13:59 > 0:14:05an ordinary Cockney boy from the East End with salt beef and a pickle,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09and he goes back to his Cockney roots.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11What Lionel did, instead of trying to leap over the bar,
0:14:11 > 0:14:13he limboed under it
0:14:13 > 0:14:18and came in with this Dickens story that had British tunes in it.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21He didn't try and do that American jazzy stuff
0:14:21 > 0:14:24to equal West Side Story. He did these knees-up, ah...
0:14:24 > 0:14:28You cannot listen to Oliver without doing that. # Consider yourself... #
0:14:28 > 0:14:34# Da da da da da ba-ba-ba-bum Ba-ra-ba-da-ba-di-bum. #
0:14:34 > 0:14:37# Consider yourself at home
0:14:37 > 0:14:41# Consider yourself one of the family... #
0:14:41 > 0:14:46Like Bernstein, Bart had written a musical about street gangs,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48but this was a very British story
0:14:48 > 0:14:51set in the seedy underbelly of Dickens' London.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55Much of the success of the show would depend on how well Fagin,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58the evil gang leader of the novel, could be turned into
0:14:58 > 0:15:01a more sympathetic figure for the West End stage.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Auditioning for the part was actor Ron Moody.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09For the first audition, they said, "What about singing?"
0:15:09 > 0:15:12So I said, "Erm, well, I can do..."
0:15:12 > 0:15:17OPERATIC VOICE: # Nessun Dorma! Nessun Dorma. #
0:15:17 > 0:15:23HE CONTINUES TO SING IN ITALIAN
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Etc, etc.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28Terrible, eh?
0:15:28 > 0:15:30He got the part, and he invented the part.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32There's no getting away from that,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36that for everybody that's ever played Fagin since,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40there is always that reference point that you are referring to Ron Moody.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45# When I see someone rich Both my thumbs start to itch
0:15:45 > 0:15:50# Only to find some peace of mind I have to pick a pocket or two
0:15:50 > 0:15:53# You've got to pick a pocket or two
0:15:53 > 0:15:59# Oh...ah-ah-ah-ah
0:15:59 > 0:16:02# Ah-ah-ah-ah... #
0:16:02 > 0:16:04HE CHUCKLES
0:16:04 > 0:16:06# You've got to pick a pocket or two
0:16:06 > 0:16:11# Just to find some peace of mind
0:16:11 > 0:16:13# We have to pick a pocket
0:16:13 > 0:16:19# Or two-o! #
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Even with the brilliance of Moody as Fagin,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24at its stage premiere in June 1960,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28Bart wasn't convinced that Oliver! could be a success.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Lionel Bart was so convinced that it was a flop
0:16:32 > 0:16:36that he went down the road to Barbara Windsor's dressing room,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40where he spent most of the show, because Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be was on there,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44and came back and heard this braying noise and thought he was being booed!
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Donald Albery, who was the producer, was "Where the hell have you been?
0:16:47 > 0:16:50"Come with me!" And they basically pushed him on stage.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53By this time they'd taken 23 curtain calls.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Not just curtain calls, but reprises of Consider Yourself.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58They'd sung that song 23 times.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01The cast were hoarse. The audience wasn't going to go home.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03And whoof, that was it.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06He was the master. Suddenly.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09He wasn't just Lionel Bart any more, he was a big thing.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12# Oliver, Oliver
0:17:12 > 0:17:15# Never before has a boy wanted more... #
0:17:15 > 0:17:19What made Bart's success all the more extraordinary
0:17:19 > 0:17:22was that he couldn't actually read or write music.
0:17:22 > 0:17:27He was full of ideas, but he didn't hand you a piece of paper
0:17:27 > 0:17:30saying, "There you are, there's the plan."
0:17:30 > 0:17:32The tunes came to him.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34HE HUMS
0:17:34 > 0:17:38"Yeah, that's a little tune." Somebody would write it down.
0:17:38 > 0:17:39It's this E flat, you see.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41PIANO NOTE
0:17:41 > 0:17:46# I'll see you again... #
0:17:46 > 0:17:50I think it must be very difficult to write both words AND music.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53You haven't got somebody telling you where you're going wrong.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56OUT-OF-TUNE SINGING
0:17:56 > 0:18:00So Lionel Bart was a significant talent, he really was.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Either your piano is out of tune, or you've got cloth ears, mate.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07You see, that's why his talent went through him like that,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11because he didn't think, "Well, what did I have to do with it?
0:18:11 > 0:18:14"All I did was invent the tunes." But they were marvellous!
0:18:14 > 0:18:19# Food glorious food What is there more handsome? #
0:18:19 > 0:18:23Three years after its London premiere, Oliver! launched on Broadway
0:18:23 > 0:18:26to critical and commercial acclaim.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30Britain finally had a genuine international hit,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32free from American meddling.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36It was the start of a boom time for Brits on Broadway,
0:18:36 > 0:18:38and Bart was at its head.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Just over the road from where Oliver! happened,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller
0:18:43 > 0:18:45were appearing in Beyond The Fringe.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Just down the road, a few blocks away,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Tony Newley was in Stop The World - I Want To Get Off.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53These shows were hits. More significant still,
0:18:53 > 0:18:58when Oliver! opened, number one in the American Hit Parade
0:18:58 > 0:19:01was Telstar by The Tornados.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06MUSIC: "Telstar" by The Tornados
0:19:06 > 0:19:11- NEWSREADER:- A British invasion, which has being going on since last autumn.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13The invasion of Broadway.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15MUSIC CONTINUES
0:19:19 > 0:19:24So this notion that the Beatles brought Britain to America -
0:19:24 > 0:19:26bollocks. Lionel did it.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Lionel and Tony Newley, and Joe Meek and The Tornados.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33They made that British revolution happen.
0:19:33 > 0:19:40And so, er, Oliver's Britishness was what the Americans loved.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43# If I ruled the world... #
0:19:43 > 0:19:47Musicals were no longer seen as dreary and old-fashioned -
0:19:47 > 0:19:49they were suddenly the bright new thing,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53and everybody wanted to be part of it, including Lionel Bart's
0:19:53 > 0:19:58former band-mate and Britain's most famous pop star, Tommy Steele.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00I was an English Elvis Presley.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02GIRLS SCREAM
0:20:04 > 0:20:08# I never felt more like singin' the blues... #
0:20:08 > 0:20:12But the problem with me was - and it's not a problem -
0:20:12 > 0:20:15was that I wanted to be in musicals.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19When I first met him, I was like...
0:20:19 > 0:20:24Of course, I'm only a teenager, so for me, he was like a huge star.
0:20:24 > 0:20:30# Cos oh, you got me singin' the blues... #
0:20:30 > 0:20:35By 1963, the British musical was on such a wave of popularity
0:20:35 > 0:20:38that a show was written as a star vehicle for Steele.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41But even for such a seasoned performer,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44the transition from pop performer to stage performer
0:20:44 > 0:20:46was a daunting experience.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50I do remember the first night when I walked on stage,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52because I had to walk on stage facing Tommy,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55and I saw out of the corner of my eye all these heads go "woomf", like this.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58All of them turned toward me, and I thought, "Oh, my God!"
0:20:58 > 0:21:01You're in the dark, and the show's going on,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04and your cue's coming up, and the music is just
0:21:04 > 0:21:10coming into the last 24 bars, and you know in 23, 22, 21,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12that bloody light's going to hit the corner
0:21:12 > 0:21:13and I'll have to walk into it.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16I was so scared, and I looked at Tommy and he was shaking,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19and I thought, "Oh, thank God he's scared, like me!"
0:21:19 > 0:21:23"Oh, here it comes..." "Oh, I'm all right now."
0:21:23 > 0:21:26- # And though that half a sixpence - Sixpence
0:21:26 > 0:21:30- # Can only mean half a romance - Romance
0:21:30 > 0:21:36# Remember that half a romance is better than none... #
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Half A Sixpence told the story of an orphan
0:21:39 > 0:21:42who unexpectedly inherits a fortune.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46But if this was to be the musical to launch a pop star's switch to the stage,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48it would need a stand-out number.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53Just two days before opening, the producers realised
0:21:53 > 0:21:55that was exactly what was missing.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Unless you've got an 11 o'clock number
0:21:57 > 0:22:01that sends the folks out to their buses and their trains whistling it,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05you're in trouble. You have not got a hit.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10Composer David Heneker had just one day to come up with a solution.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14And on the Sunday we met, and they played Flash Bang Wallop.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17# Hold it, flash, bang, wallop What a picture
0:22:17 > 0:22:19# What a picture What a photograph... #
0:22:19 > 0:22:21And because we didn't have time
0:22:21 > 0:22:24to work out what I would be doing in the number,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28they decided that we'd bring all the company on, and every time I said "Hold it!", they froze.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30So we made it in the photographer's studio.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32# Stick it in your family album... #
0:22:32 > 0:22:35It became the biggest hit of the season.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37# One more picture, hold it... #
0:22:37 > 0:22:40With a big closing number and the star power of Steele,
0:22:40 > 0:22:44Half A Sixpence became a huge hit in the West End and on Broadway.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49But the British musical's revival was to be short-lived.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54Half A Sixpence would be the last British musical export to America for 15 years.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58# Stick it in your family...album! #
0:23:00 > 0:23:04GUITAR RIFF PLAYS
0:23:06 > 0:23:11A world away from the glamour of Broadway, in mid-'60s Britain,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14an alternative movement was growing.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Tens of thousands marched against nuclear weapons,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19and in London's East End,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Joan Littlewood reflected these anti-establishment views
0:23:22 > 0:23:27with a scathing attack on the military incompetence of World War I.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Oh, What A Lovely War! was inspirational.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33To have a musical about a subject like that,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35it was quite controversial,
0:23:35 > 0:23:40because it wasn't patriotic by any means, it was telling the truth.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51With its soundtrack of World War I songs,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Oh, What A Lovely War! not only attacked the generals,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57but also outraged many in the audience
0:23:57 > 0:24:00by depicting soldiers as Pierrot clowns.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04People scrunched their programmes up and threw it at us in disgust.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08"How dare you?" Or, "My family were killed in that war
0:24:08 > 0:24:12"and you're dancing on the graves of the soldiers..."
0:24:12 > 0:24:15As Joan said, "No, we're dancing with them."
0:24:15 > 0:24:19# Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag
0:24:19 > 0:24:23# And smile, smile, smile... #
0:24:23 > 0:24:27It was an extraordinary approach
0:24:27 > 0:24:29to a subject that gutted you,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31and it was deeply moving -
0:24:31 > 0:24:34deeply moving.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38She managed to get that combination of comedy, song,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41dance, everything - and hit you with it.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50While Littlewood went on to win awards for Oh, What A Lovely War!,
0:24:50 > 0:24:52Lionel Bart had found more success
0:24:52 > 0:24:55with the musicals Blitz and Maggie May.
0:24:55 > 0:25:00When the two joined up in 1965 for a musical based on Robin Hood,
0:25:00 > 0:25:04it looked destined to become Britain's biggest hit musical yet,
0:25:04 > 0:25:10particularly when backed by a record-breaking budget of £130,000.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16# There he goes again
0:25:16 > 0:25:21# On his merry way... #
0:25:21 > 0:25:25But problems plagued the production from day one.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29'Backstage, it's been toil and trouble almost from the start.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32'And the cast of Twang!! have had the longest run ever
0:25:32 > 0:25:36'before actually getting in front of a London audience.'
0:25:36 > 0:25:41Joan had a sort of free and easy style, out of which she hoped to draw
0:25:41 > 0:25:44spontaneity and fresh ideas and...you know.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48But it wasn't quite buttoned down enough for me.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51How much re-writing has been done at it?
0:25:51 > 0:25:53Absolutely everything.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55I don't do anything the same.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Things ran out of control, really.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03People, you know, making up all sorts of rubbishy little scenes.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07One day, a scene is in one spot, and the next it's in another spot.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10And then one day, four scenes are cut out.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14If you had a good little part and a good little moment,
0:26:14 > 0:26:16you were advised not to go to the lavatory,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19otherwise either someone would take it over,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22or it would have gone entirely, been erased.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26'Whole scenes were dumped. Parts were either cut down or expanded.'
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Barbara Windsor, among others,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33suggests that a lot of dope was being smoked at the time.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Lionel, a year ahead of the Beatles, might have done acid by then,
0:26:37 > 0:26:41so there was a drug put into the cocktail.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46The creative chemistry that was set up for the original production
0:26:46 > 0:26:49did not mix - it exploded.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Twang!! was due to open in Manchester
0:26:58 > 0:27:00before transferring to the West End,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02but just one day before press night,
0:27:02 > 0:27:07Littlewood finally had enough and left the production.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11She was seen walking out with a beige folder on her arm
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and written in big Pentel on the outside was,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17"Lionel's final fuck-up."
0:27:17 > 0:27:20so that must have been what she thought at the time.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23She said, "I had to leave because Lionel became impossible.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26"Every day there was some other new thing he wanted to do."
0:27:26 > 0:27:30By that time, ego! Bigger than his hat!
0:27:30 > 0:27:35There were two different methods of approach.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38Joan Littlewood was doing a commedia dell'arte
0:27:38 > 0:27:41grow-while-you-work thing on the scenes,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45and I was doing songs elsewhere and her scenes changed every day.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48And I just had to keep up with her.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51Consequently, when we opened in Manchester, the audience and I
0:27:51 > 0:27:54saw a number of the scenes for the first time.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58# What makes a star into a star?
0:27:58 > 0:28:03# Nobody knows, they simply are. #
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Even with more extensive rewrites,
0:28:06 > 0:28:11on its West End opening in December 1965,
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Twang!! was universally panned.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15After playing to mostly empty houses,
0:28:15 > 0:28:21it closed one month later after just 43 performances.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24I wonder if it was the saddest time in Lionel's life.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26I think I'm right in saying
0:28:26 > 0:28:32he pumped a lot of his personal money into it to try and keep it...
0:28:32 > 0:28:35To try and keep it going.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37- NEWSREEL:- Remember Oliver!, Maggie May
0:28:37 > 0:28:39and Fings Ain't What They Used To Be?
0:28:39 > 0:28:43Well, for Lionel Bart today, fings definitely ain't.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49For the man who once earned a fortune from his songwriting
0:28:49 > 0:28:53is in debt to the tune of £160,000
0:28:53 > 0:28:56and is in the process of being declared bankrupt.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04Against all advice,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08he had invested his own personal fortune into Twang!!
0:29:08 > 0:29:10and lost it all.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15He never wrote another successful musical.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21By the late '60s, Bart's style of pop-influenced Cockney musical
0:29:21 > 0:29:24appeared hopelessly out of date.
0:29:24 > 0:29:29# This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
0:29:29 > 0:29:34# The Age of Aquarius... #
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Yet another American blockbuster had landed in the West End,
0:29:37 > 0:29:40which not only challenged the conventions of musical theatre
0:29:40 > 0:29:44but the power of the British establishment.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48And its inspiration came from Bart's one-time collaborator.
0:29:53 > 0:29:58One influence that I've never really mentioned to anybody before
0:29:58 > 0:30:02was a British musical that came to New York.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06It was a woman director, Joan Littlewood,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09and it was a show called Oh, What A Lovely War!
0:30:09 > 0:30:11I remember sitting in the audience
0:30:11 > 0:30:13and seeing this musical, this wonderful show,
0:30:13 > 0:30:18wonderful the way it was staged, and it was all about war.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23I think that was a strong influence on us, because this whole thing
0:30:23 > 0:30:27was about the movement that was going on on the streets.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32We had the Vietnam war on our screens every night.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34We were very aware of what was going on,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37and the other thing about Hair was
0:30:37 > 0:30:40it celebrated that whole hippy movement
0:30:40 > 0:30:42which affected this country as well.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45# I got my hair, I got my head I got my brains, I got my ears
0:30:45 > 0:30:50# I got my eyes, I got my nose I got my mouth, I got my teeth. #
0:30:50 > 0:30:53Hair told the story of a group of young hippies
0:30:53 > 0:30:55protesting against the Vietnam war
0:30:55 > 0:30:58and wrestling with the sexual revolution.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03The creators' backgrounds were in experimental theatre.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05Much like Joan Littlewood,
0:31:05 > 0:31:09the emphasis was on spontaneity and improvisation.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11I think Hair,
0:31:11 > 0:31:16which I was part of as being the runner on the original production,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19I noticed that, even though the entire thing
0:31:19 > 0:31:22from the audience perspective almost seemed improvised,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25it was improvised to a very, very careful point,
0:31:25 > 0:31:28and the numbers evolved through workshops and things like that,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31but they were very cleverly staged.
0:31:31 > 0:31:38# I got life, got life, got life, got life, got life, got life, got life. #
0:31:38 > 0:31:40To add to the credibility of the show,
0:31:40 > 0:31:44the producers cast unknown actors, and, in doing so,
0:31:44 > 0:31:48introduced a new generation of talent to the West End.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52# I'm just a hairy guy. #
0:31:52 > 0:31:54They were looking for kids off the street
0:31:54 > 0:31:56rather than trained actors per se.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59They were looking for actors who could be moulded
0:31:59 > 0:32:01into what they called, "The Tribe."
0:32:01 > 0:32:04The audience at the beginning when they came to see Hair,
0:32:04 > 0:32:08I feel they felt they were actually seeing real hippies on stage.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11I never bought into the tribe thing, to be honest with you.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14I mean, Gary Hamilton playing Berger,
0:32:14 > 0:32:19used to go on stage in all his hippy outfit, peace, love,
0:32:19 > 0:32:24and then he used to walk out the stage door and climb into a Bentley!
0:32:24 > 0:32:27I couldn't quite work that one out. It always made me laugh, that.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30I didn't live that life.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34I didn't go home to a squat with 12 other people.
0:32:34 > 0:32:35I mean, some of them did.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39I lived in a commune with several other members of the company.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43A rather posh commune, I have to say, in Hampstead.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46In a penthouse, actually!
0:32:46 > 0:32:49# Oh, black boys are nutritious
0:32:49 > 0:32:52# Black boy fill me up
0:32:52 > 0:32:54# Black boys are so damn yummy
0:32:54 > 0:32:57# They satisfy my tummy
0:32:57 > 0:33:02# I have such a sweet tooth when it comes to love. #
0:33:02 > 0:33:04But at the beginning of 1968,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08the Lord Chamberlain still had right of censorship
0:33:08 > 0:33:09over new theatre productions.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13With overt references to sex and drugs,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Hair was one show he wouldn't let go on.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20I had a visit from the Special Branch,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24and they warned me what risk I was taking
0:33:24 > 0:33:26by opening it.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Probably to intimidate me.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32I don't think they would have come to my office otherwise.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40The pressure on the Government to reform
0:33:40 > 0:33:43the powers of the censor became overwhelming.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47On September 24th, after 220 years,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50the Lord Chamberlain's powers were finally withdrawn.
0:33:50 > 0:33:55Hair really contributed to the change of the law.
0:33:55 > 0:34:00It would be on the news day in day out what was happening.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04Three days after the censor was abolished, Hair opened,
0:34:04 > 0:34:09and the British public had never seen anything like it before.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11Are you all in the nude scene?
0:34:11 > 0:34:14THEY LAUGH
0:34:14 > 0:34:16# Tell me where. #
0:34:16 > 0:34:20It was just an expression of people taking their clothes off
0:34:20 > 0:34:21saying, "This is who we are."
0:34:21 > 0:34:23You can read into that what you like.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25Some people probably found it moving.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Other people found they got turned on by it,
0:34:28 > 0:34:29but ultimately it was very innocent.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41It was much to do about nothing,
0:34:41 > 0:34:44except for selling tickets.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51For the first time in a musical,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54frequent references were made to recreational drug use.
0:34:54 > 0:34:59The experimentation with illegal substances continued off stage.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02We all dabbled a bit in marijuana, obviously,
0:35:02 > 0:35:07and some of the cast smoked a little bit more than others.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11I mean, you know, I was a nice suburban girl from Barnet
0:35:11 > 0:35:15and I never thought I would ever...
0:35:15 > 0:35:18I'm really giving it away now, aren't I?
0:35:18 > 0:35:21..ever, you know, try a spliff.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27I'm sure that the odd person went on the stage stoned,
0:35:27 > 0:35:29but it wasn't a good idea,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32because you found yourself just standing there looking at people.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38And they're going, "You've got something to say now,"
0:35:38 > 0:35:41and you're going, "Yeah. What?"
0:35:41 > 0:35:43People would pop off in the interval
0:35:43 > 0:35:46on to the roof of the Shaftesbury Theatre
0:35:46 > 0:35:49for a quick, you know, tote.
0:35:49 > 0:35:50In fact, I'm ashamed to admit,
0:35:50 > 0:35:54I think I got fired from Hair eventually,
0:35:54 > 0:35:57not for smoking dope,
0:35:57 > 0:36:03but they used the excuse that we'd been caught smoking on the roof.
0:36:04 > 0:36:11# When the moon is in the Seventh House
0:36:11 > 0:36:17# And Jupiter aligns with Mars. #
0:36:17 > 0:36:20With its subversive stance and contemporary music,
0:36:20 > 0:36:23Hair reached out and spoke to a generation
0:36:23 > 0:36:27uninterested in the past conventions of musical theatre.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31I think Hair brought a new audience that wouldn't be seen dead
0:36:31 > 0:36:33on Shaftesbury Avenue.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Young people who would never think of the theatre
0:36:36 > 0:36:39being anything more than a treat for their elderly relatives,
0:36:39 > 0:36:44suddenly wanted to see this show because it actually represented them.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48We kind of felt that we were changing the world.
0:36:48 > 0:36:53The world was changing and we were reflecting it from the point of view
0:36:53 > 0:36:56of this very wonderful
0:36:56 > 0:36:59love and peace movement.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05I never thought we were changing the world.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07I thought we were changing theatre.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10It was the first time that music of the time,
0:37:10 > 0:37:17that is to say rock music, was being used within the context of a musical.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20So, from that point of view, it was groundbreaking, I thought.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24# Oh, I wanna whole lotta love
0:37:24 > 0:37:27# I wanna whole lotta love
0:37:27 > 0:37:29# Wanna whole lotta love... #
0:37:29 > 0:37:35By the late '60s, British bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple
0:37:35 > 0:37:39and The Who were getting more ambitious with rock music,
0:37:39 > 0:37:44experimenting with extended tracks and concept albums.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47In 1970, in what would prove to be
0:37:47 > 0:37:50the most radical evolution of the British musical yet,
0:37:50 > 0:37:53two aspiring young songwriters released a record
0:37:53 > 0:37:56that fused rock with opera.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00Jesus Christ Superstar is the first truly great,
0:38:00 > 0:38:02truly British rock opera,
0:38:02 > 0:38:04cos it's structured like an opera.
0:38:04 > 0:38:05Suddenly there was no speaking.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08This thing is sung all the way through,
0:38:08 > 0:38:13but it's sung to the rhythms and the beats of the '60s generation.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16David Land is an agent who looks after the Dagenham Girl Pipers
0:38:16 > 0:38:18and the Harlem Globetrotters.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22He feels the next big trend could be Jesus Christ Superstar.
0:38:22 > 0:38:29# I don't know how to love him. #
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber
0:38:31 > 0:38:35would each bring very different qualities to the British musical.
0:38:35 > 0:38:36While both fans of rock music,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40lyricist Rice knew next-to-nothing about musical theatre.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Lloyd Webber lived and breathed it.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45When we came to work together,
0:38:45 > 0:38:49I was probably less conventional than he was.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52He was very much in the Broadway/West End tradition.
0:38:52 > 0:38:56I had ideas that weren't perhaps traditional,
0:38:56 > 0:39:00so the combination of my being slightly uneducated about musicals
0:39:00 > 0:39:03and Andrew being very educated about musicals worked.
0:39:03 > 0:39:10# I don't see why he moves me... #
0:39:10 > 0:39:13Released in 1970, if the album was a hit,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Rice and Lloyd Webber could attract interest from theatre producers
0:39:17 > 0:39:20and turn Superstar into a fully-blown stage musical.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24We only released the album because nobody wanted to do the show,
0:39:24 > 0:39:26and it was not a hit in Britain.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31And, as it had been a number one album in America, hugely successful,
0:39:31 > 0:39:35it was logical to do it on Broadway first.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39# Jesus
0:39:39 > 0:39:42# You started to believe the things they say of you
0:39:42 > 0:39:48# You really do believe this talk of God is true... #
0:39:48 > 0:39:52Hair had previously introduced sex, nudity and drugs to the theatre,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56but it seems setting the final days of Jesus Christ to rock music,
0:39:56 > 0:39:58was a step too far.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01Superstar opened on Broadway in October 1971
0:40:01 > 0:40:03to the outrage of Christian groups
0:40:03 > 0:40:06and a lukewarm reception from the press.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08It didn't work, largely because
0:40:08 > 0:40:11the young kids who'd originally bought the album
0:40:11 > 0:40:14wouldn't have been seen dead on Broadway in those days.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18So, we were slightly ahead of our time. All right, there'd been Hair before,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21but Hair probably got people in because everybody got their kit off.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25# They think they've found the new Messiah... #
0:40:25 > 0:40:27Even with the shaky start on Broadway,
0:40:27 > 0:40:32producer Robert Stigwood had plans for an opening in the West End.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36But Rice and Lloyd Webber saw their careers faltering
0:40:36 > 0:40:38before they even got started.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Tim and Andrew were terrified.
0:40:42 > 0:40:47They fought really tooth and nail not to open it,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50descended on me at 2am in the morning.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55"You will ruin our reputation.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58"You will ruin us, you will ruin us."
0:40:58 > 0:41:02# Everything's all right Yes, everything's fine
0:41:02 > 0:41:06# And we want you to sleep well tonight... #
0:41:06 > 0:41:09With producer Robert Stigwood holding the rights,
0:41:09 > 0:41:13the West End's latest proteges had to put their nerves to one side
0:41:13 > 0:41:17as press attention in Superstar started to grow.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19They did a thing with the newspapers.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22The search for Jesus is on - a bit like the X Factor, you know.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24We're looking for Jesus.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27And finally, after extensive auditions
0:41:27 > 0:41:31going back and back and back, I finally got the part.
0:41:31 > 0:41:36And I was surrounded by press and I made my very first mistake.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39Some guy shoved a pint of beer in my hand
0:41:39 > 0:41:43and said, "Cheers."
0:41:43 > 0:41:47And the shot in the paper was, "Jesus is having a pint."
0:41:47 > 0:41:51And I thought, "Oh, never again."
0:41:51 > 0:41:54# Jesus Christ Superstar
0:41:54 > 0:41:58# Do you think you're what they say you are? #
0:41:58 > 0:42:00We had nuns protesting
0:42:00 > 0:42:02with placards outside the theatre.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05And everybody would say to me, "Anthony, that's brilliant.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07"Well done for doing all that."
0:42:07 > 0:42:10They did it off their own back. I wasn't telling them to do it.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13# Do you think you're what they say you are? #
0:42:13 > 0:42:18The title was so radical. Calling Jesus Christ a superstar.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22We had people out front protesting just on the basis of the title.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26It seemed to me that it was perfectly possible
0:42:26 > 0:42:31to take bible stories and tell them in a new way through contemporary music.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33That's really all we tried to do.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36MUSIC: "Superstar" from Jesus Christ Superstar
0:42:40 > 0:42:45Superstar opened in August 1972 to universally good reviews,
0:42:45 > 0:42:48the radical interpretation of the gospels
0:42:48 > 0:42:51moving audience, critics and even the cast.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54It was very overwhelming cos I remember the first time
0:42:54 > 0:42:57I went up on this cross - and I'm not a religious guy at all -
0:42:57 > 0:43:01and I was sitting on a bicycle seat but you couldn't see it.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04And I was holding on to a frame that you also couldn't see.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07So I looked like I was hanging in mid-air.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17And, for me, when they started playing that John 49,
0:43:17 > 0:43:22that Gethsemane music that he'd written, I mean, I just...
0:43:22 > 0:43:26Tears were streaming down me.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28And it really was a very, very moving moment.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32And I guess - for a lot of the audience - seeing that and hearing
0:43:32 > 0:43:35that music for the first time, they would have felt the same way.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38MUSIC: "John 19:41" from Jesus Christ Superstar
0:43:47 > 0:43:52With the West End audience seemingly more spiritually relaxed than on Broadway,
0:43:52 > 0:43:56Superstar appealed to believer and non-believer alike.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01This was something that people could relate to,
0:44:01 > 0:44:03and its producer, Robert Stigwood,
0:44:03 > 0:44:05created this
0:44:05 > 0:44:09incredibly ingenious idea,
0:44:09 > 0:44:11which had never been done before
0:44:11 > 0:44:14of replicating the production around the globe.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16It was Robert who realised
0:44:16 > 0:44:19that you had to roll these musicals out very fast.
0:44:19 > 0:44:24And in fact he changed the whole way that musical theatre was considered.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28And I owe a huge debt to him because it was Robert's gamble
0:44:28 > 0:44:33and his sort of showmanship, that I guess I learned an awful lot from.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36# I'd want to see I'd want to see my God... #
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Earlier British musicals like Oliver!
0:44:39 > 0:44:42had found success by trading on their Britishness.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45The story of Jesus Christ was universal.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49Allied with a contemporary soundtrack and modern staging,
0:44:49 > 0:44:52and its appeal could be limitless.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55But the roll-out wasn't without its complications.
0:44:55 > 0:45:02When we put it on in Paris, the Archbishop of Paris and the Cardinal
0:45:02 > 0:45:03were at the first night.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07I was next to them, and Andrew on the other side.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10And Andrew was very unhappy.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12HE SINGS IN FRENCH
0:45:24 > 0:45:26So he jumped out of his seat,
0:45:26 > 0:45:31swearing, effing and blinding,
0:45:31 > 0:45:35"Oh, terrible, terrible, take this off, take this off."
0:45:35 > 0:45:37HE SINGS IN FRENCH
0:45:39 > 0:45:44And he ended up running down the aisle,
0:45:44 > 0:45:48shouting, "This must be stopped, this must be stopped!"
0:45:49 > 0:45:53And I had the embarrassing scene of,
0:45:53 > 0:45:57in front of the audience, having to pinion him
0:45:57 > 0:46:00against the corner of the proscenium arch
0:46:00 > 0:46:03to calm him down.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06Andrew was always much more caught up in it. He was...
0:46:06 > 0:46:08It mattered more to him.
0:46:08 > 0:46:13I mean, of course it mattered to me, but it's rather hard to explain.
0:46:13 > 0:46:18But I think the success of Superstar,
0:46:18 > 0:46:20and indeed Andrew's musical career,
0:46:20 > 0:46:24mattered enormously to him, which is to his great credit.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29I think what mattered to me more was that just life went OK,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31and this was one aspect of it.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33MUSIC: "Overture" from Jeeves
0:46:36 > 0:46:40After the success of Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber returned to
0:46:40 > 0:46:44more traditional British fare, with the PG Wodehouse-inspired Jeeves.
0:46:44 > 0:46:48It flopped, running for just over a month.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52Meanwhile, Tim Rice had another off-the-wall idea for a musical.
0:46:52 > 0:46:54I'd already got this idea about Eva Peron,
0:46:54 > 0:46:57so I was working on that for quite a while on my tod,
0:46:57 > 0:46:59and while Andrew was doing Jeeves,
0:46:59 > 0:47:02I did approach one or two other composers
0:47:02 > 0:47:04to see if they'd be interested,
0:47:04 > 0:47:06including Paul McCartney, funnily enough. Um...
0:47:06 > 0:47:09Nobody wanted to know! HE LAUGHS
0:47:09 > 0:47:12MUSIC: "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from Evita
0:47:12 > 0:47:14Their reluctance was understandable.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18Most successful musicals were based on well-known books or plays.
0:47:18 > 0:47:24Evita was the real-life story of a South American dictator's wife.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28With the failure of Jeeves, Andrew came on board.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31Nobody really knew much about Eva Peron when we did the show.
0:47:31 > 0:47:37And it was clearly a slightly strange topic to go for,
0:47:37 > 0:47:39but, on the other hand, it was a great story.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41And story is king.
0:47:41 > 0:47:48# I don't expect my love affairs to last for long... #
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Just as they had with Superstar,
0:47:50 > 0:47:54Lloyd Webber and Rice released a concept album first.
0:47:54 > 0:47:58But this time, not out of necessity, but design.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00It's a bit like an out-of-town run, really.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03I think, on the whole, we'd rather do that
0:48:03 > 0:48:05than do the out-of-town run, certainly for Evita.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07And we're, if you like, testing the music.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09Had the record been a total disaster,
0:48:09 > 0:48:12then I think we wouldn't have gone ahead with the show.
0:48:12 > 0:48:13# So what happens now?
0:48:13 > 0:48:16# Another suitcase in another hall... #
0:48:16 > 0:48:18The album also generated publicity,
0:48:18 > 0:48:22and provided Julie Covington with a number one hit.
0:48:22 > 0:48:23An accomplished actress,
0:48:23 > 0:48:27Covington was the natural choice to play Evita on the stage.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32But, against all expectations, she turned the part down.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36Well, Julie just didn't want to do it. And we thought, "Oh, my gosh.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40"If she doesn't do it, this could be a major blow to the show."
0:48:40 > 0:48:44But it was the best thing that happened in a way - not because... She probably would have been great -
0:48:44 > 0:48:49but it was great because there was a kind of nationwide search.
0:48:49 > 0:48:53# Eva, Eva, Eva, Eva... #
0:48:53 > 0:48:57The audition period for me for Evita was long and tedious.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00I must have auditioned eight, nine, I don't know, ten times.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02# Eva, Eva... #
0:49:02 > 0:49:05Everybody - the world and his wife - auditioned for this role.
0:49:05 > 0:49:10Every day, ladies were photographed going in for the auditions.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13Faye Dunaway, Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand -
0:49:13 > 0:49:15all these names were being banded about.
0:49:15 > 0:49:19Several of them announced that they'd turned it down! HE LAUGHS
0:49:19 > 0:49:23# Evita, Evita... #
0:49:23 > 0:49:27It got down eventually to about half a dozen possibles,
0:49:27 > 0:49:29of which Elaine was one.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31# Evita, Evita... #
0:49:31 > 0:49:35My doorbell went about midnight and, to my surprise, it was my agent.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40"The role of..." "Yes, yes, yes, get on with it!"
0:49:40 > 0:49:42"..Eva Peron is..."
0:49:42 > 0:49:45"Yes, yes, just tell me!" "..yours."
0:49:45 > 0:49:48# Evita, Evita! #
0:49:57 > 0:50:00I was so stunned and excited and shocked.
0:50:00 > 0:50:05Here I was with the most coveted role in musical theatre
0:50:05 > 0:50:07for donkeys' years -
0:50:07 > 0:50:10since the casting of Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind,
0:50:10 > 0:50:12and I'd landed the role.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14Nobody could have been more gobsmacked than me
0:50:14 > 0:50:18and my dear mother, who was staying with me for the weekend.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21And that was the day my life changed for ever.
0:50:21 > 0:50:27# Don't cry for me, Argentina
0:50:27 > 0:50:32# The truth is I never left you... #
0:50:32 > 0:50:36Tim and Andrew could afford to entrust the starring role to an unknown,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39because they'd already hired the world's greatest living
0:50:39 > 0:50:43musical theatre director, Hal Prince.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46The musical in Britain has been straight-jacketed
0:50:46 > 0:50:48as we don't have any decent directors and choreographers.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51We're here working with the marvellous Hal Prince.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54And I think that we have been able therefore to take a subject
0:50:54 > 0:50:57and tackle it in a way that is not normally done
0:50:57 > 0:51:00either actually in American theatre or in British theatre.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Because there's a slight combination
0:51:02 > 0:51:05of the injection of what Hal has been able to give to us,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08and I think perhaps what we've been able to give back.
0:51:08 > 0:51:14I knew the first time we put it together that it was...
0:51:17 > 0:51:22..something fresh and new and enormously electrifying.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27I felt that. I felt that when I did West Side Story, which I produced.
0:51:27 > 0:51:33That kind of... That just something amazing is happening here.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36Because a lot of people took a chance.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39Hal was renowned for bringing realism
0:51:39 > 0:51:42to acting and singing in musical theatre,
0:51:42 > 0:51:45exactly what was needed for Andrew and Tim's story
0:51:45 > 0:51:48of ruthless political ambition.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51We could all be there if we all had the drive that I have
0:51:51 > 0:51:53and we must all have the drive that I have
0:51:53 > 0:51:57and then you'll have these gowns, you'll have these jewels.
0:51:57 > 0:51:58You'll be where I am.
0:51:58 > 0:52:03I never forget Hal directing me when it came to singing Argentina,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07and he would say, "Don't forget, this is not some beautiful ballad.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10"I don't want you to be worrying about the melody
0:52:10 > 0:52:11"and singing it prettily."
0:52:11 > 0:52:17He said, "You have to remember that this is really a political speech."
0:52:17 > 0:52:20I'm going to make it hard. I'm going to make it less easy.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23One of the most brilliant pieces of direction he gave me,
0:52:23 > 0:52:28was to lock my eyes onto various members of the audience.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30And he said, "Look at them.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33"Don't be afraid to really give them the eyeball."
0:52:33 > 0:52:35OK, here we go.
0:52:35 > 0:52:40- # It...won't be easy... #- Good!
0:52:40 > 0:52:44# You'll think it strange
0:52:44 > 0:52:51# When I try to explain how I feel
0:52:51 > 0:52:54# That I still need your love
0:52:54 > 0:52:56# After all that I've done... #
0:52:56 > 0:53:02And, to this day, every single time I ever sing this song,
0:53:02 > 0:53:05I think of that note and I always do it.
0:53:05 > 0:53:06And it's quite extraordinary
0:53:06 > 0:53:09how off-putting it is for the person that I look at.
0:53:09 > 0:53:16# Don't cry for me, Argentina... #
0:53:18 > 0:53:21Six years after the premiere of Jesus Christ Superstar,
0:53:21 > 0:53:25Evita opened in June 1978
0:53:25 > 0:53:29to advance ticket sales of £250,000,
0:53:29 > 0:53:34establishing Rice and Lloyd Webber as far more than one-hit wonders.
0:53:34 > 0:53:40Evita as a piece, as a theatrical musical, was probably our peak.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42Just because we all kind of knew what we were doing
0:53:42 > 0:53:44and were still young enough to be a bit off-the-wall,
0:53:44 > 0:53:47and yet we were old enough and experienced enough to do it well.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50With Superstar, we hadn't a clue what we were doing.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53MUSIC: "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from Evita
0:54:02 > 0:54:07'She did so well, the audience gave her and the show a standing ovation.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10'And the critics hailed a new star.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13'Hardly anyone seemed happier with it all than Elaine's mother and father,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16'up from Bognor Regis to share their daughter's triumph
0:54:16 > 0:54:19'after ten years in chorus lines and rep.'
0:54:21 > 0:54:23- Marvellous.- Terrific. - Absolutely marvellous.
0:54:23 > 0:54:25It's one of those moments -
0:54:25 > 0:54:28every so often a musical comes along, which pushes what the musical
0:54:28 > 0:54:31can achieve further than anyone had imagined could happen.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33And what Evita did
0:54:33 > 0:54:35was it caught what fascinates us all about politics.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40What we really care about, I think, is a soap opera of power
0:54:40 > 0:54:41and what that means for us,
0:54:41 > 0:54:43what does it say about the human condition?
0:54:43 > 0:54:50And that is exactly what Lloyd Webber and Rice caught in Evita.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53# High flying, adored
0:54:53 > 0:54:55# Did you believe... #
0:54:55 > 0:54:59A year later, Evita opened on Broadway for a four-year run,
0:54:59 > 0:55:03cementing Lloyd Webber and Rice as not just stars of the West End,
0:55:03 > 0:55:09but also the first British talents to triumph in New York for 15 years.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12They had the world at their feet.
0:55:13 > 0:55:18I don't think at the time we were aware of history or our place in it.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20We just thought, "This is working quite well.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24"I'm not quite sure what we're doing right, but let's keep going."
0:55:24 > 0:55:28# I won't recall the names and places
0:55:28 > 0:55:32# Of each sad occasion
0:55:32 > 0:55:36# But that's no consolation
0:55:36 > 0:55:39# Here and now
0:55:39 > 0:55:44- # So what happens now? - Another suitcase in another hall... #
0:55:44 > 0:55:49But as the '70s came to a close, the unimaginable happened.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51At the height of their song-writing powers,
0:55:51 > 0:55:54the partnership came to an end.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57Well, it was a sadness that they stopped working together,
0:55:57 > 0:56:00because they were kind of becoming the Rodgers and Hammerstein
0:56:00 > 0:56:02of modern British musical theatre.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06They were really consolidating their writing partnership.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11Sadly, it was over a musical that was in the making for me.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13Tim wanted to write a musical for me
0:56:13 > 0:56:17and Andrew had started writing melodies for it.
0:56:17 > 0:56:22And Tim, at the time - he's a great cricket fan, as everybody knows -
0:56:22 > 0:56:26and quite slow in writing lyrics, not everybody knows!
0:56:26 > 0:56:29- But Andrew knew! - SHE LAUGHS
0:56:29 > 0:56:33So, he wasn't coming up with the lyrics for Andrew.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35I guess my heart wasn't quite in it.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38We did write one song and it never really took off.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41And suddenly I found Andrew was doing it with Don Black.
0:56:41 > 0:56:46- # Take that look off your face - Take that look off your face
0:56:46 > 0:56:49# I can see through your smile... #
0:56:49 > 0:56:54Tell Me On A Sunday launched as a TV special in February 1980.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58It was a new decade, and Andrew had a new writing partner.
0:56:59 > 0:57:04The story goes that Andrew bumped into Don Black and Don,
0:57:04 > 0:57:08who is prolific, said, "Oh, I'll write you a few lyrics if you want."
0:57:08 > 0:57:14Which he did. So the idea moved from working with Tim to Don.
0:57:14 > 0:57:18And I think they had a bit of a bust-up over it, to be honest.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21As I remember it, they fell out over that.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24And that's really when it all came to a bit of a grinding halt,
0:57:24 > 0:57:25their partnership.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28I think at the time I thought, "This is a pity, really.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30"We kind of cocked this one up.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33"We've done quite well and now we're not going to be Gilbert and Sullivan."
0:57:33 > 0:57:36What you need for two people to work together is both of them
0:57:36 > 0:57:39have to be enthusiastic about the same idea.
0:57:39 > 0:57:42I mean, Andrew always said, "Oh, well, he only works on his own ideas."
0:57:42 > 0:57:44Well, to a certain extent that's true, I suppose.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48But if Andrew had come up with an idea that I thought was brilliant,
0:57:48 > 0:57:50I might have done it. I probably would have.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53# Life to the
0:57:53 > 0:57:58# Everlasting cat... #
0:57:58 > 0:58:01Rice and Lloyd Webber's partnership was over.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05But together they had helped bring the West End and the British musical
0:58:05 > 0:58:08back into contention with the might of Broadway.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11# Jellicles do and Jellicles can... #
0:58:11 > 0:58:15Next time on The Story Of The Musical, how in less than a decade
0:58:15 > 0:58:21the British turned the West End show into a world-beating mega-musical.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23We happened to all want to do stories,
0:58:23 > 0:58:25which had a worldwide appeal.
0:58:25 > 0:58:27We, none of us, knew that up front.
0:58:27 > 0:58:29You've got to do it yourself.
0:58:29 > 0:58:32You are a producer. That's what you do. Got to produce it yourself.
0:58:32 > 0:58:36These cheques started hitting the doormat that made my eyes wobble.
0:58:36 > 0:58:40# Oratorical cats, delphioracle cats
0:58:40 > 0:58:43# Sceptical cats, dyspeptical cats
0:58:43 > 0:58:46# Romantical cats, pedantical cats
0:58:46 > 0:58:48# Critical cats, parasitical cats
0:58:48 > 0:58:51# Allegorical cats metaphorical cats
0:58:51 > 0:58:54# Statistical cats and mystical cats
0:58:54 > 0:58:57# Political cats, hypocritical cats... #
0:58:57 > 0:59:00Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd