Recently, I have had the privilledge of working with Canterbury Christ Church University on their production of a new musical, When Midnight Strikes. This show takes place on New Year's Eve 1999, and examines briefly the lives of individuals at a party.
This is one of the first times this show has been put on in the UK; it will be presented on the West End in September. What's interesting about the show, I feel, is that it plays out very much like a review for the most part. Every single song sounds different to the last right up until the last quarter of the second act, when events in the plot begin to get serious. There's very much an influence of Sondheim in there, as well as perhaps some older classics.
Whether it works or not is a different matter. The main characters are surrounded by stereotypes: the gay, the nymphomaniac, the geek, the grumpy neighbour. At the very least, these characters are kept in the background until they are needed to help move the story along. Games of charades and "I Never..." help too.
The production is brilliant - I've been surrounded by some of the most talented, wonderful performers I've ever come across, and it's a top-notch amateur show. How well it works in the West End depends on how our audiences react to it. It's a small show so needs to be done in a small theatre, otherwise, like Rent, it just will not work in the UK.
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