Musical Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe 2010?
Author: agirvan | Filed under: Fringe, Musical Theatre, News
News has slowly spread that Musical Theatre @ George Square will not be operating as a dedicated musical theatre venue again this summer. No official announcement seems to have been made but companies looking for venues for their 2010 Edinburgh Fringe run have had the news confirmed by the Edinburgh University Festivals Office. The Festivals Office, which previously played a large role in the running of the venue advised looking to other Fringe venues.
Operated as a dedicated home for musical theatre on the Fringe, the venue first opened it doors for the 2008 Fringe with programming and leadership from then Head of Musical Theatre Matters UK and ex-Head of Licensing with Cameron Mackintosh, Chris Grady at the helm. Chris has since moved on to become Head of External Relations at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds whilst his job administering Musical Theatre Matters UK has passed to Laoise Davidson. Chris retains chairmanship of the organisation but presumably does not have time to programme and manage a Fringe venue in addition to his new job.
The Musical Theatre @ George Sq venue was an interesting model with a co-production role appearing to be taken by the Edinburgh University Festivals Office, which normally just hires spaces to venue producers such as the Pleasance and C venues. It is also worth noting that technical equipment and staff for the musicals venue was provided entirely by the Pleasance.
Also interesting to see will be what happens to the Musical Theatre Matters Awards ceremony which was last year held in George One. The large George Sq Theatre, a year round lecture hall, has recently been refurbished and there are few other spaces on the Edinburgh Fringe which provide the size of stage and auditorium that the award ceremony has grown accustom to.
The strength of a dedicated musical theatre venue has to have been it was where musical fans and companies knew they could gather. As well as solid programming of full run performances, Musical Theatre @ George Sq also held nightly cabarets and showcase events, all of which drew performers and audiences from across the Fringe.
So Musical Theatre @ George Sq might no longer be with us. Will musical theatre across the Fringe simply find a home at other venues with each company applying to venues of their choice along with the standard theatre and, more often, comedy offering? Will the musical theatre offering at this year’s Fringe be depleted by the lack of a focal point and programming force for the genre?
Maybe one of the other venue chains will see the advantage of pulling together a number of musical companies into a central venue. I suspect many of the standard Fringe venue set ups may struggle in this respect. One of the many things George Sq had going for it was a venue arrangement which paid heed to the fact that musicians, keyboard or otherwise, would need space and that just enough light to pick out a stationary stand up comedian just wouldn’t cut it. The set up and strike of a full band and more complex sound demands can also see musicals struggle to fit into standard in and out in 5 minutes rules the Fringe tends to employ.
The late night offering of the George Square venue could also be something another venue could look to pick up on. Showcase performances would not require long run programming and tend to fall together more like an open mic night provided that a piano is available somewhere near the bar. Is there enough bar revenue there for a cabaret space such as this to work where multiple companies of musical theatre performers can be found?
Next year the musical theatre landscape at the Fringe may be slightly different to the two years of focussed programming and location we have seen. Whether the quality and quantity of the offering is effected remains to be seen.
Photo credit: Christopher Chan on Flickr
