Ive read the comments about London sucking the life out of the shows, making them dark and gritty to make them seem more important or whatever nonsense it was and i can’t stop laughing.
Broadway took La Cage in 2004 and made it in to an overblown pretty and slick disaster which failed. They took Little Shop from Off Broadway and made it a huge spectacle of a show on Broadway which missed the mark by a mile. And then recently Broadway revived Guys and Dolls with Neon blazing, huge video screens etc and made it look as pretty as possible, yet the heart and soul and comedy of the original was missing and it died a death.
Ironic that London has in the past few years revived the same 3 shows and instead of throwing millions and millions to make them look eye popping the shows material was allowed to speak for itself. Great small sets, fab lighting, beautiful design and direction that elevated these shows beyond anything that Broadway even came close to with their revivals.
We don’t suck the life out, we let the life of the show speak for itself, all 3 of those shows are great, the book, the music etc all deserve to be admired, and in the London productions they are, as well as cast perfectly with actors who bring something to the table. The Guys and Dolls and Little Shop casts for the Broadway revivals were terrible, because the design, the budget, the spectacle came first, throw enough light and glitter at s**t and hopefully nobody will notice.
London does American revivals at the moment far better than Americans do their revivals, because the material is the most important thing in those West End Revivals.
If sucking the life out of the shows means great productions, great box office, great cast and multiple awards....then yes we do.
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna