'Gleeks' anonymous

The arrival of Glee has been sensational, and has had transatlantic audiences in raptures. Churning out cocktails of chart and show tunes, complete with dance routines and cheesy plot lines, Glee has teenagers, who've never even heard of the 1964 Barbara Streisand musical Funny Girl, downloading Lea Michele’s rendition of ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’. The Billboard Hot 100 recently featured 25 singles from the TV series. With rave reviews to the point of hyperbole, Broadway’s biggest names hopping on the Glee-wagon, and an ever-growing celebrity circle of ‘Gleeks’ Anonymous, the show seems illimitable.

There is no doubt that Glee has changed the face of musical theatre, commercializing it beyond comprehension. Its influence on the industry as a whole is being widely noticed. This year’s Tony Awards featured performances from Glee stars Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele. Some bloggers suggested that this was a move to broaden appeal and keep teenagers tuned in till the very end, hinting that the televised event couldn’t have achieved the ratings it did without featuring Mr Schu and Rachel Berry.

But musicals have always been tremendously popular. Maybe it’s a thing of escapism—musicals thrived during the 1930s Great Depression, as they have in recent years despite the indomitable ‘R’ word—or simply the jolly heightened reality of it all, but West End sales are inexorably rising. The old Andrew Lloyd Webber favourites are not being replaced, but only added to, with revivals of shows like Hair, and burgeoning contemporaries such as Wicked, which is fast becoming an epic in its own right. Last year’s Fringe saw master of melancholy David Greig try his hand at musical theatre with Midsummer, and playwright Ché Walker turn his 1998 play Been So Long into a raunchy musical complete with a fabulous collection of jazz, soul, funk and reggae tunes.

What we can be sure of is that the musical is revamping itself as we speak. Although rarely waning in its popularity on Broadway and the West End, musicals have made a significant mainstream comeback on screen. A plethora of what claim to be musicals, ranging from stage adaptations like Mamma Mia and Hairspray to teeny-bopper hits like High School Musical, have spread far and beyond Twinkle Town. The result of this has been to invite rookies into the cliquey circle of musical theatre, and gosh!—how people seem to love it.

Glee, very perceptively, hops aboard this mainstreaming of the sing-dance extravaganza, for which our appetites seem endlessly carnivorous. It makes all the more sense, then, when musicals at the Fringe clamber on to the same ride, grasping the inevitable adjunct of Glee.

The West End Glee Club and The Singalong Glee Club are two shows that are clearly cashing in on the Glee name. In a bizarre transition where musical theatre is adapted to the small screen, and from there back to the stage, one hopes that it won’t be a dismal Frankenstein creation.

The West End Glee Club, however, assure me that it’s a winning combo: “Thanks to the fantastic television series, Glee Clubs have now become part of modern pop culture. We wanted to open up musical theatre and make it more accessible and attractive to all, to create a show that experienced musical-goers would enjoy, but one that could also attract a new generation to the genre. We have set our show around a Glee contest as it’s something that those who have never experienced a musical before can connect with.”

And why not get everyone in on the fun? It would be a shame to preserve musicals as an elitist and exclusive genre. There has certainly been a coalescence between musicals and the mainstream which began well before Glee. As the West End Glee Club creative team point out, “the boundaries between musicals and chart music are becoming increasingly blurred. ‘Summer Nights’ from Grease is just one example where a song from a show has become a big pop hit. The opposite is true too; many shows are using chart hits from established bands—Mamma Mia, We Will Rock You, and Jersey Boys, for example.”

Amidst all the Glee-hype, however, there is a pervasive voice of dissent. Whether it’s industry snobbery or genuine disappointment in the direction musicals are headed, this marriage of chart and stage is eliciting many a grumble. Director of Fringe 2009 sell-out musical Rent, Nina Logue, was less than impressed: “These Glee type shows are only encouraging a lazy attitude towards musical theatre. No new songs, no new ideas, no new concepts. Jukebox musicals can be great, but even they are becoming an abused medium because Glee has sown the seeds for every power ballad to be used for some cash-cow musical, and crowbarred into some generic storyline.” Listening to this tirade I couldn’t help but confess, she had a point.

With tight budgets and limited techie tricks, it is all the more enticing for a Fringe show to jump aboard with this simplistic, and undeniably popular formula. Yet, the sentiment that Glee and other commercialised adaptations are turning the industry into a some sort of glorified karaoke can’t help but taint my Fringe expectations with scepticism.

That said, the Edinburgh Fringe is like a giant bag of Pick ‘n’ Mix; for every one that leaves you disappointed, there’s another that’s bound to hit the spot. Up for the challenge posed by the rapidly evolving face of musical theatre is Showstopper! The Improvised Musical—a surefire winner with Fringe first-timers and Broadway-babies alike. Drawn from audience suggestions, the show is improvisation down to the very last note. “No trickery” co-founder Adam Meggido promises me. And the Showstoppers love nothing more than fresh meat. “Glee’s popularity is setting the industry its latest challenge. Although I’m not really a ‘Gleek’, musical theatre—like any art form—needs to change and evolve. We try to challenge each other to impossibly dizzy heights. We want to be kept on our toes—that’s when the show is at its best.”

Showstopper’s strategy of attracting a vast and varied audience—and keeping them coming back for more—is simple: “The audience dictates what we do and how we do it. Fans of musicals like the show because they get a new one every night, and those who don’t like musicals love the way we deconstruct the musical form.”

And will you be incorporating Glee themes into your show? “Try us…” he dares.

There’s no doubt that musicals are broadening their scope, and this Fringe’s offerings encompass quirky original creations to nightly improvisations, Sondheim classics to newer West End hits like Spring Awakening,. And where the Fringe lacks in quality control, it more than makes up for in both variety and sheer quantity.

Our Glee watching, “I Dreamed a Dream” loving culture, can expect to be run off their feet throughout August. Less guaranteed is the promise of worthy entertainment. Nonetheless, the shows will indeed go on, and in the words of Hairspray’s infectious finale, “You can’t stop the beat!”