BL-24 - Flipbook - Page 117
C U LT U R E & A RT S
determined to get his work 昀椀rst
staged in a 100-seat theatre with 昀椀ve
actors. He needed £100 000 to book
the theatre, build a set, rehearse 昀椀ve
people (who also played all the music
on stage) and pay wages and running
costs for four weeks of rehearsals. He
wrote it, he directed it and then he also
designed both the physical production
as well as the lighting design.
What enabled him to get it all
together? Those small steps during the
previous decade. Small steps to get
into a position where the theatre owner
on the fringe knows him, and his prior
work as playwright and director, well
enough to give him the slot. He has to
have the portfolio of work to cobble
it all together, get the actors on board
and, crucially, attract the interest of a
composer.
Step forward Darren Clark. Darren,
a Kiwi and long-time UK resident,
had been on a similar journey making
connections, writing songs and scores
and pursuing a dream. The timing and
combination of people was right, and
the dream was about to come true.
It was Friday night, it was raining and
I wanted to go home. The show was
sold out in the 100-seater: you might
think that is an easy task on the fringe,
but with a tiny marketing budget, only
word of mouth can bring a packed
house.
Thankfully, they squeezed an extra
seat from somewhere and what
exploded before me was a glorious
score of violins, cellos, guitars,
piano, French horn…all played by
the 昀椀ve cast members. The visuals
were stunning, watching these joyous
human beings tell this story.
The story was deep, layered and well
structured. It had a maturity about
it that it sometimes missing from
development work. Often you see
potential, but it’s scrappy or too niche,
too aimed at a younger market who
might not buy West End tickets. But
not this one.
So now began the second part. The
昀椀rst part – creating it – had taken three
years, and the second part – getting
it to the West End – took another
(admittedly pandemic-affected) 昀椀ve
years.
This is where the producer comes
in. I had produced around 30 shows
of differing shapes and sizes in
the previous decade, and in 2015
I had become Senior Producer for
Ambassador Theatre Group (now
ATG Entertainment), and our
producing arm, ATG Productions,
had fast become a leading world
player, with hits likes Cabaret with
Eddie Redmayne, Betrayal with Tom
Hiddleston and Cyrano with James
McAvoy, and commercial bangers
like Pretty Woman: The Musical, 9 to
5: The Musical, working with Dolly
Parton, and Plaza Suite, starring
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew
Broderick.
You don’t get a Benjamin Button
without a Pretty Woman. A crowdpleaser that sells more than a million
tickets in the UK brings investors
returns that allow them to take risks
on new material. So, how do you raise
two million quid to get a new musical
into the West End? The answer is to
produce other shows.
How do you get given a West End
theatre for new work, when star-led
plays and studio-led musicals are
more pro昀椀table and less risky for the
landlord? Firstly, you position the
show to (just about) work in a smaller
theatre: a smaller theatre is one the
landlord can give you without risking
shareholder wrath. Button would never
displace Paddington in the Savoy,
but in the 400-seat Ambassadors you
might have a chance.
the people who were going to sell
the tickets by saying not “Yes, I had
good time” but ‘Holy shit, you have
to go and see this show!’ And to get
international attention, we needed an
award.
Cut to April 2025, the Royal Albert
Hall. The company of 13 had been
asked by ITV to perform at the
Olivier Awards 2025 and we had
been nominated for four awards: Best
Actor, Best Actress, Best Score and
Music Orchestration, and the coveted
Best New Musical Award.
As we sat together in our tuxedos
on that magical night, I am glad we
were able to take a deep breath and
remember 20 years of small steps
of saying yes, of giving it a go, of
knocking the skittles down one by
one. Of friendship and collaboration,
of taking big swings, of building a
network, of everything that gets you
to that place. It was our time, we were
ready. And the Olivier for Best New
Musical goes to…
The West End transfer was secured
in 2023 as we re-staged the show
back on the fringe, this time with
a company of 13 who played 30
instruments between them. The visual
was even more stunning, and, on 8th
November 2024, the show’s West End
life began.
So now the third part: playing to
the world. The plan was to use the
West End run as a shop window for
international markets. The task of
re昀椀ning and evolving the work so
it can sit proudly in the company of
30 West End shows, many of them
massive hits that have been around a
long time, is like landing a helicopter
on a postage stamp.
It could not just be good; it had to
be very special. The audience were
117
BOISDALELIFE.COM
ISSUE 24
Jethro Compton and the creative team of
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
celebrate their Olivier Award triumph for
Best New Musical at the 2025 ceremony.
