Dame Footlights Keeps ‘em Smiling

Nige Burton catches up with UK Productions’ Martin Dodd to find out what makes a musical revival so successful.

If you’re a fan of British theatre, chances are you’ve seen a show or two presented by one of the country’s leading theatre promoters, UK Productions. Headed up by impresarios Martin Dodd and Peter Frosdick, the company has enjoyed countless hits since its inception almost fifteen years ago.

One of their current touring productions is Singin’ in the Rain, based on the classic MGM musical of the same name, and with its technical brilliance and superb cast headed by West End superstar Tim Flavin, it’s certainly wowing audiences up and down the country.

“It’s a great privilege to be reviving some of the old favourites,” Martin tells me during a recent catch up. “I grew up with the great musical films, and I think the nostalgia they evoke in me is shared by audiences worldwide.”

It’s true to say that UK Productions’ line-up is a prolific one – they are currently touring two other shows nationally and internationally, one being the perennial favourite Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the other the acclaimed Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

“Seven Brides has been very good to us over the years,” says Martin, “it’s a great old crowd pleaser, very satisfying to stage and, of course, it was historically one of the biggest hits for MGM.

“And Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is just a stunner. It’s beautiful to look at, and has that epic feel to it – a real magical, fairy tale adventure.”

But the latter has not come without its problems. “Logistically, it’s been a real challenge to stage Beauty and the Beast, but we’re into our fifth year now, so we’re getting the hang of it a little more,” says Martin with a wry smile. “It was basically a rethink every time we took it to a new theatre – the complexities of the set and the sheer size of the cast and crew make it nigh on impossible at times, but we love a challenge and the end result is truly stunning. It was particularly difficult at Blackpool’s famous Grand Theatre, but we eventually pulled a rabbit out of a hat and it was a huge success.

“And I so love that beautiful Matcham Theatre – it’s great whenever we put a show on there; always good to be back.”

I wanted to know how the pair go about selecting a new property to work on, and what the process of bringing it to the stage actually entails.

“It’s quite simple, really, choose the shows you love yourself.” says Martin. “But simple doesn’t mean easy! Once you’ve decided, you then go about negotiating the rights – and that’s where the fun can start!”

I ask him what he thinks the great appeal of reviving the classic big screen extravaganzas is: “It’s real escapism,” he suggests, “it creates a sense of nostalgia and evokes lots of good memories, the ultimate feel-good factor, I suppose you could say.”

“And with the technology now available to us in terms of back projection and CGI, it takes the productions into a whole new realm in terms of recreating what many people may have only seen on film before.”

Which might explain how UK’s productions seem to open up these wonderful stories and songs to a whole new audience who were too young to see them first time around. Several online retailers report a rise in sales of the movie greats to coincide with a touring production of a show at any time.

“Next year should be an exciting time,” says Martin gleefully. “We’re bringing back 42nd Street, which is without doubt one of my all time favourites and one of our most popular shows, but we’re also breathing life into a brand new production of Oklahoma!, which has been a very personal project for Peter and myself for a number of years. Securing the rights has taken quite some time.”

So with a star-studded line up of smash hit musicals and some real panto treats waiting in the wings – ten productions out this Christmas across the country – this entrepreneurial duo seem set to keep us smiling through the vagaries of the credit squeeze.

“Attendances have been fantastic,” says Martin, “I know times are very hard at the moment, but people seem to want to be entertained and taken away from reality for a couple of hours more than ever.”

Which is one in the eye for the feel bad pessimists and all their self-perpetuating doom and gloom propaganda – thank goodness!

Visit www.ukproductions.co.uk and special thanks to the Grand Theatre, Blackpool www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk

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