With last night's smash opening of the super iconoclastic Broadway musical, THE BOOK OF MORMON, we have the latest example of an American musical pushing subject matter and/or form with great success. Add to that last year's Pulitzer and Tony-winning NEXT TO NORMAL, or, closer to home, last summer's AVENUE Q (by the same composer as THE BOOK OF MORMON) or the winner of our latest New Musical Award, PREGNANCY PACT, and it starts to feel like a trend.
Not so. While musicals remain our most populist theatrical form, the great musicals of the past have almost always pushed the envelope. Rodgers and Hammerstein brought psychological motivation and sociological exploration to works like OKLAHOMA! and THE KING AND I, Stephen Sondheim dared to investigate urban angst and murderous compulsion in COMPANY and SWEENEY TODD, and more recent shows like RENT and SPRING AWAKENING linked rock scores to taboo subjects, winning whole new generations of musical theatre fans in the process.
What's encouraging and lasting about all of these shows, from OKLAHOMA! to THE BOOK OF MORMON, is that they are able to be meaningful, artful and entertaining. Roughly half of each Weston season is devoted to musicals, and this summer we are proud to produce our first world premiere musical with the adventurous and hauntingly tuneful SAINT-EX. We believe that the future of this deeply American art form lies in its ability to continue to push the envelope, and we look forward to playing an even greater role in birthing the great musicals of the future.
