A new musical at Eastbourne's Royal Hippodrome Theatre – headlined by West End stars Kerry Ellis and Dean John-Wilson – will explore songs from the musicals that flopped.
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00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Red Sussex Newspapers. Lovely
00:06 this afternoon to speak to Stuart Simons. Now Stuart, you've got a musical which is
00:09 opening, in fact having its tryout at the Royal Hippodrome in Eastbourne, and it's
00:15 called Flops, and there's an incredibly clever premise behind it. What are these Flops
00:21 that you're exploring?
00:22 Well, these are musicals that didn't make it either the first time or the second time
00:27 or the third time round that have got some of our favourite musical theatre songs in.
00:34 So lots of people don't realise that their best songs that they love from musical theatre
00:39 come from shows that didn't work. So that's the premise of the show.
00:42 Right. But it's not shows that didn't ever work, these are shows that subsequently did
00:46 work.
00:47 Yeah, it could be that they worked the first time and didn't work on their... what's the
00:53 word? Can't think of the word.
00:55 Revival.
00:56 Revival, exactly. It could be that a war's taking place and means that tourism in the
01:02 specific city that it premiered in went down and therefore it flopped. There's loads and
01:07 loads of different reasons for different musicals.
01:09 Can we understand those reasons or do you just sometimes put it down to experience?
01:14 Is there something obvious when these shows don't make it?
01:17 Oh yeah, definitely. It's written within their biogs online. So we've learned basically that
01:25 if specific shows have failed because of a certain reason, it could be because of something
01:30 happening politically. So we're going to try and explain that during the show. And so it's
01:36 a really, really good night of amazing musical theatre and learning about the history of
01:42 each of the shows that we love.
01:44 And mention some of these shows then, what's included?
01:47 So, for example, a good example is La Cage aux Folles, which we all know and we all love.
01:52 It's a wonderful show and it's had loads and loads of revivals and always succeeds. But
01:57 the first time it was in London, it coincided unfortunately with the AIDS crisis. And because
02:02 of the AIDS crisis and politically, everything just closed. So yeah, they got quite a lot
02:09 of hate, the people that are in the show. And so unfortunately, the show had to close.
02:12 And therefore, you can't have that as a flop.
02:14 Very strongly and adored now, isn't it? And you're also mentioning Mac and Mabel, which
02:18 wasn't necessarily a success right at the start.
02:20 No, it was a huge flop on Broadway when it first opened. I haven't got the exact figures
02:25 in my head, but you'll have to come and see the show to find out why.
02:27 Fantastic.
02:28 But they've loads of really good songs from Mac and Mabel. We do some wonderful, there's
02:33 a really big tap dance from it, actually, which we love, Tap Me Troubles Away. And we'll
02:37 explain exactly why it was a flop if you come and see the show.
02:41 Brilliant. And you're directing and choreographing, aren't you?
02:43 I am. And we've got Kerry Ellis and Dean John Wilson. So these are lovely and an ensemble
02:49 of really, really good, talented pros.
02:52 And this could be the start of big things, couldn't it? Because this is the first incarnation.
02:59 I really feel like it's a concept that could have lots of different avenues to go down.
03:03 And I really am excited to find out which ones succeed and which ones fail, which ones
03:08 flop.
03:09 So what's got to happen in Eastbourne for this to have legs?
03:13 I think I need to see an appetite for it. I need to finish the show and to see that
03:19 people are really interested in the history behind their favourite shows, because if they're
03:23 anything like me, they'll find it compelling.
03:26 Fantastic. And tickets from the venue, presumably?
03:30 Tickets from the venue, yep. I can't actually remember how much they are, but if you go
03:34 to the website, all the information is on there. It's 25th of May at 3pm and 7.45.
03:41 Fantastic. Well, it sounds a genius concept. Good luck with that. Thank you.
03:45 Thanks. Thanks. Come and see it.
03:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]