Mickey Jo (0:00)

So in the last couple of weeks, A Wonderful World, the Louis Armstrong musical, has announced it would close early, only a few months into its Broadway run. Hell's Kitchen, the musical featuring the songs of Alicia Keys, meanwhile, just won a Grammy Award. Two jukebox musicals which opened on Broadway in the same year, clearly enjoying disparate levels of success amidst what I would characterize in a general downward trend for what was previously a hugely prolific sub genre of the art form. In short, it prompts the question, while some are still succeeding, why are so many jukebox musicals failing? Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to you on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. I am a theatre critic here on social media as well as a content creator and a pundit. Today we're going to be talking all about jukebox musicals. If you don't know what that is, don't worry. This is a safe space. A jukebox musical is a show that utilizes for its score songs that had already been written beforehand. This actually goes way back in the world of musical theatre, but in a modern sense we use it to describe shows which are put together using pop music. Think Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia. We Will Rock youk. This particular type of musical has really been gaining a huge amount of traction on stage since, I would argue, the new millennium. And though many of them have been hugely successful, which is very valuable for the theater industry, there are many theater goers among us who have complained about the rise and extent of jukebox musicals. Only in recent years we've started to see that they aren't always a guaranteed recipe for success. And I would argue that over the last few years on both sides of the Atlantic, we have seen more jukebox musicals struggling than flourishing. So today we're going to be covering a lot of ground within this topic. We're going to be looking back over the last few years of jukebox musicals. We're going to be talking about the ones which are still running now on Broadway and in the West End. We're going to be talking about the ones that are coming up, whether we can anticipate those being successful. And we're going to do a little bit of a diagnosis. Why Has a Wonderful World, the Louis Armstrong musical, closed early. If you're excited for this theatrical conversation, you would like to look forward to more of the same. Make sure to subscribe to my theatre themed YouTube channel for more chats to Just like this or follow me on podcast platforms. If you would prefer to hear my voice for the benefit of those of you who can't see me right now, I'm wearing an orange beanie I bought at Hell's Kitchen last year on Broadway. It makes me feel like a pumpkin. A stagey, stagey pumpkin. As always, share your thoughts about all things jukebox musicals in the comments section down below, particularly those ones which are coming up. Do you have tickets to see any of these? Are you anticipating them being successful? What do we think in the meantime? Let's talk about it. Is the jukebox musical dying? So first of all, to have this conversation, we have to talk about really the two different types of jukebox musical, and we can go further back and we can talk about Gershwin and we can talk about Cole Porter for the sake of contemporary audiences. I don't think those technically being jukebox musicals really comes into the conversation. We're going to talk about the ones based on the music of recording artists. And I'm not talking about instances where recording artists like Sorelton John, Sara Bareilles and Cyndi Lauper have composed new songs for musicals like the Lion King or waitress, kinky boots, etc. So the first type of jukebox musical I want to talk about is the one which I feel has become the most prolific. It sort of started with Jersey Boys, though this wasn't technically the first example, and it is the jukebox bio musical one using an artist's discography or a group's discography, or even the music of the time in order to tell their story. Jersey Boys is sort of the best known example of this. First seen on Broadway in the early 2000s, it tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and it's an interesting story as well as a very entertaining back catalogue, both ingredients to the show's enormous success. Jersey Boys became huge and it sort of kick started that sub genre. The show has played all around the world and is sort of synonymous with the success of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. There's a little thing at the beginning of Jersey Boys where they open with a French language cover of the song oh what a Night in order to assert the idea of like how successful they had become. But the irony is that Jersey Boys, the musical is now so big they really don't have to do that. Other recent examples of this include Beautiful, the Carole King musical Ain't Too Proud, Tina, the Tina Turner musical MJ Summer, the Donna Summer musical the Drifter's Girl, and several more upcoming or in development. Motown is another pertinent example of this, and since we began this conversation by talking about Hell's Kitchen and A Wonderful World, they both technically fall into this category as well. Though Hell's Kitchen has always been described as loosely based on Alicia Keys own life experience, it sort of uses that as a springboard. The other type of jukebox musical is one that uses a different or original story that is not connected to that group necessarily or directly. Mamma Mia is the biggest example of this. That story really has nothing to do with abba. It toys with some of the aesthetic and, you know, uses the themes of the music within its own storytelling. But it's not about abba, though theirs is an interesting story. In fact, Mamma Mia allegedly adapts the plot of a film called Buonasera Mrs. Campbell that has never really been confirmed, but watch the film, I'm telling you, it's exactly the same. And while there have been fewer other examples of this type of jukebox musical which have achieved success, there are some, including We Will Rock youk, which uses the music of Queen technically in the musical We Will Rock youk. Queen existed, but it's set in this post apocalyptic cyber future. There was also Head Over Heels, which uses the music of the Go Go's. More recently on Broadway, Once Upon One More Time, which used the music of Britney Spears but had a fairy tale storyline. The Heart of Rock and Roll, which used the music of Huey Lewis and the News and. And Juliet, first seen in the UK and now running very successfully on Broadway as well as touring the uk. And Juliet, interestingly enough, doesn't use the music of one particular artist like the rest of those examples, but it uses the music of one particular composer, producer Max Martin. He's worked with the Backstreet Boys, with Brittany, with Katy Perry, with Ariana Grande. And so it's all of those songs which still have a consistent kind of a vibe and are all equally brilliant which go into the musical. And Juliet, which uses a sort of a Shakespeare spin off fan fiction plot. It's really very satisfying. And Aunt Juliet has become something of a Broadway success, which brings us pretty neatly into a conversation about the last few years of jukebox musicals on either side of the Atlantic. Now there was a time really, I think in the few years leading up to the pandemic where it seemed like all we were getting were jukebox bio musicals. Beautiful was really successful. On the back of that we had the likes of the Donna Summer musical, which had three different actresses playing Donna Summer at different times of her life and the Cher show, which featured three different actresses playing Cher at different times of her life. Stay tuned for the Dolly Parton musical that's coming soon. I think we might see a familiar concept, but that is also when MJ was being developed. That is also when Tina, the Tina Turner musical was coming to the stage. That is also when Ain't Too Proud was happening. That is also when the Drifters Girl was happening in the uk. It was really just all bio musicals and that has continued, but they haven't always been successful. The Drifters Girl managed a cast change in the uk, went on a UK tour. It never really found the same level of success. Ain't Too Proud believe had a decent run on Broadway. From what I remember. It really did not find an audience in the West End. I believe it was only ever planning to run for a year because MJ was always booked into the Prince Edward Theatre subsequently. But in fact the production closed earlier than intended, with Dear England, the James Graham play, going in instead. That's a real shock, I think, to the theater industry. A big, splashy jukebox musical with familiar songs closing early and a play going into that theatre for the first time in decades. That tells us that something is wrong about the usual formula for success in the theatre world outside in the West End. Over the last few years, there have been a handful of jukebox musicals touring that haven't yet been seen in London. The Cher show has not yet been seen in the West End. Just recently, Here and Now, a musical featuring the music of Steps, this being akin to Mamma Mia. It's not telling the story of Steps. It's set in a supermarket, it's fun, it's cute, it's campy. That one is about to embark on a UK tour as of yet hasn't headed into the West End. If rumours are to be believed, an attempt was made to head into the West End, but another show got the theatre that they were hoping to get. There is also Bat Out Of Hell, which has just returned for another UK tour. But like the who's Tommy, this lives in a slightly interesting place because arguably the album upon which it is based was always intended as a theatrical concept album, not unlike Jesus Christ Superstar or Evita. So it doesn't really resemble a jukebox musical in the same way, though there is still obviously enormous recognition of the music among audiences and that's a huge draw for why people go and see the show. Let's turn our attention now to Broadway, because there have been some successful jukebox music in the last few years. There have also been a handful of flops. Once Upon a One More Time had a very short lived Broadway run. Sadly, so did the Heart of Rock and Roll. I'm hearing there is a possibility that they may be reworking it. They may be glancing across the Atlantic for their next destination, Head Over Heels. Another show which I mentioned did not have a particularly substantial Broadway run. And all signs would point towards this kind of jukebox musical being the less successful. It would indicate that, you know, audiences seem to want bio musicals at this point. I think it would be pertinent to address why is it that audiences love a jukebox musical and it has all to do with money. Money, as they say in cabaret, makes the world go around, the world go around, the world go around. And the flowchart goes like this. Theater tickets become harder to afford, not necessarily because they're more expensive, though in many instances they are in most cases as a result of theatre becoming more expensive to produce just globally, but also because the cost of living is becoming prohibitively expensive. It's harder for people to afford luxuries like a trip to the theatre when just simply being alive is getting more expensive. And so with theatre tickets becoming less affordable, people become a little bit choosier about the shows that they are going to go and see. So they want a statement of quality beforehand. This is why something like the Tony Awards matter a lot. If a show has won a whole bunch of awards, including Best New Musical, that is a statement of quality. And people feel a little more reassured about buying a ticket to go and see it. But for a lot of people, maybe your more casual theatre goers who want to go and see a nice show with the family maybe once a month, maybe once a year, they will often gravitate towards something that they already have a sense of that could be something that is based on a film. They already know that it's a beautiful story, or it could be something where they already know the music, they already know what it sounds like, they already know that they love the music. Who doesn't love the songs of abba? That's a big part of why Mamma Mia has been so successful. Even before it became a film that people know well. Now it hits audiences with both barrels. They know the song, they know the film, they know exactly what Mamma Mia is. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw it heading back to Broadway within the next couple of years. It's just celebrated a huge 25 year milestone in the West End, currently playing at the Novello Theater. They coined the slogan, you already know you're going to love it. That was a huge part of its marketing and it worked. We also have to consider the love that an audience might have for an artist. My father is not the biggest fan of going to see musicals on stage. His favorite is We Will Rock youk because he loves Queen so much. And there is just enough of a story in that show to offer, like, thrilling, brilliantly sung performances of those songs, but not to get in the way of the performances of those songs. They set them up and they let people just, like, rock out to that great music. In fact, at the end, they barely conclude the narrative. It all just gives way to a thrilling Queen concert, because that's what that audience really wants. They haven't come there for an expertly constructed storyline and they don't get one. Another example of this has been Tina, the Tina Turner Musical, which I think is actually a deceptively good show. It did not have a long life on Broadway. It continues to run many years later in the West End. I think a factor in that is that when ticket sales looked like they were beginning to slow down, Tina Turner sadly passed away. And more audiences wanted to go and celebrate her life and her work and her artistry by going to see the show. It made them feel better. They wanted to go and celebrate her. And that, I think, as sad as it is, has helped to keep the show open. But it's also not sad because there's this thing that continues to celebrate her legacy. It's also touring around the US where I imagine it's doing quite well. Let's carry on then, and talk about the other jukebox musicals continuing to run in the West End and on Broadway. We've already talked about Mamma Mia and Tina. Here in London, there is Moulin Rouge. I haven't mentioned this one yet because technically it is a jukebox musical that's sort of intrinsic to the identity of the film. Because if you don't know Moulin Rouge, the stage musical is based on the Baz Luhrmann film of the same name, which starred Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. And that film used thrilling new theatrical style arrangements of pop songs, the likes of Roxanne and Elton John's yous Song, and the whole medley of songs that became the Elephant Love Medley. So when it was adapted for the stage, it was obvious they were always going to do the same thing. And if Moulin Rouge doesn't give you the best songs you've ever heard on stage. It does give you the most songs you've ever heard on stage. I've often said this show doesn't have the best score. It does have the most score. And so I don't necessarily consider this a jukebox musical because I don't think that's the draw. I think the draw is the film and that people really love and know that. And it also makes sense in a theatrical setting. You know, you're getting something sort of stylish and classy with a lot of dance and spectacle, because that's what the film delivers. But Moulin Rouge does continue to run at the Piccadilly Theatre in London, where it seems to be doing very, very well still. And at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway, where it seems like it might be slowing down just a little bit. They've begun to rely a little more, it seems, on injections of starry casting. There have also been non replica productions happening internationally and they're gearing up to commence an international tour version, which I believe is going to have quite exciting casting. It hasn't been announced yet, but I've heard good rumors. Other jukebox musicals in the West End. Well, there is mj, the Michael Jackson musical, still running at the Prince Edward, also still running at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway. The love for Michael Jackson among audiences is huge. Thriller Live was open for years in London and it would seem that neither of these shows are going anywhere anytime soon. Technically. There is also the Choir of Man. It's a non narrative show. It's a fun piece of entertainment. There is Titanique, which has recently arrived in the West End. It is in fact playing all over the world. You can see it in Canada, Australia, still off Broadway, where it began. And this feels very close to the Mamma Mia School of jukebox musical. It's campy. What it does is it tells the story of the film Titanic using the music of Celine Dion, who is of course associated with Titanic because she contributed the song My Heart Will Go On, Only they take it one step further. Titanique contends that Celine herself was a passenger on the ship and she is telling the audience the story the way that she remembers it, which is a kooky, crazy reinterpretation of the story using her music. That's a pretty unique theatrical venture and a really winning concept. Again, like Moulin Rouge, it's the love of the film that I think is selling people. But the Celine of it all is a big factor. And she has always been hugely present in the marketing of the show as well, so we shouldn't rule that out. Here is another bio one, but not about one particular artist. In fact, it covers several. Just for One Day tells the story of the Live Aid concert. It's currently playing in Toronto. Like right now it will be transferring to the West End, opening the Shaftesbury Theatre later this year. It originally had a run at the Old Vic and I think it's going to be very successful. I think it will ultimately extend the limited season which is currently on sale. I think it's going to resonate hugely with like the generation above me, those who lived through Live Aid, those who were at Live Aid. This was culturally huge here in the uk. I think this is going to be a really successful show over on Broadway. Meanwhile, we've already talked about many, if not all of their currently running jukebox musicals. We have talked about Hell's Kitchen and Moulin Rouge and MJ Drag. The Musical Off Broadway should be a jukebox musical, but it isn't for some baffling reason. But the one I really want to talk about is and Juliet, the anomaly of its season. In fact, a Broadway investor reached out to me when the show was still running in the West End to ask if I knew whether it had recouped because they were considering investing in the New York run. And at the time I didn't know because we don't publish information about grosses or recoupment necessarily here in London, which is endlessly frustrating. But I couldn't say with 100% certainty that I thought it would be successful in New York, simply because since Mamma Mia, so many of these shows that haven't been jukebox bio musicals haven't really worked. Head over heels at the time being at the forefront of my mind, but. And Juliet, against all odds, it seems, has really gone down well in New York and I think is the last show standing from its Broadway season, the last show still open. They have just welcomed a few new performers to the show and they are embracing something I've always wanted the show to do, which is to bring in more performers from the pop music world. I think this is one of the easiest shows in the world to stunt cast because it's not really, even though it's Shakespeare, it's not heavy material. They come in, they sing well, it's not a huge thing. It's a pop sing. I think this works brilliantly. One of the smartest casting decisions they recently made is Charli D'Amelio TikTok icon, who is part of the show's ensemble. She is a proven dancer and she's doing a great job about making a whole new generation of young people excited in the show. That's the most important thing. If we can bring in new audiences and they're also the audiences of the future, that's gold. And then There Is A Wonderful World, the Louis Armstrong musical. I said we would talk a little bit about why this show was closing. And behind any closing announcement, there is always greater context. There's always more going on here. And from what I am hearing, the theater owners did activate the stop clause that they have contractually where they are able to shut a tenant with a certain amount of notice, because they would rather open up the space that is Studio 54 operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company for another show to come in. I don't believe something is coming in immediately from what I am hearing, but this also would all be moot. This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the fact that the show was not selling particularly well. Do we think it's because audiences are bored of seeing really traditional bio musicals that tell the same kind of story of struggle and ultimately success? Often male centric, often artists from decades before who aren't enduringly really relevant, especially with a young audience? Or do we think that it's that last part? Do we think that all of this is just a little bit out of date? Because arguably it's, you know, the older generation who have the deeper pockets who can keep a Broadway show open because they're the ones who can afford the higher priced tickets. And obviously Louis Armstrong and Alicia Keys are hugely different artists. But for something like A Wonderful World with Louis Armstrong having been such an important black musician, it would always seem vital that for that show to survive, they would have to really engage with and find a black audience in New York. You could say the same thing for the success of Hell's Kitchen. Although does that music in 2024, 2025 have a wider appeal? Is that the simplest and best answer for why Hell's Kitchen has succeeded more so than A Wonderful World? Is A Wonderful World a little bit outdated, both in terms of its music and in terms of the concept? Hell's Kitchen is doing something a little more contemporary in terms of its aesthetic, in terms of the energy, in terms of the choreography, in terms of the story it's telling. One criticism of A Wonderful World has been the way that the wives of Louis Armstrong are treated by him historically. He goes through four different wives quite casually over the course of his life. I actually think they're afforded quite a lot of agency in the narrative. But there's no question about the fact that Hell's Kitchen affords its trio of central female characters a hell of a lot more agency and a lot more dramatic thrust. Really. It's their show. Perhaps there's also a geographical component to this. You know, Alicia Keys, born and raised in New York. They still play that song everywhere. I'm talking, of course, about Empire State of Mind. Louis Armstrong in his life eventually made it to New York as he more closely associated with his birthplace, with New Orleans, with Louisiana. Would the show have been an easier sell there? Is this a show that's going to have more of a life regionally, more of a life on tour? This is another big part of the conversation, is that even though some shows don't necessarily have the longest or most successful, almost critically beloved lives on Broadway, many of these jukebox musicals are then subsequently very successful on tour. This in part because they have broader recognition among audiences than something maybe like a parade or a Shucked or a Kimberly Akimbo. All fantastic shows and beloved by the theater fans in the towns that they visit around North America. But audiences know what they're getting. When the Temptations musical comes to town. When Mamma Mia. Comes to town. If the Louis Armstrong musical came to town. When A Beautiful Noise, the Neil diamond musical comes to Town, a show that found some traction on Broadway but ultimately wasn't able to recoup its initial investment. Meaning from a financial perspective, we would characterize that as a flop. However, is it likely to make its money back on the road? Is that always going to be the destiny for many of these jukebox shows? I was actually recently in Florida, where this show had its world premiere, and I was curious as to whether there were any shows near where we were. And it was all jukebox musicals. It was Jersey Boys and it was a Beautiful Noise, the Neil diamond musical. I do have the press release here which announced the show's closing. It's playing its final performance on February 23rd. You can go check out my review if you want to know a little bit more about this show. I quite liked it. I thought it brought a really joyful energy to the stage. I thought it was really beautifully put together. There was some brilliant choreography, gorgeous design. At the time of closing, the production will have played 151 performances, including 31 previews. That's really not that great, sadly. And the producers released a statement. It is with mixed emotions that we announced the closing of A Wonderful World, the Louis Armstrong musical. This has been a labor of love for our entire cast and creative team. I mean, isn't it always? And we are so proud to have brought Louis Armstrong's extraordinary life and legacy to Broadway finally then, and I guess this is what we've really been building towards. Let's glimpse into the future, the near future that is of jukebox musicals, particularly on Broadway, and anticipate whether these are going to be successful. Because I don't think it's enough anymore to just take a well liked artist and take their known back catalog and tell the, you know, the theatricalized story of their life and assume that it's going to be a huge hit that doesn't seem to be guaranteed success. Maybe the takeaway of all of this is that outside of like mega artists like Michael Jackson, the needle is shifting in the other direction and it's the Mamma Mia. Esque non bio jukebox musicals which are becoming more successful with Hell's Kitchen, arguably and and Juliet also. Calling them non bio jukebox musicals makes them sound like a determination. Anyway, here's what's coming up. I guess Buena Vista Social Club is a jukebox musical because I believe it's about an actual band. Like it's based on the documentary about the album of the same name, if I'm correct. I really don't know too much about that show. I'm excited for its opening later this spring. So the next one we're going to see is just in time. Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff is playing Bobby Darren. There's a brilliant cast around him. This is going to be at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway, part of the current Broadway season. Thankfully, it's not going up against A Wonderful World Armstrong musical because that seemed a little bit crowded to have two jukebox musicals just a few blocks from each other. But I also don't know that this one feels thrillingly relevant. Who is crying out for a Bobby Darren jukebox musical right now? Does this not just feel like a similar kind of demographic as the audience for A Wonderful World, only whiter? A lot of people will probably go to this to see Jonathan Groff on stage. In the Circle in the Square is a smaller auditorium, but I'm not sure I necessarily understand the idea behind producing this on Broadway. In a very similar vein, there is also Sinatra not yet announced for Broadway or any future production, but it had a regional UK production starring Matt Doyle and they had a staged Workshop presentation reading I believe in New York not too long ago. They are definitely vying for some sort of a North American, if not Broadway run. But going up against the Bobby Darren musical with the Sinatra musical would be a terrible idea. I also didn't hear enchanting things about that show's world premiere production, so I would hope that they are taking this opportunity to work on it a little bit, but I don't know how much work you can do. It's always going to be what it is. It's always going to be the story of Frank Sinatra's life, which is not an uncomplicated one, using his music, which is classic and timeless but doesn't necessarily thrill a contemporary a young audience. Over at the Papermill Playhouse right now there is mystic the Musical, which I've just heard some very fun things about. That one is a jukebox musical like Aunt Juliet, using the music from several different artists, including Huey Lewis's the Power of Love. And this will be the third musical that that song has been used in in the last few years between the Heart of Rock and Roll and Back to the Future. I think that's a show that could have a cute regional and community theatre life in the future. I don't envision that being a success that lights up Broadway. I think it's always going to be remembered as a 30 rock punchline before it became a legitimate stage musical. There is also Dolly the Dolly Part Musical or whatever they've changed their name to. They were calling it hello, I'm Dolly. Obviously a play on hello Dolly. They have now decided, I guess because they want to stand apart from that and not be looking like a twist on that classic show. They've changed the name. It's now just called Dolly. They've recently been catching audience attention for a social media casting search for an actress to play Dolly. From what I hear, this is an actress to play the youngest iteration of Dolly because like in the Cher and Donna Summer musicals, we're going to see three different generations of performers playing Dolly at three different points during her life. This of course, wouldn't be the first time we'd heard Dolly Parton music on stage, with her having composed a new score for the musical 9 to 5 that also included her song 9 to 5 from the film 9 to 5 as well as the show Here youe Come Again which was originally seen regionally in the us. I think it was at Goodspeed first and is currently touring around the uk. That's a show in which which Dolly herself as A presence appears as a vision to a dejected middle aged man who's having a little bit of an emotional crisis. In this newer version of the show, it's during the pandemic and he's having a challenging time in terms of his mental health. And she appears to him, she's a huge icon of his and she helps coach him through it. And they perform her music together. He sings her songs, she sings her songs. And it's nice. It lets you feel like Dolly Parton is a part of a world that you understand. But I think there is also a huge curiosity about a musical about her own life because she's always been very elusive and secretive about the finer details of her own life. Is this going to be a traditional bio musical where we finally learn more about Dolly, or is it going to be a little bit more fantasized, a little more Dollywood esque? I would love to see the first one. I'm putting my money on the second. And there are other jukebox shows, other bio musicals which are still in development. I have been to some workshops where again, they follow the same type of formula, following an artist through their life. The thing they have in common is that the music is always dynamic and it's always exciting. It always has real musical panache. But there is such a consistency to the narrative, I'm getting fatigued by it. I wouldn't be surprised if that's how other audiences feel as well. In any case, I do think that we are right now in the midst of a change in the success of jukebox musicals, especially those bio musicals. If producers are listening, I don't think that those are the guaranteed hits that they once were. I think we are starting to see that and it will be very interesting to see how the rest of this Broadway season, the rest of this year even plays out. Those have been my thoughts and as always, I am very intrigued to hear yours. What do you think about all of the shows mentioned in the comments section down below? Do you think we're seeing a change and we're going to continue to see more of that change over the next few years. Thank you for listening to my thoughts. I hope that you have enjoyed and I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have and that A Stagey day for 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a Stagey Day. Subscribe.