Despite the constant gloom and doom in the news, the austerity in the economic forecasts and the long cold spell of winter weather British musical theatre is taking off again. London theatre contributed £623.6m to the economy in ticket sales in 2014, providing 167,000 creative jobs and a contribution to the economy of £856m in tourist spend – all these figures are up on previous years. [1]  And it’s not just the economy that benefits. Theatre-goers are 25% more likely to report that they feel in better than average health.[2] So if theatre and music can benefit the economy and benefit our health, why the gloom and doom? Just go to a musical!

For a little while now British musical theatre has been relatively quiet. We’ve been going to see the latest American blockbusters rather than celebrating the success of home grown productions like Made in Dagenham and Bend it Like Beckham, which spoke very clearly to a British audience. Gary Barlow’s first musical Finding Neverland opened at Leicester’s Curve Theatre and then went straight to Broadway though it is now expected to open in London this year. Was it the lack of infrastructure that led it to make a detour around the West End?

In the meantime, having opened in Leeds, Barlow and Tim Firth’s The Girls, based on Firth’s Calendar Girls, will arrive at The Phoenix in London next week. It tells a story about the fund-raising efforts of the WI in a small Yorkshire village, and as such its context may not seem likely to translate to Broadway or global success. It is a very British affair. But global success has been achieved with other very British musicals such as Matilda and Billy Elliott. And with the pedigree of its writers, creative team and performers, The Girls has the potential to spread its feel good message about what individuals can achieve when they work together around the world. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

It hasn’t been quiet in the regions. It hasn’t been quiet in fringe venues. And the exciting thing is that now the infrastructure to support writers and new musicals is in place. There’s support for writers through Mercury Musicals and the Stiles and Drewe prize, Musical Theatre Network and the BEAM festival. There are any number of opportunities for workshopping new musicals in the Universities and Colleges, including at my own institution, the University of Winchester. And once developed there are theatres promoting musicals and new writing, while producers specialising in new British musicals are proliferating.

Get out to see The Girls if you can, but if you can’t make it to London, head to your local theatre and discover what new, up and coming writers are producing. After all, supporting musical theatre is not only fun and good for the economy, it’s good for you too!

[1] ‘The Contribution of the Arts and Culture to the Economy’. ACE.

[2] ‘The Value of Arts and Culture to People and Society’. ACE