ROH announces first ever West End transfer The Royal Opera House is to transfer its production of The Wind in the Willows to the Duchess Theatre this Christmas, in an attempt to replicate the success that other subsidised organisations have enjoyed in the commercial West End. The dance-based show will run at the Duchess for an eight-week season, marking the ROH’s debut transfer into the West End. In recent years the National Theatre has transferred its productions of War Horse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to the West End while the Royal Shakespeare Company has seen its show Matilda the Musical move to London’s Cambridge Theatre. Sally O’Neill, interim chief executive at the ROH, said: “This is the first time we’ve gone into the West End, which makes it quite exciting. Having said that it’s not a War Horse or a Matilda [the Musical] – it’s not going to make us a fortune. It’s a small show going into a small theatre for a finite period of time, which makes it a really good first step.” O’Neill said that she hoped the family production would attract a wider audience by transferring to the 479-seat Duchess from the 400-capacity Linbury Studio Theatre. She added that, while this might not provide huge financial returns, it is part of the ROH’s model based on mixed funding. “This fits right in with our strategy to take our work out of the ROH and into other spaces to enable more people to see it…As the government subsidy is clearly going in one direction – both in terms of cash cuts and inflation – the importance of keeping and growing other revenue streams is really important,” said O’Neill. While there are no confirmed plans for other West End transfers at the moment, O’Neill said that if the run at the Duchess Theatre is a success, the ROH will use this as a model for other suitable shows in the Linbury. Choreographed and directed by Will Tuckett, The Wind in the Willows was originally staged in 2002 and has had three runs since then. The production is based on Kenneth Grahame’s book of the same name and has narration by former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion. Tuckett said he believes the show’s success is due to its suitability for a wide range of audiences, from young children to older people. He said: “It’s a very warm show, which is quite unusual a thing in the West End, but people at Christmas really want to see it and it’s managed to sell out every time at the opera house.” Last year Tuckett said he and his creative team updated the production from previous versions by adding more puppetry and modifying the narration in anticipation of a potential commercial transfer. “There is a responsibility with this show transferring but because it’s already existing it’s taken out of my hands a bit. I think the pressure of creating something from scratch in the West End is a very different animal to a transfer,” he added. Tobias Round and Nick Frankfort of Creative Management and Productions are producing the show in the West End. Round said: “The Wind in the Willows should fit very well into a commercial setting around the Christmas period. It is a title that people know and love, and by virtue of its success at the Linbury, there is clearly a market for it.” He added: “If we can find a way of making a dance-based product appealing to a wider audience then that will benefit the dance world as it sits on the cultural mantelpiece.” The Wind in the Willows will run at the Duchess Theatre from December 11 to February 1, 2014. It is recommended for those aged five years and above.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 09:08:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015