This week, Sir Tim Rice has pounded the media with a novel proposition that he believes will enhance the enjoyment of those paying top dollar to see musicals.
Even though just about every musical presented in the West End or on Broadway has lyrics in English, Sir Tim would like to see theatres investing in the machinery to broadcast surtitles. This begs many questions.
To put the idea into context, opera houses have long offered various means of following a libretto in English. Indeed, to take the best example, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York offers simultaneous translations in several languages using a display screen in the seat in front.
The situation is not quite the same, in that the vast majority of opera librettos are written in foreign languages and therefore require translation in order to be understood by those who are not multilingual. Additionally, libretti are often published in (highly priced) programmes. Similarly, when theatres import productions from overseas in foreign languages, it is common for them to use surtitles. Nobody has previously suggested that surtitles might be used for theatrical productions presented in viewers’ native languages.
Ironically, one of the attractions of big budget musicals is that they attract tourists whose understanding of English can be extremely limited. Such individuals would clearly derive little or no benefit from surtitles in a language that they don’t understand.
The musical genre has been popular for a century and audiences have rarely, if ever, commented adversely on the fact that they found some of the lyrics are garbled, although clarity may sometimes be an issue. One ought to note that Sir Tim is a lyricist and therefore obviously feels hard done by if punters are not fully able to appreciate the subtleties and wit that comprise the kinds of talents that lead someone to a knighthood. Whether composers or book writers would feel quite the same urge to transform the art form in this fashion may be more doubtful.
There could be a good reason for change. That is the use of amplified music, which often ramps up the excitement but hinders the ability to understand quite what performers on stage singing about. It is also possible that contemporary lyrics are less singable than those in the past or musical stars lack the skill sets of their predecessors. Rather than surtitles, an alternative solution to such difficulties might be to challenge sound engineers and performers to up their games.
What will be the consequences should producers decide to take Sir Tim up on his radical idea?
There could be quite a few downsides. First, we have already seen an unwelcome trend whereby rowdy theatregoers insist on singing along with the stars, inevitably at the tops of their voices. This will only get worse if musicals are transformed into karaoke, with scrolling lyrics bolstering confidence, already fuelled by intoxicants.
Secondly, especially when it comes to jukebox musicals based on pop songs, those avidly reading the surtitles might discover the vacuity of many lyrics.
Thirdly, as anyone who has attempted to follow surtitles over foreign language productions will testify, human beings are only blessed with one pair of eyes and when someone is looking at words, by definition, they cannot fully appreciate the visual attractions, which are often one of the biggest selling points for musicals where tickets prices now frequently reach well into three figures.
Before the theatrical knight chokes on his cornflakes, in certain cases, the ability to follow the lyrics of the most literary shows could enhance the appreciation. However, shocking though it may seem to a leading exponent of the art, for the most part, musical scenes probably have little or no interest in the lyrics, happily paying extortionate amounts to see favourite stars in the flesh, lavish spectacle and enjoy nostalgic tunes from their youth.