Queering British Musical Theatre

By Dan Hill

Edward and Tom falling in love in the World War Two trenches whilst a young man in the present day grapples with his own identity. May, a genderqueer person, coming out using the words of Britney Spear’s ‘I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman’. A picture of Rob as Belle next to the word queer in bold yellow letters a few steps from Trafalgar Square. A drag reimagining of Margaret Thatcher decrying the ‘inalienable right to be gay’ through song. Poppy and Nikki kissing on a West End stage eight times a week and with applause rippling across the auditorium. Oliver and Nancy realising friendship love is just as, if not more, important than romantic love. Ben exploring his sexuality and turning to Google to ask ‘am I gay’, whilst Marc is later left heartbroken that their short-lived situationship is finished. And a certain Jamie, who came out of the darkness and into the spotlight, proving that Musical Theatre truly can and should be ‘a place where we belong’.

These glimpses into the world of British musical theatre are at the centre of the research I am doing into the growth of queer stories since 2017. Musical theatre has often been associated with the queer community, yet substantially queerness is left off stage and out of the narratives. A few years ago I began interrogating this, leading into the PhD research I’m doing around queer British Musical Theatre which recognises and celebrates the more recent increase in queer representation on fringe, regional and commercial stages. Scholarship up to this point has often focused on reading narratives as queer despite their heterosexual stories, but Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’s global success has resulted in a cascade effect in which queer representation is more visible throughout British musical theatre than ever before. The moments from eight different shows I have offered above shows how far queer diversity in musical theatre has come in the past decade, however there is still a long way to go.

The Importance of Song

My research focuses particularly on the use of song to express queerness, recognising the often otherworldly role singing plays in musical theatre. Many scholars recognise how song is used to move narratives along or go somewhere else, places that dialogue cannot reach thanks to the added emotion that song can provide. Music allows for the unspoken to be spoken, often allowing an audience to hear and see inside a character’s head. In the context of queerness, I argue that song becomes the key site of queer expression in British musical theatre, often subtly replicating thoughts of coming out of the closet and expressing those inner thoughts. ‘Standing in the Shadows’ in Pieces of String, ‘I Am Found’ in Refcliffe, ‘Hello’ in Choir of Man and ‘I Like You’ in Bloody Elle all allow for moments of queer expression that explore the new heightened environment of song, allowing for things that go unsaid to be heard.

The Importance of Representation

Why Am I So Single? has a song that recognises the overpopulation of heteronormative stories in popular culture in the early 2000s, comparing a range of love stories to Friends’ Ross and Rachel. Normalising experiences that do not align with the Ross and Rachel stereotype, in a popular medium such as Musical Theatre, is vital in reflecting not only audience members but also those who make musical theatre happen; creatives, actors and other people working in the theatre industry who recognise themselves as queer. Musical Theatre is a popular and commercial form of entertainment, and by making work that tells diverse stories queerness can become more accepted throughout the country. Not only does this become important for acceptance, but it helps people come to terms with their own queerness as they see themselves reflected within popular culture.

Where Next?

The work I am studying stands on the soldiers of giants: La Cage Aux Folles, Night After Night, Rent, Closer than Heaven and Priscilla Queen of the Desert amongst a handful of other shows. It is of course important to look back, but I want to see the progress continue so that more queer stories can feature on the musical theatre stage and there are positive signs. A couple of weeks ago I was lucky to see Redcliffe by Jordan Luke Gage at Southwark Playhouse; a stunning and heartbreaking new musical which recounts a story of a queer couple whose sexuality was forbidden in Bristol, 1752-1753. These stories need to continue to be told as beautifully as seen in Redcliffe, however there is still progress in diversity to see stories that put transgender people and people of the global majority centre stage. It feels with recent news that we are currently at a crossroad for queer rights and my research highlights that visibility, whether that be in musical theatre or other forms of popular culture, continues to be a vital tool to (sometimes subtly) fight for queer rights across the world.

Join the conversation

I’m really excited to be welcoming three brilliant and inspiring creatives to The Nest at Chichester Festival Theatre on the 19th June as part of a panel titled ‘Queering Musical Theatre: A Place Where We Belong’. I will be talking to Chris Bush, Sam Woof and Rachael Mailer about their award-winning work which platforms queer voices, why representation in Musical Theatre is important and where do we go next with a chance to ask questions at the end of the session. Tickets are available now for free here at the following link, so please join us to continue the conversation around the importance of queer British musical theatre:

Ways to engage with queer British musical theatre (although this is not an exhaustive list):

Watch In Person-

Redcliffe - currently running at Southwark Playhouse (Borough) until early July

My Son’s A Queer (but what can you do?) - opening for a final three week run in London in September

Pride the Musical - showing at the National Theatre from June to September

Watch Online-

Pieces of String - Digital Theatre Plus

Smart Casual - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls_Y4g5iSe4

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie - Film Adaptation available on Prime Video

Listen or Read-

After the Act - Script available

Why Am I So Single? - Cast Recording available

&Juliet - Cast Recording available

Standing at the Sky’s Edge - Script and Cast Recording available

Bloody Elle - Script and Cast Recording available

Dan Hill is the Deputy Front of House Manager at Chichester Festival Theatre, often Duty Managing across the three venues on site. He is also a researcher and current part-time PhD Student at the University of Exeter in the Department of Drama working with his supervisory team of Dr Evelyn O’Malley and Dr Benedict Morrison. His central research question focuses on how British musical theatre uses song to present and explore queer identities since 2017. His queer temporal approach explores performances of history, childhood, normativity and platonic relationships with the aim to celebrate and produce a snapshot of contemporary queer British musical theatre.