"Mister Musical" Cameron Mackintosh: "No compromises!"
15/01/2017
written by Michel Imhof
"Les Misérables", "Cats", "Phantom of the Opera": Cameron Mackintosh (70) is the most successful producer of musicals. Now his "Mary Poppins" is coming to ZurichTogether with Disney, you created the musical "Mary Poppins" .
From February 1, it will be making a guest appearance in Zurich. What did you want to achieve with the musical?
That people who already liked the movie would like the musical just as much. We changed a lot of things. The stage version is based more on the books by P. L. Travers than on the movie. The only things I wanted to take over were the songs and the spirit of the movie, but the language comes from the original books. Disney was initially afraid that I would turn it into a dark musical.
You are still constantly improving the play today. Why is that?
That's important. The version that premiered in 2004 was a success, but it was a bit heavy. That's why we revised the play and created a more colorful picture. The production that is now coming to Zurich was more successful than the first tour.
Lisa O'Hare, an experienced Mary Poppins, is coming to Zurich.
Exactly. She was the understudy for Mary Poppins at the premiere and has played Mary Poppins several times since then. She has now even made her Broadway debut and I believe that she will play Mary even better this time.
"Cats" is coming to Lausanne this year. It's been 37 years since the premiere.
We didn't expect such a long-lasting success back then. It was only at the premiere that we performed the musical in one piece, and it was only able to thrill the audience from about the sixth performance onwards.
What image do you have of the Swiss musical scene?
Switzerland has good theaters - that's great for me. It means that my musicals can also make a tour stop in Switzerland. I'm currently planning "Les Misérables" and hopefully "Miss Saigon" soon. My aim is to send my musicals on tour in the quality of London's West End - I make no compromises.
Big stars like Nicole Scherzinger and Leona Lewis have appeared in "Cats" as Grizabella in the West End and on Broadway. Is that a successful model for musicals?
Only if it is justified. Nicole Scherzinger did an excellent job back then. The difficult thing with such big stars is that they are only available for a role for a short time. So you have to replace them more quickly than other musical performers.
Is it easier or more difficult to land a hit musical today?
There weren't many musicals back then, but composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and I had four successful musicals within ten years. Today there are more musicals and the demand for hits is greater. But there are very few authors who can write good musicals. However, works such as "The Lion King", "Wicked", "The Book of Mormon" and currently "Hamilton" prove that it is still possible to inspire a large audience for this genre today.
