If Music Be The Food Of Love... Is It Time For Shakespeare The Musical?
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Theatre fans! What if there was a show that combined two of our favourite things - **Shakespeare** and musicals?
Well, sadly such a wondrous thing does not exist. Yet. But I started thinking about this the other day (actually it was April Fool’s Day, but that’s another story), and I reckon there might be an opportunity here to combine the current success of the jukebox musical with the enduring popularity of **Shakespeare’s plays**. After all, if it’s good enough for [**Abba**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1017/Mamma-Mia--tickets.aspx), [**Michael Jackson**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/666/Thriller-Live-tickets.aspx) and [**the Kinks**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1571/Sunny-Afternoon-tickets.aspx), why not Will? I even have a title in mind: Play On! (Get it?)
If you’re noticing the tiny flaw in this great plan - that **Shakespeare** was a bard, not a band - fear not, because I’ve thought of that. Here’s how it would work. There’s some debate, but let’s say for the sake of argument that **Shakespeare** wrote 37 plays. So just like [**Let It Be**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1190/Let-It-Be-tickets.aspx), which works through the Beatles’ back catalogue in chronological order, we’ll have a song for each play - even the ones that nobody’s heard of, like 'Cymbeline' - in the order they were written. And just as **Shakespeare’s** works have different styles and cover a range of themes, so the songs can reflect various musical genres, from the upbeat (something mischievous, maybe, for A Midsummer Night’s Dream) to the sombre (you wouldn’t want anything too cheerful for Othello, for instance - I don’t recall a lot of laughs in that one). We can even throw some instrumental pieces in there, just to mix it up.
I am aware, obviously, that this is all a bit silly. But the point is, jukebox musicals are insanely popular at the moment. Just look at [**Jersey Boys**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1287/Jersey-Boys-tickets.aspx), or [**Sunny Afternoon**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1571/Sunny-Afternoon-tickets.aspx); they’re massive, and I bet not everyone who buys tickets to see them is a die-hard fan before they go. Last week, I went to see [**Be Bop A Lula**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1714/Be-Bop-A-Lula--tickets.aspx), and even though I didn’t know much of the music, I was still on my feet dancing by the end of the evening. You can read my [**Be Bop A Lula review**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/musical/1714/Be-Bop-A-Lula--tickets.aspx) here: [**C'mon Everybody Be Bop A Lula's In Town!**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/post/587/C-mon-Everybody--Be-Bop-A-Lula-s-In-Town-.aspx) So maybe this crazy idea could actually be a way to make **Shakespeare’s** work accessible to a new audience, who wouldn’t necessarily want to spend two hours watching a play at [**the Globe**](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/venue/75/Shakespeare-s-Globe.aspx), but are interested enough to take a whistle-stop tour of the complete works. And maybe have a bit of a boogie while they’re at it.
Either way, we can have some fun. So while I look for someone to make this dream a reality, tweet your song title suggestions to [**@theatre_direct**](https://twitter.com/theatre_direct) using hashtag **#Shakespearemusical!**