Chapter 1: Continued
Viva Forever!
“My own unease with Viva Forever! is that the attitude at the heart of the show appeared to be grounded in a belief that women are so stupid they will go and see anything — that their passion for musical theatre renders them incapable of telling the difference between a good show and a bad one.”
pg. 31, Barnes
“Viva Forever! opened with a $4 million advance so it barely mattered what was onstage. All the direct of the production had to do was point the actors in the right direction and run the tech. “
- pg. 30, Barnes
Why did the producer, Judy Craymer, hire a man, Paul Garrington, to direct Viva Forever!?
“Director Paul Garrington has been responsible for re-staging numerous productions of Mamma Mia! around the world, including, most recently, in China, and has also worked on Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind, The Pet Shop Boys' Closer to Heaven, Dirty Dancing and Picasso's Women.”
- Playbill.com, Shenton
“Musical theatre might well be aimed at women, but there is little evidence of a women’s voice throughout the genre: a uniquely female viewpoint that resonates with other women through recognition of a shared experience”
- Barnes, pg. 37
A View of Women from a Male Perspective in Musical Theatre
“I think men keep [women] out. I really do. I think they justify it by saying “oh, women can’t handle the toughness… the tough decisions.” Women are much more in the role of being the conciliator. Negotiator. And that’s not a strong enough position for a director or composer, or the perception of what a creative person is in the theatre. However, as creators we are collaborators and that means something. We all work together. But if you have a male director, the male director will put his vision in place.”
Lucy Simon, pg. 39
