BBC4 is to explore musical theatre’s evolution over the past 100 years, in a series that will reveal how some of the best-loved showtunes work musically and lyrically.
The series is fronted by composer Neil Brand and will feature contributions from creators of musicals and their stars, including Frances Ruffelle, Anna-Jane Casey and Robert Lindsay.
In the series, Brand will also collaborate with performers to recreate songs from the shows, including Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from Evita and Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music. Along the way, Brand will explore how the songs have been constructed to “captivate the audienceâ€.
Jan Younghusband, head of music TV commissioning, said: “Neil Brand takes us inside the magic of the musical, the most successful stage shows in town and how they were born from Broadway to London over the last 100 years.â€
She added: “Neil unpacks the great classics with the stories behind all the show songs we love, the amazing stories about the collaborators and how the musicals which form the staple of the West End and Broadway came about.â€
In the first episode, Brand will look at how the modern shape of the musical was born through works such as Show Boat and My Fair Lady.
The three-part series, called Sound of Musicals With Neil Brand, begins on January 13 at 9pm.
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