| Lloyd Webber mega-musicals are all well and good, | | | | of merchandise, it's amazing that a Kiss stage |
| but very little beats the guilty pleasure of a | | | | spectacular has never been performed in the |
| jukebox musical like Mamma Mia! We Will Rock | | | | West End. Kiss frontman Gene Simmons |
| You or Jersey Boys. These are the shows that | | | | attempted to get a Broadway project off the |
| people travel to London theatres from miles | | | | ground in 2001 but it never made it to the stage. |
| away to see as part of London theatre break. | | | | Hopefully Gene will see sense and try again in |
| Since it seems to be en vogue to make jukebox | | | | London. Convincing the band who produce a line |
| musicals at the moment, we thought we'd share | | | | of self-branded coffins to give up the rights to a |
| the four bands that we think should have their | | | | few songs to make a West End musical shouldn't |
| own jukebox musical in the West End as soon as | | | | be too difficult. |
| possible. | | | | 3) Phil Collins |
| 1) Happy Mondays | | | | One for the sort of people who book London |
| They're perhaps not the first group that you'd | | | | theatre breaks to see We Will Rock You. Phil |
| think of when considering candidates for a West | | | | Collins' music has been used extensively in films |
| End musical, but Happy Mondays' distinctive sound | | | | and his work on Disney's Tarzan won him an |
| could actually translate to the stage rather well. | | | | Oscar so when it comes to rousing soundtracks, |
| Imagine if you will, the story of a few friends on | | | | he knows what he's doing. |
| their way to attend a Manchester warehouse | | | | Given Collins' versatility he could easily arrange his |
| rave, add a few off-the-shelf story elements; | | | | songs over a loose plot (a la Mamma Mia!) or just |
| love triangles, growing up etc and add a | | | | showcase them with an all-singing, all-dancing West |
| soundtrack of some of the most iconic music to | | | | End cast (similar to Thriller Live). |
| come out of the Madchester scene. | | | | 4) The Smashing Pumpkins |
| Best of all, Bez isn't up to much these days so he | | | | Grungy alt-rock sounds are lamentably |
| could play himself. Now that's a London show that | | | | under-represented in West End theatre. There's |
| would pull in the crowds. | | | | plenty of upbeat show tunes, loads of melancholy |
| 2) Kiss | | | | ones and there's even quite a bit of pop-rock but |
| Given the iconic status of Kiss' music, their | | | | very little to cater to the 'alternative' crowd. |
| reputation for incredible live shows and their love | | | | |