UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has revealed her ambition to shift the balance of power in the theater world from Broadway in New York to London’s West End.
Delivering the keynote speech at the Society of London Theater summit in London on Monday, Frazer said he intended to work closely with UK theater practitioners to “make the West End a magnet for the best productions, the best directors and the best playwrights in the business”. .”
Plans to grow the UK theater sector are part of the government’s $63 billion vision for the creative industries. “We want the creative industries vision to be something that paves the way for a shift in the balance of power from Broadway to the West End,” Frazer said.
“In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s New York Times essay, marking the close of ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ he pointed to the punitive economy that made it harder to put on shows on Broadway,” said Frazer added. “And that does not mean that the situation is perfect in the West End. But the theater mix you find in London seems stronger than ever right now.
Frazer also highlighted the tax breaks available for theater and plans to develop future talent by creating and supporting opportunities for young people to explore their creativity, enabling them to become the West End stars of the future.
The Culture Secretary also highlighted the triumphs of the UK production of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, the suffragette hip-hop musical ‘Sylvia’ and the solo show ‘Prima Facie’, which was transported from the West End to Broadway and won Jodie Comer. a Tony Award, as “evidence – if ever needed – that British theater today is in a far more vibrant state than it seemed possible three years ago after the first COVID lockdown began just after Easter”.