My guest today is Grace Barnes whose new book it titled:

National Identity and the British Musical — From Blood Brothers to Cinderella.

This is a fascinating book that explores how British national identity has, and often has not, been dramatized in British musical theater, and she does this by examining the content and context of musicals such as Blood Brothers, Mama Mia, Billy Elliott, The Hired Man and the current smash hit SIX.

And, of course, she also considers the tremendous impact that the "mega musicals" such as Les Miserable and The Phantom Of The Opera (both of which are still running in London), as well as the tremendous power and domination that Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh have had on the British musical theatre industry.

In addition she explores why UK critics so seldom give any serious consideration to musical theater and — in contrast to the way American musicals are often discussed — why British musicals are so often overlooked in national debates regarding culture and identity.

This is the first part of our recent conversation in which we discuss all of that and more!

Grace Barnes is an independent scholar, director, and playwright who has worked as an associate and resident director on productions of My Fair Lady, Fiddler On the Roof, Into The Woods, Sunset Blvd, The Witches of Eastwick, Martin Guerre, West Side Story, and Guys And Dolls in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. She has a PhD from the University of Technology in Sydney and her previous book is titled Her Turn Onstage — The Role Of Women In Musical Theatre.

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