Picture: Roy Tan
Publisher and editor LISA MARTLAND founded Musical Theatre Review (MTR) 10 years ago today. Starting as a one woman website, it now boasts a national network of reviewers, plus thousands of followers online and on social media, including some of showbusiness’ best-known names.
Here, Lisa looks back on MTR’s first decade and its development from newcomer to popular and respected commentator on the musical theatre scene.
Congratulations on Musical Theatre Review’s 10th anniversary. How are you going to celebrate?
Many thanks, we hope this is the beginning of a very special anniversary year during which we will offer lots of new and exciting content to our readers and followers as well as some special giveaways and competitions. In fact, we are kicking off the celebrations by giving away TWO tickets to the much acclaimed production of Newsies, currently running at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre (keep an eye on our Twitter feed).
And if that isn’t enough, our contributor Ian Bowkett will be presenting a brand new podcast in association with Musical Theatre Review. His first two guests are huge musical theatre favourites, so we can’t wait to share the details with everyone.
Musical Theatre Review founder and editor Lisa Martland presents actor Jamael Westman with a prize at the Mousetrap Awards
With so many online publications and theatre blogs too, what does MTR offer that’s different from the competition?
That question makes me think of how much the online landscape has changed since Musical Theatre Review was born in 2013. There were a few successful theatre websites back then, the same ones I suppose that most people immediately refer to today, but the blogging world was still in in its infancy. Now it’s possible to enjoy content created by a huge community of people writing and broadcasting about theatre all over the world.
I suppose there’s a few areas in which I hope MTR stands out from the crowd. Despite the fact the site has won awards for blogging, I have always run it as an online publication sharing news, reviews and features on a daily basis from a team of talented journalists. In fact, it grew out of that former industry bible, the print magazine Musical Stages, and we did initially create a digital magazine before focusing on the website.
I think the focus purely on musical theatre and cabaret makes it different as does our breadth of coverage. Our tagline is ‘Onstage / Backstage / Worldwide’ – for us it’s never just about covering the big West End shows that get oodles of exposure anyway, although those musicals obviously play their part. It’s also about highlighting productions on the Fringe (from London to Edinburgh), in-house regional productions, tours, student productions, along with a focus on the musical theatre scene in Europe and in New York. And every article isn’t limited to onstage, we chat to the practitioners too.
There is also a commitment to champion new writing…
Yes, a big part of our ethos has been to support and champion new work. To get a new musical off the ground is a Herculean task, so if we can ever do anything to help during that process, whether that simply be to attend a workshop or publish a news story/feature, I try my very best to have my door open. Why should a new musical constantly be overshadowed by the coverage given to established productions? Surely they deserve even more of our time if new writers are going to be allowed to flourish?
I’ve always felt there has tended to be a bit of fear and snobbery about nurturing new work in musical theatre. When an original text is staged for the first time in the world of straight drama, it seems to be something to celebrate, but in musicals it sometimes feels like a cynicism exists before the first note is sung. Things have improved thanks to a number of pro-active new writing organisations and forward-thinking producers but there is a long way to go. I have always wanted MTR to be a supportive presence in that scenario.
That’s why it was so brilliant to launch our Best Musical Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017 celebrating the excellence of musical theatre product presented at the world’s largest annual arts event. In memory of our Edinburgh judge and contributor Clare Ann Walters, we also ran The Clare Award in 2021 which was given to the most outstanding online production.
In the early stages of the Musical Theatre Review website, it was something of a one-woman show but now you lead an extensive team of writers. How does that feel?
I wanted to create a forum where the journalism and editing were of the highest quality, from the correct spelling of an artist’s name to the level of constructive criticism being made. Thanks to an incredibly talented and dedicated team (age 20s to 80s), I think that we is what we have achieved and as a result MTR has become very respected as result.
It’s no accident that, as a result, a wide range of new and established industry figures keep track of the website content and engage with us on social media: productions, performers, writers, directors, choreographers, musical directors, producers, theatres owners, venues, PRs, drama school and more.
There’s too many to mention but they include Tim Minchin, Stephen Mear, Matthew Bourne, Michael Rosen, Fabian Aloise, Lucy Moss, Debbie Isitt, Bill Buckhurst, Kirk Jameson, Nick Winston, Mark Smith, Daniel Evans, Matt Flint, Neil McPherson, Gareth Valentine, Inga Davis-Rutter, Eamonn O’Dwyer, Stiles and Drewe, Warner Brown, Jordan Li-Smith, Dougal Irvine, Danielle Tarento, Joseph Houston, William Whelton, Katy Lipson, Rachel Tucker, Sheridan Smith, Betty Buckley, Caroline O’Connor, Gary Barlow, Shaq Taylor, Summer Strallen, Kristian Lavercombe, Rachel John, Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway, Shan Ako, Lee Mead, Jennie Dale, Cameron Blakely, Amy Lennox, Steph Parry, Stephen Ashford, Ben Forster, Dan Burton, Wendi Peters, Nancy Sinatra and Jennifer Holliday, plus organisations like UK Theatre, Music Theatre International, Mercury Musical Developments, Musical Theatre Network, Perfect Pitch, LW Theatres and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organisation.
The first review to appear on Musical Theatre Review in January 2013
Describe your audience…
What’s brilliant about the audience for Musical Theatre Review is how varied it is, ranging from musical theatre fans who often follow particular shows/performers and musical theatre aficionados to practitioners, whether it’s writers, actors, directors, choreographers etc. At first it wasn’t always easy to know who was engaging with our content but social media has made that a lot easier to see. I really get a kick from connecting with the whole community. Occasionally someone I really admire from the industry gets in touch or thanks us for a particular review or feature [very recently Tim Minchin] and it’s hard not to get star-struck. I have been so grateful for all the interest and support.
MTR’s a small organisation with a wide reach. How do you achieve that?
It can be a challenge! I am in the same situation as many other creatives who run their own sites in that MTR on its own cannot pay the bills, so that means juggling other journalistic roles as well. But Musical Theatre Review is my passion.
I am indebted to every member of the team, the site just wouldn’t exist without them. I think in the early stages I thought I would just be able to do it all on my own – the production, the writing, everything – but it soon became apparent that was a bonkers idea.
I have to say a very special thank you to our awesome official photographer Roy Tan who has provided the site with an endless stream of brilliant, exclusive images. Plus there’s my news editor Angela Thomas and my Edinburgh Editor Fiona Orr. Craig Glenday has produced some fabulous videos for our YouTube channel and Andy Oliver has represented us brilliantly on the Olivier Awards Red Carpet.
As for the brilliant writers who provide news, reviews, features, additional YouTube videos and social media coverage, I just can’t thank them enough.
The cast of A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) celebrate winning the inaugural MTR Best Musical Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017 with Edinburgh Editor Fiona Orr
Do you see the publication as successor to Musical Stages?
Absolutely. I used to write a musical theatre touring round-up and the odd review for the print magazine Musical Stages which was founded and edited by Lynda Trapnell. She was a real inspiration to me. When the magazine closed towards the end of the 2012, a few of us decided to have a crack at creating a digital version with a basic website as a shop window, but we didn’t have the infrastructure or resources. The website became the focus and I began to run it on a daily basis by myself. I do need to give a massive shout out to Howard Sherwood though who made a huge impression on the look of the MTR website and created all the MTR logos.
You have a lengthy background in print journalism – notably as former Deputy Editor on The Stage. Was it a wrench to go online only?
I think the right project came along at the right time. I had a very rewarding decade at The Stage, eventually becoming the chief sub editor and deputy editor, as well as a regular contributor. There was a buzz about weekly Tuesday press days and a pride in seeing the end result. By 2013 I was working at home and also looking after a family, so running a website was a much better fit. Plus, I just loved the opportunity it gave to react to news stories and opening nights as soon as they happened.
How did you respond to the challenges of lockdown when there was no live theatre to write about?
It was just so tough to see the industry shutting down and suffering and also often being side-lined when it came down to any kind of support. The arts are too often underestimated for not only how much they contribute to the UK economy, but also for the massive difference they make to people’s wellbeing. This is the message we pushed on our social media along with promoting all the amazing online projects that started popping up left right and centre – we couldn’t wait to write about those. I didn’t realise how much I had missed theatre until I went to see Songs For A New World at the London Palladium in October 2020 with my great friend, West End Frame podcast editor Andrew Tomlins. By the end of the overture we were emotionally overwhelmed, the tears just flowed.
What developments are exciting you at the moment?
On one hand, I would say the nurturing and developing of new writing, and on the other hand, better diversity in the areas of gender, race and ethnicity, disability and sexuality. But there is a still a long way to go.
Is the anything else you would like to add?
I would just like to thank my husband, former editor of The Stage Brian Attwood, for his friendship and support. I couldn’t have founded and run MTR for the last 10 years without his patience and encouragement. And I also have to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my late father, John Martland, who gifted me my interest in musical theatre. It’s the best present I will ever receive.
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