The Stage

CCE’s six musicals rival RUG record

Published Wednesday 1 December 2004 at 13:20 by Ruth Gillespie

Clear Channel Entertainment is planning to simultaneously produce six musicals in the West End during 2005 - rivalling the Really Useful Group’s current record.

Speaking during the company’s annual in-house Spotlight Awards, which were launched last year to honour the organisation’s front of house and administrative staff, David Ian said that in addition to The Producers he intended to open Guys and Dolls, starring Ewan McGregor, in partnership with the Ambassador Theatre Group and the Donmar Warehouse, to transfer the Broadway production of Hairspray and to revive The Sound of Music, in partnership with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful organisation.

A senior CCE official also disclosed that Cats would be the fifth show, returning to the West End next year with a scaled-up version of the current touring show. The name of the sixth musical has yet to be revealed.

“We have some great new productions to look forward to in 2005 with the possibility of having six musical shows running simultaneously in the West End,” said Ian. “It is because we are fortunate to have such a brilliant dedicated team of people behind the scenes that we can continue to produce and stage shows and one-nighters with total confidence.”

RUG is believed to have set the West End record in September 1991, producing The Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, Aspects of Love, Starlight Express, Cats and Jesus Christ Superstar.