In the 70 years that Darlington Operatic Society has operated, the audience's styles and tastes have changed enormously. Julian Cound, who stars as Emile de Becque in the current production of South Pacific, explains how the society has had to adapt to the latest musical fashions

AS much as Darlington OS has changed and evolved over the years, so too has the genre of musical theatre. In a relatively short period of time, theatre has grown to be one of the most popular forms of entertainment available – indeed in 2014, twice as many people went to the theatre in London as watched Premier League football in the same year.

In days gone by, anyone looking for a career in theatre was seen as the black sheep of the family. Now, thanks to ground-breaking musicals such as Les Miserables and Miss Saigon and reality TV programmes making West End stars out of their winners, theatre and stage schools are popping up all over the country offering a glimpse of stardom to every student.

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BIG STAGE: Members of Darlington Operatic Society during the November 2014 production of Sister Act

Everyone wants to be a star of the stage.

So, how did the current popularity of a local amateur theatre company come about?

In the 1940s when it all began for DarlingtonOS, productions would centre around the popular comic operas of the time such as Merrie England and The Duchess of Dantzic. They were as popular in their day as juke-box musicals, such as Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You, are today. They offered an opportunity to embrace extravagance and they offered light relief from the harshness of the war years and the subsequent age of austerity.

Back in the 1940s, singing at school, and in the church or chapel, was common-place and even if an individual did not have the ability to play an instrument, they often knew enough about music from their schooldays to become a good “listener”.

Musical theatre perhaps required its audience to have a degree of musical education so they could appreciate it fully: it was intricate music supported by impressive word-play. The works of Gilbert and Sullivan, Ivor Novello and Sigmund Romberg became the mainstay of DarlingtonOS. Shows were frivolous, full of colour, dancing girls and catchy tunes. In the early days it could be fair to say that money was no object – the more opulent the production the better the enjoyment for the paying audience – and shows often ended their run making a loss.

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GAME-CHANGERS: Richard Rodgers, left, and Oscar Hammerstein, right, watching auditions at the St James Theatre, in New York, in 1948. Irving Berlin is in the middle

Musical theatre changed almost overnight in the mid-1940s thanks to the American partnership of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Just imagine it’s 1943. You’re sitting in the St James Theatre in New York, about to witness the opening of a new musical. You’re awaiting the laughs, the pretty girls, and, most of all, the tremendous, toe-tapping opening number. The curtain rises…and there sits an old woman, churning butter.

The theatre is silent.

What? No music? No chorus girls? What’s wrong with this musical? Suddenly, a young man is heard off-stage, sweetly singing about the beautiful morning. Didn’t anyone tell the creators that you can’t start a musical with a ballad?

This show was, of course, Oklahoma which, to this day, is seen as the ground-breaking musical that changed the face of modern theatre. Musicals could embrace a darker side, a more in-depth look at human emotion both for the performer and audience. Theatre suddenly came of age.

It wasn’t until 1958 that DarlingtonOS performed Oklahoma. After it, it would be wrong to say that the floodgates opened to stateside musicals but there was a steady stream of new American musicals, mainly by Rodgers and Hammerstein, through the 1950s and into the 1960s.

Change is always a difficult concept to grasp and, for DOS, these decades were interspersed with operettas and pantomime.

But the wind of change was clear to see – the Americans were coming and audiences lapped it up.

The difference in musical styles between the mainstay operettas and the new American musicals must forced a vast transition on the performers within the company. From The Merry Widow or Perchance to Dream to Oklahoma and My Fair Lady, the vocal styles were completely different. The company would have had to spread the different genres so that it could accommodate all the talents within the group, but it would also have offered the opportunity for more people to showcase their own individual talents.

This willingness to appreciate the talents within DarlingtonOS is something that continues to this day. No one has to serve an apprenticeship or “wait their turn” to be cast. If you have the ability, determination and drive then you have as much chance of being cast as the next person, regardless of when you join the company.

The 1980s really saw the American musical in the ascendency. Eight of them, back to back, were performed. Operettas were now in the minority. Audiences wanted to see the razzmatazz that the Americans offered. The new musicals were an escape – the 1980s was a period of financial growth throughout the country, but there were also bitter divisions and industrial disputes across society, so people wanted to come out of the theatre on a high.

A huge part of the success of any theatre company, amateur or professional, is gauging what your audiences want to see. If you get it right, half the battle is won; get it wrong. and it spells disaster.

In the 1980s, musical theatre had to fight like never before for its audience: in 1982 an additional channel became available on every colour television set in the country with the launch of Channel 4; in 1990, Sky TV started, offering dozens more channels that were beamed into every subscriber’s house from a satellite; then, in 1991, the internet began to catch on.

The effect on theatre was immense – especially on amateur theatre. People had more reason to stay at home. They could watch a film in the comfort of their own home, pause it, re-wind it, watch it over and over again.

Competition for those “bums on seats” suddenly became fierce.

New musicals had to become epic pieces of entertainment to attract an audience. Theatre responded by launching Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Miss Saigon, Martin Guerre and Starlight Express – nothing as enormous as these shows had been seen before and audiences simply lapped it up.

Adult amateur groups are still not able to perform any of these blockbuster shows for licensing reasons, but their success showed what audiences were looking for.

Performers also had to change their singing styles: classical and lyrical songs became old-fashioned, replaced by numbers that were edgy and powerful.

Another theme emerged: audiences liked to see something they are already familiar with. Major box office films were turned into musicals – Flashdance, Footloose, The Bodyguard, Dirty Dancing, Hairspray, Ghost… DarlingtonOS needed to embrace this, not only to attract audiences but to attract the performers who would ensure the successful future of the company.

Footloose in 2012 was a defining moment for the company, a show that attracted a whole new intake of young, enthusiastic and passionate members. The show was also a huge success and was visually stunning. The level of commitment from every cast member was astonishing and raised the bar for anyone looking to become a performing member.

The number of new member applications increased to around 60 a year and still continues at that level, such is the demand to become a part of DarlingtonOS.

With the performers, production professionals, crew and backstage team we currently have we hope to continue to improve year on year, bringing top-class entertainment to Darlington audiences.

For more information, visit the DarlingtonOS website at darlington os.org.uk