ALW's The Illusionist (Dir. Jamie Lloyd)

A Dangerous Method could make for a fascinating chamber piece

Would make sense also with the other Illusionist musical; the Japanese one was delayed and then further delayed in the pandemic so if ALW was waiting for rights it might have been a matter of waiting that one out.

The Illusionist will give him lots of opportunities to hide his writing behind endless special effects

It does seem highly likely it’s ‘The Illusionist’. ALW has said it’s a film adaptation, and the film rather than Steven Millhauser's original short story seems a direct fit for him. Too much so?

In the Sunday Times interview he says 2023 was a bad year for him artistically and personally and “I just felt like I was doing so much that, frankly, was not me”. It’s a bit unclear if he includes ‘Cinderella’ in the ‘not me’ category. It would make sense though - trying too hard to fit in with young taste and failing on Broadway. But if you find another property and think ‘ah, now this is so me’ maybe that’s because you’ve done it already?

‘The Illusionist' film has a vulnerable woman contested over by two men - one aristocratic, one a mysterious artistic loner. He’s done that story shape three times already with ‘The Phantom Of The Opera’, ‘Love Never Dies’, and ‘Whistle Down The Wind’. At a stretch you could call it four, with Joe in ‘Sunset Boulevard’ pulled between two worlds and realities.

It’s tantalising that the film of ‘The Illusionist’ was released in 2006, and ‘Love Never Dies’ first staged in 2010. If only he’d spotted the film then, because the non-Americana elements of that score could have been put to better use. The film even has a story element where the magician buys a theatre for the express purpose of capturing his love and avenging a foe. ‘Devil Take The Hindmost’ would fit right in as the rivals’ stand-off. The mistreatment of a woman by a high-born man, and a mystery over whether she’s really dead or not, chime strongly with ‘The Woman In White’.

The short story the film was based on doesn’t have any of that grand romantic love triangle (I found a PDF of it online). A couple of elements made me chuckle though. As the illusionist creates apparitions on stage, audience members pass their hands through them, and recoil in shock. Three times Millhauser writes that their hands “passed through empty air”. I can imagine the memo from Glen Slater: ‘See? I told you ‘empty air’ was fine!” When the short story tells of the illusionist’s youth, we find that he got into magic after following his father who was a cabinet maker, so his son eventually made cabinets and contraptions for magicians. Didn’t ALW already write a musical about a bloke whose dad was a carpenter? 

But seriously, it’s absolutely perfect for Lloyd Webber in his high romance mode - but that’s not the one I enjoy so much. 'Perfect because it’s the same again' gives me doubts.

I do agree with you. At the risk of bringing up poor beleaguered Cinderella, which overexcites a lot of people, the amount of blame ALW got for its book/story baffled me. Yes I know he’s a driving force and has creative sway, but Emerald wrote the book (which I liked incidentally; though it clearly wasn’t universally popular).

Very interesting. I too thought that it's a shame that the Love Never Dies score wasn't applied to this film's plot. Much of it would be a perfect fit, and it's a plot that actually works, unlike the mess that is LND.



Interesting too that he was so down on 2023. I know he had severe personal problems, but professionally, despite the crash and burn of Cinders, the revival of Sunset was the best received theatrical work he'd had in a long long time. I do worry about him falling too far back on composing work that he thinks is 'very me', as after both Whistle and Woman in White he subsequently commented that he felt he was repeating himself. Personally, if it is The Illusionist, I think that would be a great subject for him, but it really needs him to approach the score with some astringency and modernism, rather than just wallowing in sweeping romanticism.



His best work has always been somewhat repetitive. So many of his shows start at the end (or after the end) and then flashback. So many have opposing social factions placed up against each other and focus on the individuals caught in the middle. So many, as you say, feature a vulnerable individual being seduced/manipulated by people who desire them. I have no problem with this. But I hope the music isn’t just a re-tread of Phantom-style high romance, but plays with darker, harsher tones.

I don't think it's a bad thing for musicals to be simply entertaining, no one wants to have to sit through sad slogs all the time.

Yes, all I really want from him is honesty and something that's freeing for him. When viewing Cinderella I didn't feel any honesty or in a show like Stephen Ward. School of Rock was the last work that convinced me there was a soul behind the music.


Those are fighting words... Every show might not be a hit but I'll defend him for the songs I like!

I do find this is the case with his foreign stuffs. But yes, ALW!

I'd love a return to his sung-through material considering all his recent revival hits have all mostly been his sung-through shows, but this sounds like it's going to be more of a straightfoward musical with book scenes, which has me concerned. I feel like ALW is at his best when he's working sung-through, even though it's a lot of work, his work feels so atmospheric when he just gets to put his music everywhere he wants. He could do underscoring I suppose in a show like this that could really work. The Illusionist could be wonderfully melodramatic like Phantom which has such a thick atmosphere.

Musicals have always evolved and I think it's strange people are bemoaning the lack of sung through musicals. The fact we have more musical comedies is not a bad thing, some of the biggest hits of the 20th and 21st century are musical comedies.

I dunno, I think it’s normal to bemoan the lack of something if you are a fan of it. If you love sung through musicals you’re gonna be frustrated that there aren’t many new ones.

But you can say that whilst also appreciating that musicals evolve and recognising, as I do, that your personal preferences are often not in line with what is currently popular!