Spacey attacks "unfair" BBC and Lloyd Webber

Yesterday, Kevin Spacey launched an attack on the behaviour of the BBC in their continued promotion of West End Musicals and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Spacey, artistic director at the Old Vic since 2003, left the glitz and glamour of Hollywood to celebrate British theatre at one of the oldest theatres in London. He has subsequently felt let down by the BBC's overtly commercial saturday night schedule in recent times with a succession of musical talent searches fronted by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

There have been many voices of concern over the continuous use of a non-commercial television channel to promote another Lloyd Webber musical. I'd Do Anything will follow on from the success of The Sound of Music and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat talent searches also previously aired on BBC1.

Harry Venning stated in The Stage that the arrival of the new BBC show is basically a "12-week long advertisement, masquerading as a talent search". This claim has been reiterated by Spacey when he attacked the BBC on Radio 4's Today Programme, stating that a public service producing a 13-week advert for The Sound of Music is "crossing the line".

Cameron Mackintosh, director of the new Oliver! production, stated in a recent The Stage interview that Lloyd Webber is "a showman, always alert to the latest trends, who never stops finding new ways to keep his work in front of the public." Although made prior to Spacey's comments, this is clearly a reference to Lloyd Webber's excellent use of self-promotion and constant evolution.

Two-time Academy Award winner Spacey, believes that the BBC has given undue attention to musicals in favour of other forms of theatre. His views are reinforced by Nicholas Kent, artistic director of the Tricycle Theatre, who supported Spacey when stating "it seems to be the big musicals that have benefitted from this, and it does not represent the theatre in general, in any way."

A BBC spokeswoman responded to Spacey's claims by assuring the public that they were "fully aware of the need to ensure that I'd Do Anything is not unduly promotional". With the new production of Oliver! being put on at the Lloyd Webber owned Theatre Royal Drury Lane, critics will claim that both directly and indirectly he is to benefit from the BBC's latest search for a star!

Published by: James Pickard