How to make a successful musical

If making a new play is complex and fraught with misadventure, then making a new musical quadruples all those effects, declares Simon Phillips.
[This is archived content and may not display in the originally intended format.]

Kate Cole and Lucy Maunder in Queensland Theatre’s Ladies in Black. Photo by Rob Maccoll.

In a wide-ranging career spanning several continents, which to date has seen him employed as Artistic Director by two Australian state theatre companies and awarded for his direction of theatre and opera, New Zealand-born Simon Phillips has become increasingly identified as a director of major musical theatre.

Unlock Padlock Icon

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts