Wait a while longer - the failure of CTH

[telys]

Why wasn't CTH that good in the end? Well, the creation of more or less two albums at the same time (NF and R) and the story.
They should've waited with the musical until they had a great story. The "Young Irish man coming to London to perform, realising he's gay" isn't very unique story. Creating a unique and funny story with typical PSB edge to it would've been something. CTH is too bland. Adding the esoteric funny songs to CTH and changing the story would've been an improvement. Songs like Tall Thin Men, Little Black Dress, Ghost of Myself, Run Girl Run. And also songs from Release era, giving CTH a release in 2003 instead.
They already had a great and unique character in Billie Trix and Bob Saunders' character. Much better than Dave. It took them until 2019 to get the idea.
So a tracklist like this for a Billie Trix centred musical:
1 My Night
2 Positive Role Model
3 Call Me Old Fashioned
4 Ghost of Myself
5 Run Girl Run 70's
6 Hedonism
7 Caligula
8 Call Me Old Fashioned
9 Friendly Fire
10 Tall Thin Men
11 Nightlife (giving the humorous effect of having CTH as a song on Nightlife, and Nightlife as a song on CTH;)
12 Shameless
13 Vampires
14 Run Girl Run 80's
15 Little Black Dress
16 K-Hole
17 For All of Us (B Trix version)
18 Love is a Catastrophe
19 Sexy Northerner
20 Samurai in Autumn

[CDot]

The promotional branding was hideous…

[Nicholas]

Why wasn't CTH that good in the end? Well, the creation of more or less two albums at the same time (NF and R) and the story.
They should've waited with the musical until they had a great story. The "Young Irish man coming to London to perform, realising he's gay" isn't very unique story. Creating a unique and funny story with typical PSB edge to it would've been something. CTH is too bland. Adding the esoteric funny songs to CTH and changing the story would've been an improvement. Songs like Tall Thin Men, Little Black Dress, Ghost of Myself, Run Girl Run. And also songs from Release era, giving CTH a release in 2003 instead.
They already had a great and unique character in Billie Trix and Bob Saunders' character. Much better than Dave. It took them until 2019 to get the idea.
So a tracklist like this for a Billie Trix centred musical:
1 My Night
2 Positive Role Model
3 Call Me Old Fashioned
4 Ghost of Myself
5 Run Girl Run 70's
6 Hedonism
7 Caligula
8 Call Me Old Fashioned
9 Friendly Fire
10 Tall Thin Men
11 Nightlife (giving the humorous effect of having CTH as a song on Nightlife, and Nightlife as a song on CTH;)
12 Shameless
13 Vampires
14 Run Girl Run 80's
15 Little Black Dress
16 K-Hole
17 For All of Us (B Trix version)
18 Love is a Catastrophe
19 Sexy Northerner
20 Samurai in Autumn

Could you provide a plot synopsis for the musical so we can get some sense of the context for each song, plus the overall entertainment value, emotional heft and richness of experience?

[jasonjohn]

whoa boy, impossible to rework this with forum opinions, really.

It's on the shelf ready for modern adaptions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Aiuw5e9YC4

Lots of theatre is cliche and obvious. It has to be if you're going to be a bold foot-tapper catering to lots of differing needs for a "night out". Unless you want something nuanced and intellectual, maybe with someone giving a one hour monologue.

I think CTH came a bit late. If it were a late 90s production it would have garnered more buzz.

[TallThinMan]

When they first started talking about their idea for a musical it sounded pretty exciting and innovative. I remember that they said they had an idea that it would all be done via CCTV cameras.

At the time they made some pretty brash statements about all current musicals being musically retarded. I have the impression they had to eat quite a lot of humble pie once they realised that Andrew Lloyd Webber owns that sector of London and that they needed his company’s help to produce their own musical.

[Stussylad7]

When the theatre run ended it should have been reworked as a tv special, maybe in two parts. I saw it twice in London and really enjoyed it.

[tottenhammattspurs]

They simply needed to throw in West End girls, It's a sin and Always on my mind and the press would have favoured it much better and in turn, better reviews and a longer run.

[telys]

They simply needed to throw in West End girls, It's a sin and Always on my mind and the press would have favoured it much better and in turn, better reviews and a longer run.

That's a good point. Perhaps it's another proof of them not really knowing what they were doing. Didn't understand the necessity of being commercial. Not understanding the value of their back catalogue. I guess they do now.

[telys]

I mean the idea for the musical doesnt need to be intellectual. Unique is enough. Look at Mamma Mia. Unique but simple idea.

[TallThinMan]

They simply needed to throw in West End girls, It's a sin and Always on my mind and the press would have favoured it much better and in turn, better reviews and a longer run.

That's a good point. Perhaps it's another proof of them not really knowing what they were doing. Didn't understand the necessity of being commercial. Not understanding the value of their back catalogue. I guess they do now.

I think they knew exactly what they were doing.

They wanted to create an original work rather than do a “We Will Rock You” and just invent a story around their hits. Of course the musical would have been more commercially successful if they’d have done that.

[telys]

They simply needed to throw in West End girls, It's a sin and Always on my mind and the press would have favoured it much better and in turn, better reviews and a longer run.

That's a good point. Perhaps it's another proof of them not really knowing what they were doing. Didn't understand the necessity of being commercial. Not understanding the value of their back catalogue. I guess they do now.

I think they knew exactly what they were doing.

They wanted to create an original work rather than do a “We Will Rock You” and just invent a story around their hits. Of course the musical would have been more commercially successful if they’d have done that.

Incorporating 2-4 old hits in musical versions would've been enough to draw the masses and reviews. In 2024 the situation is different. Let them do a musical about a russian composer... or about that british guy who invented the computer

[Nicholas]

I don’t think they’re interested in doing a ‘jukebox musical’ at all but I do wonder if something like that could end up happening after they’ve both passed on. Assuming musical theatre is still a viable commercial prospect in the mid- to late-21st century.

[telys]

At the time they made some pretty brash statements about all current musicals being musically retarded. I have the impression they had to eat quite a lot of humble pie once they realised that Andrew Lloyd Webber owns that sector of London and that they needed his company’s help to produce their own musical.

Probably true. Treading into a new genre for them. It was not as easy as they thought.

[telys]

Why wasn't CTH that good in the end? Well, the creation of more or less two albums at the same time (NF and R) and the story.
They should've waited with the musical until they had a great story. The "Young Irish man coming to London to perform, realising he's gay" isn't very unique story. Creating a unique and funny story with typical PSB edge to it would've been something. CTH is too bland. Adding the esoteric funny songs to CTH and changing the story would've been an improvement. Songs like Tall Thin Men, Little Black Dress, Ghost of Myself, Run Girl Run. And also songs from Release era, giving CTH a release in 2003 instead.
They already had a great and unique character in Billie Trix and Bob Saunders' character. Much better than Dave. It took them until 2019 to get the idea.
So a tracklist like this for a Billie Trix centred musical:
1 My Night
2 Positive Role Model
3 Call Me Old Fashioned
4 Ghost of Myself
5 Run Girl Run 70's
6 Hedonism
7 Caligula
8 Call Me Old Fashioned
9 Friendly Fire
10 Tall Thin Men
11 Nightlife (giving the humorous effect of having CTH as a song on Nightlife, and Nightlife as a song on CTH;)
12 Shameless
13 Vampires
14 Run Girl Run 80's
15 Little Black Dress
16 K-Hole
17 For All of Us (B Trix version)
18 Love is a Catastrophe
19 Sexy Northerner
20 Samurai in Autumn

Could you provide a plot synopsis for the musical so we can get some sense of the context for each song, plus the overall entertainment value, emotional heft and richness of experience?

Sure, if I had a thousand hours of time on my hands. I the meantime, you'll have to settle for our combined imagination.

[Patrick Bateman]

I wish they'd got the rights to make a musical based on Brighton Rock. My impression (I didn't go) is that the story was a bit cliched and coincided with the point at which they became perceived as a gay band. Tracks like In Denial also leech into their studio albums. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but it just seemed like a perfect storm of becoming a cult, niche concept, rather than being at the centre of pop culture.