The Pop-Music Industry and the British Musical

This chapter discusses the intersection of the pop music industry and the British musical through the genre of the rock opera. In the late 1960s British artists started using the LP to create longer songs and projects, and theatrical practice began to move away from a reliance on narrative linearity and towards increased spectacle. The result of this experimentation was the concept album, and where such albums contained narratives they were termed rock operas. This chapter considers Tommy (1969) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)—two works fundamental to the establishment of rock opera—as well as the War of the Worlds (1978) and The Hunting of the Snark (1984), albums from the end of the genre’s short life. Consideration is given to their creation and formulation, and the issues and difficulties of adapting these and other such works for stage and screen are evaluated.