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For the past fifteen to twenty years, two main producers, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh, have dominated the West End theatre world. Between them, these two own most of the theatres in the West End. With their penchant for musical stage plays, it is little wonder that this has seen London's theatre land being transferred from a place where one would go to watch the dramatic play production, although there are still a number in production, to an institution with musical theatre at its heart.

Nevertheless, the input of Webber and Mackintosh has pushed the boundary of theatre forward in many respect. For example, with one of Webber's productions "Cats", this was performed on a revolving stage. He has also, with such productions as "Starlight Express" brought new ideas to the stage, in this case the use of roller skates, and "Miss Saigon" with the creation of a helicopter scene on stage. Mackintosh, with productions such as "Les Miserables" has also input new cultural experiences.

In addition, both have been instrumental in the amalgamation of various artistic genres to create a totally new experience. In this respect one thinks of the musicals create from the music of the groups "Queen" and "ABBA".

Whilst many may rue the loss of many of, what were considered to be normal plays, there is no doubt that Musicals have added an extra dimension and brought a different quality to the stage.

Learn more about this author, Paul Lines.
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