Original Cast Recordings: Musical Theatre and/as Sonic Heritage

Many studies of commercial music recording focus on pop, jazz, rock and classical music. However, in the twentieth-century, musical theatre Original Cast Recordings (OCRs) spent more weeks atop the US Billboard chart than The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, The Monkees and The Rolling Stones combined (Maslon 2018). Despite this success, they remain peripheral in the literature. This new network seeks to address the oversight. Connecting diverse expertise from scholars in musical theatre studies, sound studies, popular culture and fan studies, with museum archivists, musical theatre creatives, recording industry personnel and special interest groups such as private collectors and other stakeholders, the project will explore the sonic heritage of OCRs and what they reveal about changes in popular culture, locating material holdings for further study and use in curatorial practice, and considering the future of the OCR album. This project is urgent. The rise of online streaming has led to press pieces lamenting the 'death' of long-form listening and 'the album' as an artefact (Ingham 2018, Rolling Stone magazine). Global physical album sales more than halved between 1999 and 2009, while old recorded material is fragile and digital sound files are vulnerable to corruption, causing concern for their survival (Roy 2016). Before such changes in listening and consumption are absolute, we must consider the cultural impact of OCRs and approaches to preserving past, present and future work. Network activities will first examine OCRs as 'material' artefacts within a history of recorded media and its technologies. It will map public and private holdings, exploring ways to increase access to such repositories for future research and use by museum curators in exhibits concerning popular culture and sound media. Second, the network will consider 'methodologies' for the sustainability of OCRs, exploring the preservation of new musical theatre on record. Both themes will be underpinned by research in the third area: the cultural history, value and meaning of OCRs. Owing to the pandemic, economic efficiency and environmental awareness, two network meetings and a conference will be held online, while two meetings will be in person. The two in-person venues are apt for this project. First, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford specialise in media technologies and aim to expand their subject focus to include musical theatre. With no in-house sound archive, this project will materially enhance their access to recordings for use in exhibition; an outcome that constitutes a broader aim for the project. Second, Evie Greene (who sang on the first 'OCR' in 1900) was born in Portsmouth, and its University is home to the only international academic journal of musical theatre studies. Maximising reach and knowledge exchange, the network will co-host a 3-day conference with the British Musical Theatre Research Institute and invite presentations from external networks, special interest groups and other stakeholders such as postgraduate students. These will also be invited to open lectures at two network meetings, offering opportunities for public engagement, building impact and creating knowledge exchange beyond the immediate network. Three keynote lectures from international scholars will provide a series of provocations in response to the three themes. The network has representation from the UK, USA and Europe across various disciplines, reflecting the international nature of the project. Core membership includes museum curators, musical theatre creatives and industry representatives, enabling collaborative activity and potential for impact beyond the lifetime of this project. The network will produce two reports on archiving OCRs and new musical theatre recording, disseminated in online publications for the heritage sector and musical theatre creatives. It is anticipated that follow-on activities and a further bid to the AHRC will result.