Tim Rice calls for surtitles in musical theatre

Lyricist Tim Rice has called for the regular use of surtitles in stage musicals, claiming audiences are sometimes unable to hear the lyrics. 

Rice, who penned the songs for musicals including Evita and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber, suggested "a new generation" of younger theatregoers who favour subtitles on TV might embrace captioning in theatres. 

Surtitles and creative captioning as part of set design are commonplace in opera and becoming more widespread amid strides forward in accessibility in theatre venues, but, for the most part, musicals have yet to adopt the practice. 

While solos such as Don’t Cry for Me Argentina were easier to follow, choral songs often went unappreciated, Rice said. 

"It’s very frustrating at times, especially if you’re the words man," he told the Guardian.

"I found that was a major problem with us years ago when we did Chess, which did not do as well as it should have done although it’s coming back to Broadway, believe it or not, this autumn. 

"Time and time again, the lyrics couldn’t be heard when it was choral. If you’ve got great singers like Tommy Körberg or Elaine Paige singing the songs solo, you do hear the words, but the choral stuff can often be quite important and you just don’t hear it."
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