Think you love musicals? Meet the fan who has seen Les Mis 977 times

By Mark Lawson

 

Familiarity breeds content ... Gudrun Mangel, devoted Starlight Express fan, in Repeat Attenders

 

You might guess that the Australian film-maker Mark Dooley likes musical theatre from his production company’s name being a pun on Hello, Dolly!, the 1964 Broadway hit.

 

Hello Dooley has just produced Repeat Attenders, a tremendous documentary about “super fans” of stage musicals who, after really liking a show, begin to follow it religiously – literally so, going once a week and more often during the holidays.

 

Zoomed from Melbourne, Dooley explains that he had the idea in London, over coffee with a friend who was working on the West End production of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.

 

She mentioned individuals who spent almost as much time at the theatre as the cast. Intrigued, he “asked around the business, and the stories came flooding in”.

 

Full Story: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/jun/10/repeat-attenders-musical-super-fans-documentary-mark-dooley-interview

 He looks very happy