The West End needs Hollywood

One of my earliest and greatest moments in the theatre was watching the Hollywood actor Paul Muni in the first London outing of Death of a Salesman. I'd guess it was around 1950. He was absolutely stunning. When I think of Muni, who won the Academy Award in 1937 for playing Louis Pasteur, I remember how brilliant he was with his elaborate make-up, putty noses, false lips and beards. So much so that studio boss Jack Warner once said: "Why are we paying Muni so much money when we can't find him!"

I mention Mr M because in those days the Press didn't roll out snide remarks about Hollywood actors coming here and displaying themselves. If they were good for the part and people came to see them, then they were good for theatre. The same applies today. I recently went to see Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Summer Phoenix in This is Our Youth. I thought they were all excellent. It was interesting that the theatre was not only full, but full of young people. I've never seen so many youngsters turn out for a play. Normally the West End theatre audience is a cross between an old folks' home and a sub-urban bridge party. You feel that anything more taxing than Alan Ayckbourn's drawn-out TV sketches would leave them gasping for oxygen.

I've always liked stars. They're usually stars because they do what they do exceedingly well. Not infrequently, good looks help. But what's wrong with nice-looking people? You just know that when Madonna steps onto the stage three-quarters of the critics are waiting to kill her because she's Madonna. "How dare some American movie star (and even worse a pop singer!) tread the same boards as Irving, Beerbohm Tree and Ellen Terry!"

What critics forget is that theatre is usually a disaster. Show after show opens, loses money and closes. I put money into my first theatre show in 1962. It ran for more than two years. It lost everything. How can that be, you say, if it ran for more than two years? Because some weeks it covered its weekly running cost, some it did not. They just about kept it on but none of the original investment was paid back. If stars bring in the public and reward the investors, good. If they appear at wonderfully run fringe venues like the Donmar or the Almeida - terrific.

THE result is that frequently audiences turn up to see plays they'd otherwise stay away from. Would many people have bothered with Marlowe's Dr Faustus if it hadn't starred Jude Law? Why shouldn't the Donmar feature Nicole Kidman in The Blue Room? It was not one of David Hare's best plays, but she delivered a charisma and excitement which it needed. She also acted superbly, brought packed houses and introduced many people to an experimental theatre they might not otherwise have known or cared about. And I got to sit within six feet of her naked body. Now that's what I call value for money!

I think we're very lucky that film stars who could be making millions of dollars turn up in our theatres, sometimes for about £200 a week. They immensely brighten the West End and, by osmosis, the whole world of theatre. I'm sure Gwyneth Paltrow will be a worthy entry in this line of great actresses with glitterati sparkle as well.

There are seldom fewer than five shows in the West End that I've invested in. I use the word "invested" loosely because it's extremely rare that I make a penny and when I do it never covers the losses. There's one management with whom I've lost every penny in every show for 20 years. Then there are losing shows that are kept on by the management because they can afford it. They think this means people will not realise the show has failed.

Every venture is helped by a star. Yet, because theatre pays so much less than movies, you don't get many international stars doing it. Let's not knock those who do.

My youth was spent transfixed in the stalls of the London Palladium, where US star after US star kept variety afloat. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Danny Kaye, Harpo and Chico Marx. They were doing what is desperately needed in the West End - putting bums on seats.

I also remember my friend Jack Lemmon coming over to star in a terribly obscure play at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. It was so obscure, I've forgotten what it was. It would never have seen the light of day if a US star hadn't jumped aboard.