Can the musical be reinvented? That’s a question for the Edinburgh Fringe. “Although it remains astoundingly popular, the musical suffers a strange reputation. Revered by the likes of Trevor Nunn, the classic American works of the 1930s-50s are seen as blue-rinse fodder, kitsch nonsense that has little appeal for young theatregoers. The 1990s saw a new trend for musicals tackling social problems – Rent dealt with Aids, and Ragtime was about racism in the US – but often these felt horribly glib. There is something about the form, about the way it forces characters to ignore the plot and break into song, that seems to demand silliness, irreverence and tongue-in-cheek charm.”