Muscial could be magic for Brocklehurst

Question: what has been the highest grossing drama of all time - Titanic, Star Wars or Lord Of The Rings?

Answer: None of the above. The biggest box office takings of all have been for Andrew Lloyd Webber's muscial, Phantom Of The Opera (lyrics by Charles Hart, book and additional lyrics by Richard Stigloe, based on the novel by Gaston Leroux) - around $3.2 billion. Muscials really are big business.

So, congratulations to writer Danny Brocklehurst who, it was announced yesterday, has written a show based around the songs of Take That that will be opening in Manchester later this year.

Could it do as well as the ABBA musical Mama Mia, written by Catherine Johnson, which has so far amassed box office takings of around $2 billion?

Take That don't quite have the Swedish group's global appeal and the band have distanced themselves from the production, but with two recent number one singles, a number one album and a sell-out tour, the group's current popularity certainly bodes well for Brocklehurst's musical.