With the news that the highly acclaimed (and financially successful) Broadway production of Hair will transfer to the Gielgud Theatre with the full New York cast intact, the question arises…will this start a precedent among transferring shows?

Whilst it isn’t making history as the first musical to transfer its entire cast across the Atlantic, (despite many reports to the contrary, it was in fact Company that came to the West End with Broadway cast intact), we are left wondering what deal British producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh has done to achieve such a feat.

It’s generally accepted that short run plays featuring whole casts is now the norm, particularly from producing houses, such as the National’s The History Boys, and The Old Vic, who have seen not only the entire cast of the Norman Conquests head to the Great White Way, but also their Bridge project featuring American and British actors play at the BAM in New York and the Old Vic itself, and will continue to do so for the next two years.

Every now and then a Hannah Waddingham (Spamalot) will appear on Broadway, while we get a Sierra Boggess (Love Never Dies) here in the West End, but a whole musical cast is an interesting prospect. It strikes me as odd that we could not have had a UK cast for this revival, as I know there are enough performers out there desperate for work;  the Drama Schools and Musical Theatre courses are more popular than ever in this country.

But, Cameron Mackintosh, a man who was number two in the The Stage‘s 2009 theatre industry power 100 and hasn’t been out of the top 10 since it started, has rarely put a foot wrong in recent years. After all, we are talking about the man who threatened to pull the entire Broadway production of Miss Saigon if original London star Jonathan Pryce was not allowed to repeat his performance as The Engineer. He knows what he wants and how to get it, so I can only assume the Hair cast was a means to an ends. So now I want to know what the end is.

Sir Cameron always has a little something up his sleeve, so I for one wait with baited breath to see what it is…