{"id":1886,"date":"2015-12-04T12:23:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T12:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=1886"},"modified":"2015-12-04T12:23:52","modified_gmt":"2015-12-04T12:23:52","slug":"west-end-debut-for-worlds-first-computer-generated-musical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=1886","title":{"rendered":"West End debut for world’s first computer-generated musical"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Goldsmiths'<\/a>
Goldsmiths’ Maria Teresa Llano with Benjamin Till and Nathan Taylor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first musical conceived and crafted by computer, makes its debut in February with a premise and plot created by the Goldsmiths, University of London\u2019s \u2018What-If Machine\u2019 program.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a world becoming ever more technologically advanced, and reliant on computers, machine learning and artificial intelligence are rapidly and fundamentally changing every aspect of human experience.\u00a0Now we\u2019re about to see how technology can affect art and the creative process.<\/p>\n

The show is both conceived and substantially crafted by computer, modeled on a statistical study of the \u2018recipe for success\u2019 in hit musicals.<\/p>\n

In collaboration with leading experts in music, computation and the science of human creativity, composer Benjamin Till and his husband, writer and actor Nathan Taylor, will bring a range of computer-generated material to life.\u00a0They have aimed to create an emotionally powerful and exciting West End show, which is, at the same time, the grandest of experiments, designed and co-ordinated by Dr Catherine Gale.<\/p>\n

Beyond the Fence started as an experiment, with researchers delving into what makes a good musical, from production and story to music and lyrics.\u00a0The process began with a predictive, big data analysis of success in musical theatre, conducted at the University of Cambridge.\u00a0Researchers examined everything from cast size to backdrop, emotional structure to the importance of someone falling in love, dying (or both) \u2013 in more and less successful shows \u2013 to create a set of constraints to which the musical had to conform, to theoretically optimise chances of success.<\/p>\n

Next, the team visited what\u2019s known as the What-If Machine<\/a> at Goldsmiths.<\/p>\n

The Machine was created under a three-year initiative, starting in 2013, to answer the question of whether creative software can generate, assess, and present interesting ideas \u2013 whether it\u2019s stories, jokes, films or paintings \u2013 that will be appreciated by people who are exposed to them.\u00a0The team eventually settled on one original idea for the musical \u2013 what if a wounded soldier had to learn how to understand a child in order to find true love?<\/p>\n

And so Beyond The Fence was born. Set in 1982, Mary and her daughter George are celebrating a year of living at the Greenham Common peace camp<\/a>. The group of women they have joined are all committed to stopping the arrival of US cruise missiles through non-violent protest.\u00a0When Mary is faced with losing her child to the authorities, an unlikely ally is found in US Airman Jim Meadow. How can she continue to do what is best for her daughter while staying true to her ideals?<\/p>\n

A plot structure for the musical was also generated computationally, thanks to work led by Dr Pablo Gerv\u00e1s of Complutense University of Madrid.\u00a0Finally, the music has been provided by Dr Nick Collins, of Durham University, through his computer composition system, the wittily-named Android Lloyd Webber.<\/p>\n

Beyond The Fence plays at the Arts Theatre from 22 February – 5 March 2015.<\/p>\n

\n

This post is an edited abstract of\u00a0an article published in Stage Review<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first musical conceived and crafted by computer, makes its debut in February with a premise and plot created by the Goldsmiths, University of London\u2019s \u2018What-If Machine\u2019 program. In a world becoming ever more technologically advanced, and reliant on computers, machine learning and artificial intelligence are rapidly and fundamentally changing every aspect of human experience.\u00a0Now … Continue reading West End debut for world’s first computer-generated musical<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[106,107,74],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1888,"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1886\/revisions\/1888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.doc.gold.ac.uk\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}