The autumn of 1985 saw some of the most violent protests that Britain’s streets have ever seen (described as riots in the popular press). But as the now worldwide phenomenon megamusical opened, staging uprisings on the Barbican’s stages only a mile from where protests were actually taking place, the connection never seems to have been made. This presentation explores the musical’s relationship to whiteness and considers how this helped audiences to ignore what was happening on London’s streets.