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The Musical - What's happening?Dateline: 22nd June, 2003So Our House is to close because of poor ticket sales. It appears that sales have been poor because of the post-9/11 drop in tourism. Hmm. But the show opened thirteen months after the dreadful events in New York. And Bombay Dreams opened still later and is doing excellent business. And We Will Rock You - hardly a critical success and never likely to win an Olivier for Best New Musical, as Our House did - is also doing very well, putting up prices as it goes: not something a failing show would do! Perhaps Our House is just another example of the critics getting it wrong. Perhaps Madness just isn't popular enough. Perhaps the back-catalogue musical has run its course. Perhaps the forthcoming Rod Stewart-based show will die the death. I'll give you a definite maybe on that one. Or then again, maybe not. The one thing you can predict about the biggie musicals in the West End is that they are unpredicatable. Take The Beautiful Game. The best thing Lloyd Webber has done for ages, cried the critics. A musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber with book by Ben Elton based on Britain's favourite sport? A sure-fire hit, said the pundits. Yes. Well. Surely the latest show from the creators of Les Mis and Miss Saigon can't fail? said everyone. What was it called again? Oh yes, Martin Guerre. Remember it? Most prefer to forget. I'm very wary about making any comment on the proposed musical based on The Lord of the Rings. My first instincts tell me that it will be bad, bad, bad. How can you base a single musical show on something of such epic proportions? How can you avoid trivialising one of the great epic battles between good and evil? But then I was one of those who went to see the concert version of Jerry Spinger the Opera at Edinburgh last year with gleefully sharpened critical pencil in hand, already loaded with venom, and came away a total convert. Come to think of it, I laughed at the idea of a musical based on the last days of Christ's life - until I saw Jesus Christ Superstar. Articles Indices:
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