10 shows that closed too soon...

The 2006 Broadway revival production of A Chorus Line was brought over to London's West End in February 2013 and it had previously been announced that the show would only play a limited run at the London Palladium. After receiving numerous 4 ad 5 star reviews and being named 'Timless and Thrilling' by the Dail Mail the show closed the following August after previously booking until January 2014. The show takes a behind-the-scenes look at 17 hopefuls auditioning for just eight places in a new Broadway musical, it has a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Date, with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban. The production will reportedly embark on a European tour before returning to the UK for a tour "beginning in autumn 2014".

Cameron Mackintosh's first original musical in over a decade was Betty Blue Eyes, opening at the Novello Theatre in April 2011 but closed the following September. The show is set in a Yorkshire village after the Second World War, where rationing presents a challenge for the locals who want to celebrate the Queen's Royal wedding to Prince Philip in style. Looking to slaughter an illegally raised pig (a blue-eyed creature named Betty) for the event, chaos ensues when the sow is stolen and a food inspector arrives, determined to stop such activities. The musical features a book by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman with music and lyrics by  George Stile and Anthony Drewe. The show is currently touring the UK. 

Desperately Seeking the Exit: Review

Desperately Seeking the Exit is a self exposing, one man show about what happened behind the scenes on the musical Desperately Seeking Susan which is based on the 1985 film of the same name; the show premiered in 2007 at the Novello Theatre. It received negative reviews across the board and just fifteen days after opening it announced its closing date. Over recent years new musicals have really struggled in London and in this show Peter Michael Marino opens his heart to the audience and tells how his baby was twisted and changed to be something completely different and the story of its downfall.

Its hard for anyone to open up about anything personal but opening up about something that flopped so publicly and to complete strangers much be extraordinarily hard. I struggle to call this a stand up show because its more than that, its not just a man standing there telling jokes; Its an insight as to what really happened and what his role was in the creation and the over throw of the show. There is still a part of me that wanted him to go in deeper, I wanted to know some of the darker things about some of the struggles he must have faced whilst trying to put this musical on and it felt like he had held somethings back which, to be honest, is completely understandable because the type of audience he is attracting here in London are the type of people that could turn around and say “thats my friend you’re talking about” so I can see why somethings have been left out of it!